impropriation
Definitions
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- noun The act of appropriating to private use; exclusive possession or assumption.
- noun In English ecclesiastical law: The act of putting the revenues of a benefice into the hands of a layman or lay corporation.
- noun That which is impropriated, as ecclesiastical property.
Examples
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The impropriation of tithes by the monasteries set an example which unscrupulous and powerful laymen were not slow to follow, with more or less pretence of respecting the forms of law.
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The right to receive tithes was granted to princes and nobles, even hereditarily, by ecclesiastics in return for protection or eminent services, and this species of impropriation became so intolerable that the Third Council of Lateran (1179) decreed that no alienation of tithes to laymen was permissible without the consent of the pope.
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We went to visit Bodville, the place where Mrs. Thrale was born; and the Churches called Tydweilliog and Llangwinodyl, which she holds by impropriation.
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They had unfortunately a reputation for avarice, and Toclive bought them off by giving them the impropriation of Merton and Hursleigh {25} for 53 marks a year.
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The clergy, though willing to be relieved from paying first-fruits to the crown, were not so loyal to the successors of St. Peter as to desire to restore their contributions into the old channel; while the laity, who from {p. 240} immemorial time had objected on principle to the payment of tribute to a foreign sovereign, were now, through their possession of the abbey lands and the impropriation of benefices, immediately interested parties.
Note
The word 'impropriation' comes from a Latin word meaning 'appropriate'.
