What is "apostolic see"

See \See\, n. [OE. se, see, OF. se, sed, sied, fr. L. sedes a seat, or the kindred sedere to sit. See Sit, and cf. Siege.]

1. A seat; a site; a place where sovereign power is exercised. [Obs.]
   --Chaucer.

   Jove laughed on Venus from his sovereign see.
   --Spenser.

2. Specifically:

   1. The seat of episcopal power; a diocese; the jurisdiction of a bishop; as, the see of New York.

   2. The seat of an archbishop; a province or jurisdiction of an archbishop; as, an archiepiscopal see.

   3. The seat, place, or office of the pope, or Roman pontiff; as, the papal see.

   4. The pope or his court at Rome; as, to appeal to the see of Rome.

      Apostolic see. See under Apostolic.

Apostolic \Ap`os*tol"ic\, Apostolical \Ap`os*tol"ic*al\, a. [L. apostolicus, Gr. ?: cf. F. apostolique.]

1. Pertaining to an apostle, or to the apostles, their times, or their peculiar spirit; as, an apostolical mission; the apostolic age.

2. According to the doctrines of the apostles; delivered or taught by the apostles; as, apostolic faith or practice.

3. Of or pertaining to the pope or the papacy; papal.

   Apostolical brief. See under Brief.

   Apostolic canons, a collection of rules and precepts relating to the duty of Christians, and particularly to the ceremonies and discipline of the church in the second and third centuries.

   Apostolic church, the Christian church; -- so called on account of its apostolic foundation, doctrine, and order. The churches of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were called apostolic churches.

   Apostolic constitutions, directions of a nature similar to the apostolic canons, and perhaps compiled by the same authors or author.

   Apostolic fathers, early Christian writers, who were born in the first century, and thus touched on the age of the apostles. They were Polycarp, Clement, Ignatius, and Hermas; to these Barnabas has sometimes been added.

   Apostolic king (or majesty), a title granted by the pope to the kings of Hungary on account of the extensive propagation of Christianity by St. Stephen, the founder of the royal line. It is now a title of the emperor of Austria in right of the throne of Hungary.

   Apostolic see, a see founded and governed by an apostle; specifically, the Church of Rome; -- so called because, in the Roman Catholic belief, the pope is the successor of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, and the only apostle who has successors in the apostolic office.

   Apostolical succession, the regular and uninterrupted transmission of ministerial authority by a succession of bishops from the apostles to any subsequent period.
   --Hook.

In Christianity, an apostolic see is any episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus.

The fourth canon of the First Council of Nicaea of 325 attributed to the bishop of the capital (metropolis) of each Roman province (the " metropolitan bishop") a position of authority among the bishops of the province, without reference to the founding figure of that bishop's see. Its sixth canon recognized the wider authority, extending beyond a single province, traditionally held by Rome and Alexandria, and the prerogatives of the churches in Antioch and the other provinces. Of Aelia, the Roman city built on the site of the destroyed city of Jerusalem, the council's seventh canon reads: "Since custom and ancient tradition have prevailed that the Bishop of Aelia should be honoured, let him, saving its due dignity to the Metropolis, have the next place of honour." The metropolis in question is generally taken to be Caesarea Maritima, though in the late 19th century Philip Schaff also mentioned other views.