Stavilac (, literally meaning "placer") was a court title in Medieval Bosnia and Medieval Serbia in the Middle Ages. It was similar to the Byzantine court offices of domestikos and cup-bearer (pinkernes, known in Serbian as peharnik). It had a role in the ceremony at the royal table, though the holder could be entrusted with jobs that had nothing to do with court rituals. According to studies of Rade MihaljÃÂiÃÂ, the holder was in charge of acquiring, preparing and serving food at the royal table. It was a confidant duty, given to the highest and most notable nobility, which the ruler relied on in all occasions.
Its oldest mention is from the Serbian court of King Stefan Milutin (r. 1282âÂÂ1321), when ÃÂuraà ¡ VranÃÂiàhad the title. The title of stavilac ranked as the last in the hierarchy of the Serbian court, behind ÃÂelnik, kaznac, tepÃÂija and vojvoda, the supreme title. It was, nevertheless, quite prestigious as it enabled its holder to be very close to the ruler. In the DeÃÂani chrysobulls, King Stefan DeÃÂanski (r. 1321âÂÂ1331) mentioned that the court dignitaries present at the DeÃÂani assembly were the kaznac, tepÃÂija, vojvoda, sluga and stavilac. There is not much information on the title-holders at the court of King Stefan DeÃÂanski; there is however much information on those at the court of King and Emperor Stefan Duà ¡an (r. 1331âÂÂ1355).
In Bosnia, this court title appears for the first time with a coronation of the first Bosnian king, Tvrtko I KotromaniÃÂ. As soon as he ascended to a Bosnian throne as a king in 1377, Tvrtko reorganized his court reflecting some of the Serbian court-office titles, ceremonials and traditions.