pulpitum

Latin pulpitum described any elevated platform from which a performance was given: the actors' stage, the speaker's rostrum, the high seat of a judge. Vitruvius, the Roman architect, used pulpitum for the raised stage at the front of the theatre where principal actors performed, as distinguished from the orchestra (the circular area where the chorus moved). The platform elevated the performer above the audience.

Christian preaching adopted pulpitum for the raised platform from which sermons were delivered. The word entered English as 'pulpit' in the 14th century, when elaborate carved wooden pulpits became standard church furnishings. The medieval pulpit was often positioned on a column in the middle of the nave, elevating the preacher so the entire congregation could see and hear.

The Reformation gave the pulpit a new centrality. Where Catholic practice centered the altar (for the Eucharist), Protestant practice centered the pulpit (for the Word). Calvinist and Puritan church design placed the pulpit at the front and center, displacing the altar. The sermon — preaching from Scripture — became the primary act of worship. The theatrical stage had become the primary religious instrument.

Today pulpit endures in 'bully pulpit' — Theodore Roosevelt's phrase for the presidency's platform for moral persuasion. Any elevated position for public speech is a pulpit: a media platform, a social media following, a bestselling book. The stage is wherever the audience looks.