"The Sedan, a glass-windowed, cloth-lined enclosed chair or litter was developed in London during the early 1630s. Its name, according to Henry Peacham (1576-1644, author of Coach & Sedan, 1636) derives from the Principality of Sedan on the Meuse, an important centre of cloth manufacture and a Protestant enclave on the North European mainland. The two names ‘sedan’ and ‘chair’ were commonly combined curing the first decade of the 18^th century and by the late 19^th century the combined term came to describe all hand-carried transport with a seated occupant. Many European countries extended the use of earlier terms to include this new glass-windowed carrying chair. So France used chaise a porteur(s) and Spain silla de manos. In Italy portantina replaced seggiola, whilst in Germany Sänfte described the new chair as well as the mule-litters already in use."

         Via: A Brief history of the Sedan Chair