Antiquity

Originally, the Latin word consistorium meant simply 'sitting together', just as the Greek syn(h)edrion (from which the Biblical sanhedrin was a corruption). The Sanhedrin is the name given in the mishna to the council of seventy-one Jewish sages who constituted the supreme court and legislative body in Judea during the Roman period. ...

In the Roman empire though, it was specifically applied to a formal meeting of the Comites consistoriales, i.e. those members of the Emperor's court with the title of Comes (the translation count is rather confusing) who were assigned—and this conferred the highest rank amongst Comites—to advise him in official, important matters, suching as drafting bills and other written decisions, rather like the privy council of a feudal king. As the senate—in law still retaining the highest constitutional position, as the republic was never formally ended—lost most of its political importance, almost reducing it to a rubber stamp as a single-party state's parliament usually is, they stepped in as an official alternative power besides the throne, but real power could just as well lay mainly elsewhere, depending on the imperial favor and personal machinations. Comes is the Latin word for companion, either individually or as a member of a collective known as comitatus (compare comitatenses), especially the suite of a magnate, in some cases large and/or formal enough to have a specific name, such as a cohors amicorum. ... A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, especially in a monarchy. ...

Religion

Roman Catholic

The consistory is a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, except when convened to elect a new pope (then the name is conclave, and specific rules apply, also to its composition). Consistories are held in Vatican City for taking care of the business of the college, which usually involves advising the Pope on important matters concerning the church. The Sacred College of Cardinals is the body of all Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church. ... The Roman Catholic Church, also called the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian body in the world. ... The Sistine Chapel is the location of the conclave. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Catholic Church. ...

Since the Pope creates new cardinals in the presence of the college, the consistory is where this takes place. The identities of the cardinals-to-be are generally announced some time in advance, but only at the time of the consistory does the elevation to the cardinalate take effect, since that is when the Pope formally publishes the decree of elevation. Some men have died before the consistory date, and if a Pope dies before the consistory all the nominations are voided. However, the cardinal himself does not have to attend the consistory for his elevation to be effective. A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official in the Roman Catholic Church, ranking just below the Pope and appointed by him as a member of the College of Cardinals during a consistory. ...

Those new cardinals present are presented with their rings, zucchetti (small skullcaps), and biretti (four-cornered silk hats) by the Pope. Formerly they also received an elaborate broad-brimmed tasseled hat, the galerum rubrum, at the ceremony, but Pope Paul VI abolished this in 1967 and those cardinals who want these obtain them privately from a maker in Rome. Plural The zucchetto is a small skullcap worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church and within Anglicanism (the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.). It was first adopted for practical reasons — to keep the clergys tonsured heads warm in cold, damp churches — and has survived as a... The biretta is a square cap with three ridges or peaks (four for those who hold Doctorates of Sacred Theology or STD), surmounted by a tuft, traditionally worn by Roman Catholic clergy, as well as by some clergy of the Anglican Churches. ... Upon the death of a cardinal diocesan bishop, his galero is raised above the sanctuary of his cathedral church. ... Pope Paul VI (Latin: ), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (September 26, 1897 – August 6, 1978), reigned as Pope and as sovereign of Vatican City from 1963 to 1978. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The zucchetto, the biretta, and the galerum rubrum are all scarlet, the distinctive color of cardinals' vestments. When a diocesan cardinal dies, his galerum rubrum is suspended from the ceiling of his cathedral. Scarlet is a color with a hue between red and orange. ...

At the consistory cardinals are generally assigned titular churches in the diocese of Rome, though Paul VI abolished their functional involvement in the governance of these churches; the cardinals formally "take possession" of these churches at a later date. Pope Pius XI blesses Bishop Stephen Alencastre as fifth Apostolic Vicar of the Hawaiian Islands in a Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace window. ...

In Protestant churches

In Germany and Scandinavia, the word consistory (Konsistorium etc.) has been used for the chapter of a cathedral. In the Reformed Church, a Consistory is the board of elected church officials that include the Elders and the Deacons. Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ...

Jewish

A consistory is a somewhat comparable body of a Jewish community in an area, e.g. a country. There may be more than one sharing a territory, but defined by an 'ideological' tendency, e.g. an ortyhodox, conservative one and a liberal one in Belgium

Academic

The word consistory (konsistorium) is also used in the sense of "university board" at some universities in Germany, Scandinavia and Finland (when Swedish is used). In other countries another august assembly lends an alternative name to an equivalent body, e.g. senat in Belgium. A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ...