Cathedral

Sit of the bishop

The term originates in the French word Cathèdre , which comes itself from the Greek καθέδρα (will kathedra) , meaning seat, from where episcopal throne. As former French, one finds the verb cathédrer and the participle cathédrant , which means to sit and sitting in the writings of Montaigne.

In the primitive churches, the throne of the bishop, the cathèdre ( Cathedra in Latin) was placed at the bottom of the Abside, in the axis, like the seat of the judge of the ancient Basilique, and the furnace bridge rose in front of the platform, usually on the tomb of a Martyr. The bishop, surrounded by sound Clergy, was thus behind the furnace bridge, isolated and deprived from Retable; he thus saw the officiant opposite. This primitive provision explains why, until worms the middle of the last century of the Moyen-âge, in certain cathedrals, the high altar was only one simple table without steps, gate vault S nor Retable S.

As opposed to what much think, the largest church of Europe, Saint-Pierre of the Vatican, which still preserves the seat of the prince of the Apôtre S locked up in a Chaire of bronze at the bottom of the apse, is however not cathedral of Rome, this title being reserved with Midsummer's Day of Lateran. It was in the churches cathedrals, in this place reserved for the cathèdre, that the bishops proceeded to the Ordination S. When those were invited by the abbot of a Monastère, one placed a cathèdre at the bottom of the sanctuary. The abbey church became cathedral then.

The episcopal see was the sign and the symbol of the jurisdiction of the bishops. The episcopal jurisdiction was thus the true bond which linked the ancient Basilique with the Christian church. The cathedral is not only one church appropriate to the service of the worship, it preserves, and had much more still during the first centuries of the Christianisme, the character of a crowned court, and the cathedrals remained a long time, until the 14th century, of at the same time religious and civil buildings. One did not meet there only to attend the religious offices, one also held to with it of the assemblies of political nature; the religious considerations were however not deprived of influence on these civil or military meetings.

Gothic cathedrals

Although all different, the Gothic cathedrals, built in XIIe and XIIIe centuries, have a similar plan forming a Latin cross. These parts are the Nef, the Transept and the chorus. There exist Bas-côté S, a Déambulatoire.

See too

cathedral|cathedral

Internal bonds

Trade-guild and construction of the cathedrals

External bonds and documents

All cathedrals of the world GCatholic.com
Photographs of French cathedrals
Some cathedrals seen of night

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