Despot (from ,
despótēs, "lord", "master") was a senior
Byzantine court title that was bestowed on the sons or sons-in-law of reigning emperors, and initially denoted the
heir-apparent. From Byzantium it spread throughout the late medieval
Balkans (
Bulgarian and ,
despót), and was also granted in the states under Byzantine influence, such as the
Latin Empire,
Bulgaria,
Serbia, and the
Empire of Trebizond. It gave rise to several principalities termed "despotates" which were ruled either as independent states or as
appanages by princes bearing the title of despot, most notably the
Despotate of Epirus, the
Despotate of the Morea and the
Serbian Despotate. In English, the feminine form of the title is
despotess (from Greek ,
despótissa; Serbian and Bulgarian деспотица,
despotítsa), which denoted the spouse of a despot, but the transliterated traditional female equivalent of
despotes,
déspoina (, "lady of the house"), is also commonly used.