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Illustration of a bishop sitting on an ornately decorated cathedra. A crosier, pastoral staff, rests against his left shoulder. The view is of the left side of the bishop and throne. There are columns in the background, to the right of the throne. A cathedral is a church that is the cathedra, or seat, of a bishop.

A Bishop Sitting on a Bishop's Throne Called a Cathedra

Illustration of a bishop sitting on an ornately decorated cathedra. A crosier, pastoral staff, rests…

"A seat or chair, was more particularly applied to a soft seat used by women, whereas sella signified a seat common to both sexes. The cathedrae were, no doubt, of various forms and sizes; but they usually appear to have had backs to them. On the cathedra in the annexed cut, is seated a bride, who is being fanned by a female slave with a fan made of peacock's feathers. Women were also accustomed to be carried abroad in these cathedrae instead of in lecticae, which practice was sometimes adopted by effeminate persons of the other sex. The word cathedra was also applied to the chair or pulpit from which lectures were read." — Smith, 1873

Cathedra

"A seat or chair, was more particularly applied to a soft seat used by women, whereas sella signified…