Praeses
Encyclopedia
Praeses is a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 word meaning "Seated in front of, i.e. at the head (of a meeting or company)", has both ancient and modern uses.

Roman imperial use

Praeses, a common Latin word, meaning chief
Paramount chief
A paramount chief is the highest-level traditional chief or political leader in a regional or local polity or country typically administered politically with a chief-based system. This definition is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to the rulers of multiple...

 or patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...

, was increasingly used for Roman governor
Roman governor
A Roman governor was an official either elected or appointed to be the chief administrator of Roman law throughout one or more of the many provinces constituting the Roman Empire...

s during the 2nd century AD, largely replacing procurator
Procurator (Roman)
A procurator was the title of various officials of the Roman Empire, posts mostly filled by equites . A procurator Augusti was the governor of the smaller imperial provinces...

. When Diocletian
Diocletian
Diocletian |latinized]] upon his accession to Diocletian . c. 22 December 244  – 3 December 311), was a Roman Emperor from 284 to 305....

 remodeled the system at the end of the 3rd century, he reduced the sizes of the province
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...

s and called all provincial governors praesides. He also made it impossible for Roman Senators to be governors, restricting the office entirely to the equites
Equestrian (Roman)
The Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the patricians , a hereditary caste that monopolised political power during the regal era and during the early Republic . A member of the equestrian order was known as an eques...

 (knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

s). In the 6th Century, when Justinian increasingly reversed Diocletian's strict separation of civil and military authority, praeses granted military authority over their province were generally elevated to the related, older term Praetor
Praetor
Praetor was a title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, usually in the field, or the named commander before mustering the army; and an elected magistratus assigned varied duties...

.

Provinces administered by a Praeses

According to the Notitia dignitatum
Notitia Dignitatum
The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...

(circa AD 400), the following provinces were administered by a Praeses (grouped by diocese
Roman diocese
A Roman or civil diocese was one of the administrative divisions of the later Roman Empire, starting with the Tetrarchy. It formed the intermediate level of government, grouping several provinces and being in turn subordinated to a praetorian prefecture....

):

There were thirty-one provincial praesides in the Western Roman Empire
Western Roman Empire
The Western Roman Empire was the western half of the Roman Empire after its division by Diocletian in 285; the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire, commonly referred to today as the Byzantine Empire....

:
  • four in Illyricum: Dalmatia
    Dalmatia (Roman province)
    Dalmatia was an ancient Roman province. Its name is probably derived from the name of an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae which lived in the area of the eastern Adriatic coast in Classical antiquity....

    , Pannonia Prima
    Pannonia Prima
    Pannonia Prima was an ancient Roman province. It was formed in the year 296, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. Previously, it was a part of the province of Pannonia, which was gradually divided into four administrative units: Pannonia Prima, Pannonia Secunda, Valeria, and Savia. This...

    , Noricum mediterraneum
    Noricum
    Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...

    , Noricum ripense
    Noricum
    Noricum, in ancient geography, was a Celtic kingdom stretching over the area of today's Austria and a part of Slovenia. It became a province of the Roman Empire...

  • seven in Italia: Alpes Cottiae
    Alpes Cottiae
    Alpes Cottiae was a province of the Roman Empire, one of three small provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy. Its name survives in the modern Cottian Alps. In antiquity, the province's most important duty was the safeguarding of communications over the Alpine passes...

    , Rhaetia Prima
    Raetia
    Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It was bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, on the east by Noricum, on the north by Vindelicia, on the west by Cisalpine Gaul and on south by Venetia et Histria...

     and Secunda
    Raetia
    Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It was bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, on the east by Noricum, on the north by Vindelicia, on the west by Cisalpine Gaul and on south by Venetia et Histria...

    , Samnium
    Samnium
    Samnium is a Latin exonym for a region of south or south and central Italy in Roman times. The name survives in Italian today, but today's territory comprising it is only a small portion of what it once was. The populations of Samnium were called Samnites by the Romans...

    , Valeria, Sardinia
    Sardinia
    Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

    , Corsica
    Corsica
    Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

    .
  • two in Africa
    Diocese of Africa
    The Diocese of Africa was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of North Africa, except Mauretania Tingitana. Its seat was at Carthage, and it was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Italy....

    : Mauretania Sitifensis, Tripolitana
  • four in Hispania: Tarraconensis, Carthaginensis, Mauretania Tingitana
    Mauretania Tingitana
    Mauretania Tingitana was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa, coinciding roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco. The province extended from the northern peninsula, opposite Gibraltar, to Chellah and Volubilis to the south, and as far east as the Oued Laou river. Its...

    , Insulae Baleares
    Balearic Islands
    The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

  • eleven in Gallia
    Diocese of Gaul
    The Diocese of Gaul was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, under the praetorian prefecture of Gaul...

    : Alpes Maritimae
    Alpes Maritimae
    Alpes Maritimae was a province of the Roman Empire, one of three small provinces straddling the Alps between modern France and Italy...

    , Alpes Poenninae et Graiae
    Alpes Poenninae
    Alpes Poeninae, also known as Alpes Graiae, was a small Alpine province of the Roman Empire, one of three such provinces in the western Alps between Italy and Gaul. It comprised the Val d'Aosta region and the Canton Valais . Its strongest indigenous tribe were the Salassi. Their territory was...

    , Maxima Sequanorum, Aquitanica Prima
    Gallia Aquitania
    Gallia Aquitania was a province of the Roman Empire, bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, and Hispania Tarraconensis...

     and Secunda
    Gallia Aquitania
    Gallia Aquitania was a province of the Roman Empire, bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, and Hispania Tarraconensis...

    , Novempopulana, Narbonensis Prima
    Gallia Narbonensis
    Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...

     and Secunda
    Gallia Narbonensis
    Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia and it contained a western region known as Septimania...

    , Lugdunensis Secunda
    Gallia Lugdunensis
    Gallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul. It is named after its capital Lugdunum , possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint...

    , Tertia
    Gallia Lugdunensis
    Gallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul. It is named after its capital Lugdunum , possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint...

     and Senonica
    Gallia Lugdunensis
    Gallia Lugdunensis was a province of the Roman Empire in what is now the modern country of France, part of the Celtic territory of Gaul. It is named after its capital Lugdunum , possibly Roman Europe's major city west of Italy, and a major imperial mint...

  • three in Britannia: Britannia Prima
    Britannia Prima
    Britannia Prima was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c. 312 AD. It was probably created as part of the administrative reforms of the Roman Emperor Diocletian after the defeat of the usurper Allectus by Constantius Chlorus in 296 AD. In the 3rd century, the Romans created...

     and Secunda
    Britannia Secunda
    Britannia Secunda was one of the provinces of Roman Britain in existence by c. 312 AD and probably created as part of the administrative reforms of the Roman Emperor Diocletian after the defeat of the usurper Allectus by Constantius Chlorus in 296 AD. The governors of Britannia Secunda were of...

    , Flavia Caesariensis
    Flavia Caesariensis
    Flavia Caesariensis was one of the provinces of Roman Britain.It was created in the early 4th century under the reforms of Diocletian and it has been suggested that its capital may have been at Lincoln...

    .


There were forty provincial praesides in the Eastern Roman Empire:
  • five in Egypt: Libya Superior
    Cyrenaica
    Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...

     and Inferior
    Cyrenaica
    Cyrenaica is the eastern coastal region of Libya.Also known as Pentapolis in antiquity, it was part of the Creta et Cyrenaica province during the Roman period, later divided in Libia Pentapolis and Libia Sicca...

    , Thebais, Ægyptus, Arcadia
    Arcadia Ægypti
    Arcadia or Arcadia Ægypti was an ancient region in Roman-controlled Egypt. The territory was mostly carved from the former region, Heptanomis, and included the nomes of Memphites, Heracleopolites, Arsinoites, Aphroditopolites, Oxyrhyncites, which together form the northern portion of the...

    .
  • eight in Oriens
    Diocese of the East
    The Diocese of the East was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the western Middle East, between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia...

    : Palaestina Salutaris and Secunda, Phoenice Libanensis, Euphratensis, Syria Salutaris, Osrhoene, Mesopotamia, Cilicia Secunda
    Cilicia
    In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...

  • seven in Asiana
    Diocese of Asia
    The Diocese of Asia was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of western Asia Minor and the islands of the eastern Aegean Sea...

    : Pisidia
    Pisidia
    Pisidia was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Lycia, and bordering Caria, Lydia, Phrygia and Pamphylia. It corresponds roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey...

    , Lycaonia
    Lycaonia
    In ancient geography, Lycaonia was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor, north of Mount Taurus. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by Phrygia and Pisidia, while to the south it extended to the chain of Mount Taurus, where it bordered on the...

    , Phrygia Pacatiana
    Phrygia
    In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...

     and Salutaris
    Phrygia
    In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey. The Phrygians initially lived in the southern Balkans; according to Herodotus, under the name of Bryges , changing it to Phruges after their final migration to Anatolia, via the...

    , Lycia
    Lycia
    Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...

    , Caria
    Caria
    Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...

    , Insulae.
  • eight in Pontica
    Diocese of Pontus
    The Diocese of Pontus was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of northern and northeastern Asia Minor up to the border with the Sassanid Empire in Armenia. The diocese was established after the reforms of Diocletian, and its vicarius, headquartered at Amaseia, was...

    : Honorias
    Honorias
    Honorias was a late Roman province encompassing parts of Bithynia and Paphlagonia in Asia Minor . Its capital was Claudiopolis , and its governor was of the rank of praeses....

    , Cappadocia Prima
    Cappadocia (Roman province)
    Cappadocia was a province of the Roman empire in Anatolia , with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the emperor Tiberius , following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Archelaus. It was an imperial province, meaning that its governor was directly appointed by the emperor...

     and Secunda
    Cappadocia (Roman province)
    Cappadocia was a province of the Roman empire in Anatolia , with its capital at Caesarea. It was established in 17 AD by the emperor Tiberius , following the death of Cappadocia's last king, Archelaus. It was an imperial province, meaning that its governor was directly appointed by the emperor...

    , Helenopontus, Pontus Polemoniacus, Armenia Prima
    Roman Armenia
    From the end of the 1st century BC onwards, Armenia was, in part or whole, subject to the Roman Empire and its successor, the East Roman or Byzantine Empire...

     and Secunda
    Roman Armenia
    From the end of the 1st century BC onwards, Armenia was, in part or whole, subject to the Roman Empire and its successor, the East Roman or Byzantine Empire...

    , Galatia Salutaris
    Galatia (Roman province)
    Galatia was the name of a province of the Roman Empire in Anatolia . It was established by the first emperor, Augustus , in 25 BC, covering most of formerly independent Celtic Galatia, with its capital at Ancyra....

    .
  • four in Thracia
    Diocese of Thrace
    The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, incorporating the provinces of the eastern Balkan Peninsula The Diocese of Thrace was a diocese of the later...

    : Haemimontus, Rhodope
    Rhodope (Roman province)
    Rhodope was a late Roman and early Byzantine province, situated on the northern Aegean coast. A part of the Diocese of Thrace, it extended along the Rhodope Mountains range, covering parts of modern Western Thrace and south-western Bulgaria. The province was headed by a governor of the rank of...

    , Moesia Secunda
    Moesia
    Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...

    , Scythia
    Scythia Minor
    Scythia Minor, "Lesser Scythia" was in ancient times the region surrounded by the Danube at the north and west and the Black Sea at the east, corresponding to today's Dobruja, with a part in Romania and a part in Bulgaria....

  • four in Dacia
    Diocese of Dacia
    The Diocese of Dacia was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern Serbia and western Bulgaria. It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum...

    : Dacia ripensis
    Dacia Ripensis
    Dacia Ripensis was the name of a Roman province first established by Aurelian circa 283 AD, south of the Danube River, after he withdrew from Dacia Traiana.-History:...

    , Moesia Prima
    Moesia
    Moesia was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans, along the south bank of the Danube River. It included territories of modern-day Southern Serbia , Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, and Budjak .-History:In ancient...

    , Praevalitana
    Praevalitana
    Praevalitana was an ancient Roman province. It included parts of present-day Albania, Montenegro and Serbia.-History:...

    , Dardania
  • four in Macedonia
    Diocese of Macedonia
    The Diocese of Macedonia was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, forming part of the praetorian prefecture of Illyricum. Its capital was Thessalonica....

    :Thessalia, Epirus vetus and nova, Macedonia salutaris.

Old German Academic Use

In German academia a doctoral advisor is called the Doktorvater. However in the 18th century and before, the doctoral system was quite different. Instead of a Doktorvater, as such, the candidate had a praeses to act as mentor and who would also head the oral viva voce exam. In the 18th century the praeses often chose the subject and compiled the theses and the candidate had only to defend. Sometimes there were several candidates at the same time defending the same thesis, in order to save time.

Modern use

The chair
Chair (official)
The chairman is the highest officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office is typically elected or appointed by the members of the group. The chairman presides over meetings of the assembled group and conducts its business in an...

 of a student society
Student society
A student society or student organization is an organization, operated by students at a university, whose membership normally consists only of students. They are often affiliated with a university's students' union...

 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 or Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 may be called a praeses; in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 the official spelling has changed to "preses" but most student societies still observe the Latin spelling. Various minor offices may be designated be a compound title, e.g. dooppraeses in charge of initiation
Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...

 and associated hazing
Hazing
Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....

.

The leader of the Aquila Legis Fraternity
Aquila Legis
The Aquila Legis is a Filipino fraternity based in the Ateneo de Manila School of Law. Founded in 1949, it was the first fraternity founded by Ateneo Law School students, and the first fraternity in the Philippines using Latin nomenclature, preceding a number of Philippine law-based fraternities...

, a law based fraternity in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, is called Praeses.

In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, the office of archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...

 has been abolished. Instead, the Church of Norway
Church of Norway
The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...

 has a Bishop’s Conference which is presided over by a praeses which is elected for four years. Also the church bodies
Landeskirche
In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche is the church of a region. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany or Cantons of Switzerland , that later unified to form modern Germany or modern Switzerland , respectively.-Origins in the Holy Roman...

 Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is a united Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse . This is actually the area covered by the former Prussian Rhine Province until 1920. It is the most important Protestant...

 and Evangelical Church of Westphalia
Evangelical Church of Westphalia
The Evangelical Church of Westphalia is a Protestant church body in the German state of Northrhine-Westphalia. It's the most important Protestant denomination in Westphalia...

, which do not know the title and function of bishop, are chaired by a praeses . In other German church bodies the title usually refers to the president of the synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

.

Roman Catholic monastic institutions, especially Franciscans use the term to indicate the presiding officer of a collegial meeting of the order.
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