Throne

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is about royal thrones; for the order of angels by the same name see thrones.

A throne is the official chair or seat upon which a monarch is seated on state or ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the monarchy or the Crown itself, and is also used in many terms such as "the power behind the throne."

Contents 1 Thrones in ancient cultures 2 Thrones and the Bible 2.1 Ecclesiastical thrones 3 Thrones in modern times 4 List of famous thrones 4.1 Africa 4.2 Asia 5 Other uses 6 See also

Thrones in ancient cultures

Thrones have been the symbol of monarchs and gods since ancient times. The throne was used for coronation ceremonies and to lift the king up above all others present. Thrones were since then directly associated with royal power.

The Greeks (according to Homer) were known to place additional, empty thrones in the royal palaces and temples so that the gods could be present when they wished to be. The most famous of these thrones was the throne of Apollo in Amyclae.

The Romans also had two thrones - one for the Emperor and one for the goddess Roma whose statues were seated upon thrones, which became centers of worship.

The Hittites considered thrones to be gods themselves.

Thrones and the Bible

The Bible mentions many thrones. God was seated upon a throne and so was King Solomon (as God's representative on earth): "Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold" (Kings 10:18).

In Medieval times the throne of Solomon was associated with Mary. The ivory of the throne represented purity, the gold represented divinity and the six steps of the throne stood for the six virtues.

In the New Testament, Jesus promised his Apostles that they would sit upon "twelve thrones", judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28). John's Revelations states: "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away"

Ecclesiastical thrones

The very term Holy See, officially used for the Vatican (in diplomacy as the influential Catholic Church, represented distinct from the insignificant city state), clearly presents the papal position as a throne; indeed the Holy father is an elected monarch, both symbolically as supreme head of the church and legally as head of state -styled sovereign pontiff- of the Vatican City State (symbolic remnant within Rome, for convenience, of the Papal State, that was for centuries one of the largest political powers on the divided Italian peninsula). The throne upon which the Pope is traditionally seated is located in the apse of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, his cathedral.

The pope was also carried on occasions in a portable throne, the sedia gestatoria, originally part of the elaborate, ostentatious pomp believed to be the most direct heir of pharaonic splendour including fans made from ostrich feathers, but it was abandoned by pope John Paul II. Even Saint Peter, the first pope, sat on an armchair, the cathedra Sancti Petri, the relic of which is kept in Saint Peter's Basilica.

• However, the ecclesiastical throne is not at all unique to the pope.

Every bishop of the Roman Catholic Church and most bishops of other churches (Anglican, Orthodox also largely maintain a heritage stretching back to Antiquity) also sit on a throne, called cathedra, traditionally in the apside, which symbolizes his power to teach the faith (hence the expression "ex cathedra", from the explicative authority, notably the extremely rarely used procedure required for a papal declaration to be 'infallible' under canon law; in several language the word deriving from cathedra is commonly used for an academic teaching mandate, the professorial chair).

After this cathedra (throne), which can be as elaborate and precious as fits a secular prince (even if the prelate is not a prince of the church in the secular sense), his main church is called a cathedral; the word basilica -from the Greek basilikos 'royal'-, though in Roman Antiquity a secular public hall, now refers to the presence there of a papal canopy, part of his regalia, and applies mainly to many cathedrals and cataholic churches of similar importance and/or splendor.

Thrones in modern times

In some countries today which retain a monarchy, thrones are still used and have important symbolic and ceremonial meaning. However many modern day monarchies have dispensed with the usage of such symbolism as crowns, thrones and coronations.

Among the most famous thrones still in usage are St Edward's Chair, on which the British monarch is crowned, and the thrones used by monarchs during the state opening of parliaments in the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, and Japan (see above) among others.

Some republics use distinctive throne-like chairs in some state ceremonial. The President of the United States sits on a distinctive high-backed white-clothed chair in the Oval Office in the White House when meeting distinguished visitors in front of the media.(The visitor sits in a matching chair.) The President of Ireland sits on a former viceregal throne during his or her inauguration ceremony while Lords Mayor of many British and Irish cities often preside over local councils from throne-like chairs.

List of famous thrones

• The Throne of Solomon
• The Throne of Apollo in Amyclae
• St. Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey, London, where British monarchs are crowned. It at one time contained the Stone of Scone (also called the Stone of Destiny) upon which the Kings of Scotland were crowned
• The Throne of Charlemagne in the cathedral at Aachen, Germany
• The papal sedia gestatoria

Africa

• the Golden Stool of the Ashanti
• the Throne of David of the Emperors of Ethiopia

Asia

• the Dragon Throne of the Emperors of China
• the Chrysanthemum Throne of the Emperors of Japan
• the Phoenix Throne of the Kings of Korea
• the Lion Throne of the Dalai Lama of Tibet
• the Peacock Throne of the Mughal Emperors
• the Peacock Throne of the Persian Shahs
• the Takht-e Marmar of the Persian Shahs

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Other uses

• in slang, a common sit-down toilet is also called a throne.
• one of the Angel choirs is is on order called Ophanim or Thrones, said to carry God's heavenly throne - other choir names expressing power in secular terms include Powers, Principalities, Dominions

See also

• Enthronement