Ceremonial occupations

thumb|Ganymede and the Eagle, sculpture by [[Bertel Thorvaldsen, c. 1817]] A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the drinks at the royal table. On account of the constant fear of plots and intrigues (such as poisoning), a person had to be regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold the position. He would guard against poison in the king's cup, and was sometimes required to swallow some of the drink before serving it. His confidential relations with the king often gave him a position of great influence.

Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term "pantler".

Silentiarius, Hellenized to silentiarios () and Anglicized to silentiary, was the Latin title given to a class of courtiers in the Byzantine imperial court, responsible for order and silence () in the Great Palace of Constantinople. In the middle Byzantine period (8th–11th centuries), it was transformed into an honorific court title.

Pinkernes (), sometimes also epinkernes (, epinkernēs), was a high Byzantine court position.

REDIRECT Cup-bearer#Poland and Lithuania

thumb|240px|The 1750s Paharnic Constantin Obedeanu of Craiova. From an 1860 copy by [[Constantin Lecca, who was himself a Paharnic]] The Paharnic (plural: Paharnici; also known as Păharnic, Paharnec, or Păharnec; Moldavian dialect: ceașnic, , pakharnikos, , paharnik) was a historical Romanian rank, one of the non-hereditary positions ascribed to the boyar aristocracy in Moldavia and Wallachia (the Danubian Principalities). It was the local equivalent of a cup-bearer or cześnik, originally centered on pouring and obtaining wine for the court of Moldavian and Wallachian Princes. With time, it be

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