- Sedilia
The sedilia (the plural of Lat. "sedile", seat), in ecclesiastical
architecture , the term given to the seats (often) on the south side of thechancel near thealtar for the use of the officiatingpriest s. These rebated seats are found in thechancel of churches and monasteries and were for the use of the celebrant and their assistants. The seat is often set back into the main wall of the church itself.Typically the seat would be for the use of:
*Thepriest
*Thedeacon
*Thesub-deacon The custom of recessing them in the thickness of the wall began about the end of the
12th century ; some early examples consist only of stone benches, and there is one instance of a single seat or arm-chair in stone atLenham inKent , thought by some to be aconfessional .The niches or recesses in which they are sunk are often richly decorated with canopies and subdivided with moulded shafts, pinnacles and tabernacle work; the seats are sometimes at different levels, the eastern being always the highest, and sometimes an additional niche is provided in which the
piscina is placed.References
*1911
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