From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the
official seat (in Latin, sedes) of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as
the bishop's cathedra, is
placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called
the bishop's cathedral.[1]
The seat is also called the bishop's throne, especially in
the Eastern Orthodox Church.[2]
The term is also used of the town or place where the cathedral
is located,[1]
giving rise to expressions such as "the episcopal see of
Gibraltar".[3]
The bishop's seat is the earliest symbol of bishop's
authority,[1]
and the word "see" is thus often applied to the area over which the
bishop exercises authority. This usually corresponds to a diocese, as in the expression
"within the see of Ebbsfleet"[4] and
"built within the see of the bishop of Worcester".[5] But it
is sometimes given a wider significance, referring for instance to
an area under patriarchal authority.[6]
A particular episcopal see is the Holy See, presided over by the Bishop of Rome.
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