PAPAL SEDIARISTS. - They are familiars of the Pope who perform service in the hall and for the transport of the Holy Father in the sedia gestatoria, on the occasion of solemn ceremonies. In this second office they receive the order to set out from the foriere maggiore.
They connect somewhat with the lecticarii in use in the Roman world, especially in the imperial age and throughout the Middle Ages up to the eighteenth century, when litters were replaced by carriages. In sacred ceremonies, the litter was replaced by the scammum, or sella, or sellare, whence the name sellarii for those who carried the Pope on their shoulders (cf. Ordo Romanus I, 4-5: PL 78, 939; Ordo Rom. II, 2: ibid., 699).
The institution of a true corps of knights, called s. p., to carry the Pope in the sedia gestatoria is traced back to Pius IV, but, beyond the use of the sedia gestatoria, the existence of a corps of s. p. is also older: it suffices to see their appearances in Raphael's frescoes, as in the Miracle of Bolsena and in the Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple. They are not, however, found listed separately in the rolls of the pontifical family under Leo X and Pius IV. They are in fact confused with the parafrenarii or famuli in general. Famuli indeed are they called in the taking of possession of Alexander VII (sublimis gestatus, subcollantibus famulis purpurea taga conspicuis: F. Cancellieri, Storia dei solenni possessi, Rome 1822, p. 272, cf. also p. 146, note 2) and parafrenieri (parafrenarii) are they called under Paul III, a. 1533 (op. cit., p. 92) and again under Pius VIII (op. cit., p. 489). The s. p. and the parafrenieri also together formed a Confraternity and had from the time of Pius IV (a. 1565) a church of their own: S. Anna dei parafrenieri within the Vatican, later exchanged, after 1929, for the erection of the church into a parish, for S. Caterina della Rota.
At present the s. p. number 14, besides the dean (or dean of the hall [in Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 937]) and sub-dean, and they are assisted by some supernumeraries, by two ordinanze di sala and by extraordinary or substitute members (especially in Holy Years). They wear a livery, black for the dean and sub-dean and red for all the s. The livery, consisting of a jacket and trousers with long trains descending from the shoulder-pieces, called wings, is of crimson velvet with satin sleeves, on a design registered in Renaissance style, and, for summer, of crimson damask with sleeves of "nobiltà" silk, always on the same design, with the Pontiff's coat of arms on the front. Now the uniform coat of arms of the Holy See is used for all pontiffs, with the keys and the tiara. Liveries with coats of arms from Pius VI to Pius IX are however preserved. Besides the livery they have shoes of the same style, the shirt and the appropriate stockings. In ancient times they depended on the prefecture of the SS. Palazzi Apostolici; today they are under the authority of the maestro di Camera, through the maestro di Casa, who supervises them and coordinates their service. To them is entrusted the task of service in the hall or antechamber, and therefore they form part of the hall personnel. They perform service in turn, at private and special audiences, at general audiences; they also assist the Pontiff at the most solemn manifestations (pontifical functions, receptions); by day and by night they stay around the person of the Pope. In ancient times two also kept watch before the private pontifical apartment, and even today one of them sleeps in immediate contact with the pontifical apartment, to be ready for every call. They form part of the pontifical family (v.) and therefore are also called "famigli".
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Giuseppe Palazzini