1. An ecclesiastical court usu. held in the diocese cathedral and presided over by the bishop’s chancellor.
2. Hist. Eccles. law. (cap.) A court (usu.) held in the cathedral of a diocese, the judge being the bishop’s chancellor, who applied civil canon law. • The jurisdiction included appeals from the Court of Archdeacon. In a large diocese, the bishop’s chancellor would have commissaries in remote parts who held consistory courts. See CONSISTORY COURT.