Palafrenieri

The Sediari pontifici (Italian: [seˈdjaːri pontiˈfiːtʃi]) 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.

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. Pius IV allowed them in 1565 to erect the chiesa di Sant'Anna dei Palafrenieri, designed by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola.

Pope John Paul II disbanded the chair-bearers in 1978. However papal ushers (Italian Gentiluomo di sua santità) carried him on his death in 2005.

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