Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Surprise meSurprise meSubscribe
Encyclopedia

Duke's Chair

Stone chair in Austria

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated June 4, 2025
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

The Duke's Chair, also known as the Duke's Seat (German: Herzogstuhl, Slovene: vojvodski prestol or vojvodski stol), is a medieval stone seat dating from the ninth century and located at the Zollfeld plain near Maria Saal, north of Klagenfurt in the Austrian state of Carinthia.

01History

The Duke's Chair, made mainly of Roman gravestones from nearby Virunum, actually consists of two stone seats, whose backrests are attached to each other. The larger seat, facing to the east, was reserved for the dukes, the other one, slightly older and facing to the west, for the counts palatine of the Meinhardiner dynasty.

Together with the Prince's Stone, it played an important role during the installation of the Dukes of Carinthia in a ceremony that may date back to the early medieval principality of Carantania. The chair was first mentioned as sedes Karinthani ducatus on the occasion of the installation of Duke Herman II of Spanheim in 1161. Here the newly installed duke had to swear an oath in German and received the homage of the estates. It was the last part of a series of rituals which consisted of the ducal installation on the Prince's Stone (performed in Slovene) and of a mass, which was held at the church of Maria Saal.

The last installation took place in 1651, though the Duke, Ferdinand of Habsburg, the son of Emperor Ferdinand III, did not take part in person, but was represented by a personal deputy.

Depiction by Leopold von Wien, Österreichische Chronik von den 95 Herrschaften, 14th century
Depiction by Leopold von Wien, Österreichische Chronik von den 95 Herrschaften, 14th century
1860 Drawing of the "Duke's Chair" with the Cathedral of Maria Saal in the background
1860 Drawing of the "Duke's Chair" with the Cathedral of Maria Saal in the background
Watch videos about Duke's ChairExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Duke's Chair”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.

Continue exploring

Related topics

Prince's Stone

The Prince's Stone is the reversed base of an ancient Ionic column that played an important role in the ceremony surrounding the installation of the princes of Carantania in the Early Middle Ages. After the incorporation into the Frankish Empire, the procedure, held in Slovene, was continued as the first part of the coronation of the Dukes of Carinthia.

Carantania

Carantania, also known as Carentania, was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Since the middle of the 8th century, it was allied with Bavaria against the Avars, and consequently became a vassal state of the Frankish Empire.

March of Carinthia

The March of Carinthia was a frontier district (march, or margraviate) of the Carolingian Empire. It was created in 889, by king Arnulf of East Francia, encompassing the region of Carantania.