patriarchate

n. jurisdiction of the patriarchy; patriarchy, social organization in which the father is the highest authority

A patriarchate is the office or jurisdiction of a patriarch. A patriarch, as the term is used here, is eitherone of the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, of whom there were originally four, but now nine; orone of the twelve highest-ranking bishops of Roman Catholicism: the Roman Pope, the seven "patriarchs of the east", and the bishops of Lisbon, Venice, Jerusalem, and the East Indies; orone of the specific patriarchs of the various Oriental Orthodox and Nestorian churches.
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Noun
1. the jurisdiction of a patriarch
(hypernym) jurisdiction
2. a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line
(synonym) patriarchy
(hypernym) social organization, social organisation, social structure, social system, structure

(n.)
The residence of an ecclesiastic patriarch.
  

(n.)
The office, dignity, or jurisdiction of a patriarch.
  

(n.)
A patriarchal form of government or society. See Patriarchal, a., 3.
  

Within the first 150 years, five cities were given the status of Patriarch: Rome , Alexandria , Antioch , Jerusalem , Constantinople . The bishop of each city was given the title of Patriarch and was thus elevated above his fellow bishops. The Bishop of Rome very early became an important player in church debates (often mediating between Alexandria and Antioch) and began to argue that it was "more equal" than the others. By the time Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem fell to the Moslems , the Bishop of Rome had begun to be called Pope and the struggle between the Pope in Rome and the Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople had begun.