faldstool

thumb|Faldstool displayed at Palazzo Vecchio in [[Florence, Italy]] thumb|Reconstruction faldstool, folded and unfolded thumb|Ecclesiastical faldstool, 1400s-1500s

Faldstool (from the O.H. Ger. falden or falten, "to fold," and stuol, Mod. Ger. Stuhl, "stool"; from the medieval Latin faldistolium derived, through the old form fauesteuil, from the Mod. Fr. fauteuil) is a portable folding chair, used by a bishop when not occupying the throne in his own cathedral, or when officiating in a cathedral or church other than his own; hence any movable folding stool used during divine service.