This book is the first major investigation of a subject of seminal importance in the study of church history and archaeology. The two stone thrones, at Wells and Durham, the three timber monuments, at Exeter, St Davids and Hereford, and the mid-14th-century bishop's chair at Lincoln, all come under a searching empirical enquiry.

The Exeter throne is the largest and most impressive in Europe. It is a distinguished innovatory example of the English Decorated style, with antecedents passing back to the court of Edward I. It exemplifies most of the historical and formal strands that suffuse the entire book– visual appearance, distinctiveness within the building, prestige, construction, stylistic context, finance, and the patronage and personal role of the bishop himself; as well as the subtler issues of the personal and collective politics of bishop and chapter, the monument's liturgical applications, its relationship with the cathedral's relics, its symbolism and what it tells us about the aspirations of the institution within the existing ecclesiastical hierarchy.

The thrones also reveal much about the personal circumstances of an individual bishop, and where he stood on the scale of a good diocesan on the one hand, and ambitious politician on the other, as exemplified at Exeter and Durham.

The text is by the art historian, Dr Charles Tracy, a seasoned expert on church furniture both in Britain and on the continent of Europe. The chapter on the stone thrones was prepared by Andrew Budge who is currently preparing a Ph.D thesis on 'English Chantry Churches' at Birkbeck College. The polychromy authority, Eddie Sinclair, spent many hours on the scaffold to bring forward her remarkable report on the Exeter throne. Her full report is to be published online.The Exeter throne is also interpreted by the established timber conservation practitioner, Hugh Harrison, and the St Davids throne by the experienced draughtsman, Peter Ferguson. In an age of the CAD, his meticulous measured drawings of the Exeter and St Davids monuments are one of the most remarkable features of book. The architect, Paul Woodfield prepared the drawings for the Lincoln chair.

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• 1. Episcopal Thrones in the Early-christian Church
  • The tradition of synthronons
  • The form and style of bishops’ thrones in the East from the 4th to the 9th century
  • Form and style of episcopal thrones in the West, c. 300–1300
  • Chairs of St Peter
  • The episcopal throne and the cult of relics
  • English episcopal thrones c. 1100–1300
• 2. The Timber Episcopal Thrones of Medieval Britain
  • 2.1 Exeter Cathedral
    • Description and physical analysis
    • Discussion
  • 2.2 St Davids Cathedral
    • Description and physical analysis
    • Discussion
  • 2.3 Hereford Cathedral
    • Description and physical analysis
    • Discussion
    • Addendum
• 3. The Lincoln Cathedral Bishop’s Chair
  • Description and physical analysis
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Miscellaneous later comparanda at Christ Church, Canterbury, Wells Cathedral and Llandaff Cathedral
• 4. The Medieval Stone Episcopal Thrones At Wells and Durham Cathedrals
  • Introduction
  • The Wells throne
  • The Durham throne
  • Contexts
• Appendix I: Significant items connected with the manufacture of the Exeter Cathedral bishop’s throne
• Appendix II: Significant records connected with the manufacture of the Exeter Cathedral choir furnishings by Thomas of Witneys’s “high altar team” et al., 1316–1326
• Appendix III: The construction and assembly of the bishops’ thrones at Exeter and St Davids
  • Exeter
  • St Davids
• Appendix IV: The medieval polychromy scheme of the Exeter Cathedral bishop’s throne: a summary
  • Introduction
  • Background summary
  • Inspection
  • Summary of findings
  • Conclusions
• Appendix V: Chudleigh, Norton and the carriage of timber for Exeter Cathedral’s bishop’s throne
  • The carriage of timber from Chudleigh to Norton
• Bibliography