Sediari


The Sediari pontifici were chair-bearers of the pope on the sedia gestatoria. Originally servants of the papal household, they later became a lay confraternity. The origins of the chair-bearers lie in medieval times, earlier even than the Swiss Guards.

Palafrenieri

The earlier red-dressed papal grooms or palafrenieri were a different group of papal servants, originally liverymen for the papal carriage, then an influential confraternity, then finally merged with the sediari. The sediari and parafrenieri constituted a confraternity from 1378, later the Arciconfraternita di Sant'Anna de Parafrenieri. Pius IV allowed them in 1565 to erect the chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri, designed by Jacopo [Barozzi da Vignola].

John Paul II

Pope John Paul II disbanded the chair-bearers in 1978. However papal ushers carried him on his death in 2005.