What is an exarchate?
The word exarchate comes from the Greek word exarchos, meaning a leader or ruler. An exarchate is a territory or district that is governed by someone called an exarch.
- Civil sense (Byzantine times) In late antiquity and the Byzantine Empire, an exarchate was a large civil province with its own exarch who held both civil authority and military command on behalf of the emperor. Examples historians discuss include the Exarchate of Ravenna in Italy and the Exarchate of Africa (Carthage).
- Ecclesiastical sense ( Eastern churches ) In Eastern Orthodox and some Eastern Catholic churches, an exarch is a bishop with authority over a broad region, and the area is called an exarchate. This is similar to a diocese but often structured under different church rules and authorities.
- Modern usage The term is still used in some church contexts, including mentions of apostolic exarchates within the Catholic Church or patriarchal exarchates in Orthodoxy, to denote specific large church jurisdictions.
In short, an exarchate is a jurisdiction ruled by an exarch—historically a civil province in the Byzantine world, and in church contexts, a large ecclesiastical district overseen by a bishop-like exarch.