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Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical
benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
or church living, a process known as ''presentation'' (''jus praesentandi'', Latin: "the right of presenting"). The word derives, via French, from the Latin ''advocare'', from ''vocare'' "to call" plus ''ad'', "to, towards", thus a "summoning". It is the right to nominate a person to be parish priest (subject to episcopal – that is, one bishop's – approval), and each such right in each parish was mainly first held by the lord of the principal manor. Many small parishes only had one manor of the same name.


Origin

The creation of an advowson was a secondary development arising from the process of creating parishes across England in the 11th and 12th centuries, with their associated parish churches. A major impetus to this development was the legal exaction of agricultural
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
s specific to the support of churches and their clergy; landowners needed to establish parish churches on their lands in order to retain tithe income within their estates, and to this purpose sought to raise former field churches to parish church status. This was generally performed by a lord of a manor by rebuilding a church within the boundary of his manor, or within that of a newly
subinfeudated In English law, subinfeudation is the practice by which tenants, holding land under the king or other superior lord, carved out new and distinct tenures in their turn by sub-letting or alienating a part of their lands. The tenants were termed m ...
manor, and then transferring proprietary rights of certain individual named fields, mills or messuages (i.e. houses on the manor which earned rents) to establish a glebe. Where parish churches existed on manors established before the Norman Conquest of 1066, the position is less clear and records generally are scarce from which to reconstruct a history. Britain was split into dioceses, however, and many parish churches were established long before that time, and the process of their creation was likely similarly performed by Anglo-Saxon thanes as by Norman
lords Lords may refer to: * The plural of Lord Places *Lords Creek, a stream in New Hanover County, North Carolina *Lord's, English Cricket Ground and home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club People *Traci Lords (born 19 ...
and feudal barons. Initially feudal lords exercised seigneural ''
dominium means "dominion; control; ownership". It is used in some phrases and maxims in legal Latin: *Dominium directum – Direct ownership, that is control of the property, but not necessarily with right to its utilization or alienation. For example, a ...
'' over these new parish churches, exacting an ''introit'' fee on appointment, and an annual rent thereafter. The restriction of these seigneural rights to that of 'advowson', purely a right of presentation, developed with the process of
Gregorian Reform The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be nam ...
; in consequence of which payments from spiritual income to lay lords were forbidden. The new process was performed in conjunction with the bishop of the diocese in which the manor was situated. The lord of the manor, having incurred a very great expense in building the church and parsonage and having suffered a loss of income due to his donation of property to the glebe, quite reasonably insisted on the right to select the individual who would act as parish priest, from which office he could not be ejected by the lord until the priest's death. The bishop, without whose
consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
the new church would have no religious and spiritual stature, in turn demanded the right of confirmation of the appointment. Thus from the earliest time the advowson was "appurtenant to" the manor, that is to say it appertained to the manor and was exercisable by the lord. The advowson, being real property could be "alienated" (i.e. disposed of) by sale or gift of the patron, but with special licence from the overlord as was required for the alienation of the manor itself.


Presentation by turns

Where a manor was split into moieties due to inheritance by co-heiresses, the advowson was also split. Before the 13th century, this would commonly result in the rectory (and its advowson) being split into two or more portions, with the successors of each co-heiress from then on separately nominating a parish priest as their 'portioner'. Emerging Canon Law however, strongly deprecated dividing the cure of souls for a single parish in this way, and bishops ceased to allow such devices; except in the case of portionary collegiate foundations. Henceforth therefore, if a lord of a manor died without male issue but with two daughters, the manorial lands would be split into two moieties, still however within the original undivided parish, controlled by the husbands of each daughter, and the advowson would be held by each daughter's husband '' jure uxoris'' in turn. The husband of the elder daughter would have the right to the first presentation, that is to say, the right to appoint a new priest to the first vacancy, whilst the husband of the second daughter – or more usually, given the life tenure of priests, their descendant – would hold the right to the second presentation. Where manors were split into three or more moieties or "purparties", the turns of presentation expanded accordingly. Bishops then sought to convert existing portionary churches into presentation by turns; but portionary arrangements nevertheless survived in several parishes into the 19th century; and a few still operate (though in name only, the portions being united into a single incumbent). Patrons in need of ready cash might seek to capitalize on the value of their advowsons by selling turns of presentation; either the next turn singly, or alternate future turns as a long-term asset.


Encroachment of canon law

Canon law, however, by the 12th century, decreed that the right to present belonged to the saint to whom the church was dedicated and that only ecclesiastical courts could rule on cases involving advowsons. King Henry II's
Constitutions of Clarendon The Constitutions of Clarendon were a set of legislative procedures passed by Henry II of England in 1164. The Constitutions were composed of 16 articles and represent an attempt to restrict ecclesiastical privileges and curb the power of the Chur ...
held otherwise, and after
Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then ...
's murder, the king once more ruled that cases involving advowsons should be heard by secular courts.


Effect of the Reformation

In the Reformation in the 16th century, the Dissolution of the Monasteries led to the transfer of much monastic property to laymen, and with the properties passed the advowsons which the monasteries had held: thus creating a large group of lay patrons (see
impropriation Impropriation, a term from English ecclesiastical law, was the destination of the income from tithes of an ecclesiastical benefice to a layman. With the establishment of the parish system in England, it was necessary for the properties to have an ...
). In 1603, there were an estimated 3849 livings in the hands of lay impropriators out of a total of 9284. There were also many lords of manors and patrons of appurtenant livings who were
recusant Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...
s, that is to say who remained Roman Catholics and refused to adopt the new Protestant religion. Such patrons were disbarred from making presentations by the Presentation of Benefices Act 1605 (3 Jac. 1 c 5), which transferred the right for the time being to the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge according to the geographical location of the parish. The university was allowed to assign this right to a third party adherent to the new religion, for
consideration Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions. The court in '' Currie v Misa'' declare ...
or otherwise.


Legal status

Legally, advowsons were treated as real property that could be held or conveyed, and conversely could be taken or encumbered, in the same general manner as a parcel of land. Advowsons were among the earliest
incorporeal hereditament In common law, a hereditament (from Latin ''hereditare'', to inherit, from ''heres'', heir) is any kind of property that can be inherited. Hereditaments are divided into corporeal and incorporeal. Corporeal hereditaments are "such as affect the se ...
s, and often held in fee tail. Litigation (enabled in the temporal courts after the Reformation), on the basis of an advowson was somewhat specialized, with unique forms of action inapplicable to other realty, such as the writ of ''
quare impedit In English law, ''quare impedit'' was a writ commencing a common law action for deciding a disputed right of presentation to a benefice, a right known as an advowson. It was typically brought by a patron against a bishop who refuses to appoint the ...
'', by which a patron sued a bishop in support of his presented candidate, alleging unreasonable hindrance to succession to a benefice. Following reforms of parish administration in the late 19th century (principally the imposition of secular parishes and wider county and district authorities), the advowson had negligible commercial value. The Benefices Act 1898 (Amendment) Measure 1923 phased out advowsons so that they could not be sold or inherited after two vacancies occurred after 14 July 1924 and enabled their elimination earlier by direction of the current patron. It had the effect, however, in the words of the then Archbishop of Canterbury,
Cosmo Lang William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth, (31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was a Scottish Anglican prelate who served as Archbishop of York (1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942). His elevation to Archbishop ...
, in 1933, "that the sale of advowsons very rapidly increased. Patrons were eager to sell, and were advised to sell, while their proprietary rights had still some financial value, and there can be no doubt the opportunity was used very largely to secure advowsons for party purposes and for party trusts.". The purchase of advowsons to ensure that a parish became an Anglo-Catholic, or more often Evangelical, stronghold, had begun in the 19th century. It led to a number of situations where an incumbent was imposed on a parish, and had been partly dealt with by the establishment of Diocesan Boards of Patronage in 1932. The rich body of common law regarding advowsons can sometimes become relevant in modern times when dealing with disputes over modern incorporeal hereditaments, such as farming allotments, that are not handled by statute or adequately settled by other common law. An example is the 1980 case of ''First Victoria National Bank v. United States.


Value

Advowsons were valuable
asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...
s for a number of reasons, principally as a means for the patron to exert moral influence on the parishioners, who were his manorial tenants, through the teaching and sermons of the parish priest. The manor was a business enterprise, and it was important for its commercial success that all who lived there should live and work in harmony for a common purpose, and should obey the law of the land and of the manorial court. Such a law-abiding attitude could be fostered by a suitable parish priest, and clearly the appointment of a priest who preached against this would be a disaster for the interests of the lord of the manor. An appointment could also be used to provide an income for a valued servant in holy orders (such as a chaplain or secretary), or as a reward for past services rendered to the patron by the appointee. A benefice generally included use of a house, i.e. a vicarage,
parsonage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...
or rectory, as well as the income from the glebe and tithes, which would provide for the living expenses of the
incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-el ...
, and the value of the advowson would thus vary according to how richly endowed the glebe had been out of the lord of the manor's manorial lands. For example: the advowson of the parish of
Paulerspury Paulerspury is a civil parish and small village in West Northamptonshire, England. It is approximately south of Towcester and north of Milton Keynes along the A5 road (which follows the course of the Roman Road of Watling Street). The parish ...
in Northamptonshire (Peterborough diocese) was bought by New College, Oxford, in 1750 for the sum of £1,300. Advowsons were frequently used by lords and landowners as a means of providing a career and income for a younger son who, due to the custom of primogeniture, would not inherit any of the paternal lands. If the father did not already own a suitable advowson, he might purchase one for this purpose.


Value as historical records

The records of historic presentations to manors are held amongst the
muniment A muniment or muniment of title is a legal term for a document, title deed or other evidence, that indicates ownership of an asset. The word is derived from the Latin noun ''munimentum'', meaning a "fortification, bulwark, defence or protection". ...
s or archives of their dioceses. Often such records exist unbroken for several centuries, and record the names of the patron and the appointee, with related information. These records are thus of great value to non-ecclesiastical historians of the manors concerned, and also to genealogists, for example by confirming the name of the lord of the manor at a certain date, confirming the dates of his life, and the name of his heir, spouse or widow. Most of the secular historical records relating to manors are contained within
manorial roll A manorial roll or court roll is the roll or record kept of the activities of a manorial court, in particular containing entries relating to the rents and holdings, deaths, alienations, and successions of the customary tenants or copyholders."cou ...
s or in the archives of the ancient departments of state, for example the records of the Exchequer, royal courts etc. The existence of an entirely independent set of records within the diocesan archives, generally published in the calendars of the bishops of the see in question, is thus a valuable resource.


Current position

In the 20th century, it became the policy of many English sees (dioceses) to acquire the advowsons to the parish churches within their area. This gave the bishop total control over the selection of parish priests, which might give him political as well as religious influence over a parish. The distribution of the church income away from a select few means the days of the fiercely independent, often right-wing "fox-hunting parson" like Jack Russell (d. 1883), are extinct. Abolition of manorial courts in the 19th century and the gradual removal of copyhold title, ending in 1925, meant the powers, not the vestigial office, of the lord of the manor, were eliminated. Inheritants of any part of these lands could be expressed to hold the right of advowson appurtenant to their lands, in many cases impliedly, but not so in registered land. In most instances, lay holders are willing to donate them without payment to the diocese, on being asked to do so in a polite letter from the bishop. Advowsons have lower value to lay holders, since the ban on sale of livings is more easily enforced and few lay holders wish to exert a proxy influence over the morals of their neighbourhood, most of which would have from medieval times to the 19th century have been their tenants in the parish, nor in such a way for their younger children to be put forward for preferred selection as parish priests, which was in the era of
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
s often a source of high real-terms pay. Lay advowsons have been left by successive wills or estate successions and so it is a sign of past wealth to hold many advowsons. ''
Debrett's Peerage Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company, publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John Deb ...
'' of 1995 shows
John Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol Frederick William John Augustus Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol ( "Harvey"; 15 September 1954 – 10 January 1999), also known as John Jermyn and John Bristol, was a British hereditary peer, aristocrat and businessman. Although he inherite ...
(d. 1999), then aged 40, in a modern extreme example: he was "patron of thirty livings". Many advowsons rest with the
Church Society Church Society is a conservative, evangelical Anglican organisation and registered charity formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglican Church Association (founded 1865) and National Church League (founded 1906 by amalgamation of two earlier bodi ...
on the Protestant wing of the church, and on the Anglo-Catholic wing by
The Church Union The Church Union is an Anglo-Catholic advocacy group within the Church of England. The organisation was founded as the Church of England Protection Society on 12 May 1859 to challenge the authority of the English civil courts to determine questio ...
and
Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
. Donation to one of these can help to seek to see that style of worship remains constant over generations in a parish with slightly less regard to reforms in either direction introduced by the local bishops, though in all cases the ultimate decisions to appoint and promote rest with the bishops. This is tempered by the central policies of many faiths, but particularly churches, of subsidiarity (local differentiation) which is opposed to dogma from senior figures. In 2019, Teresa Sutton argued for three specific reforms in the Ecclesiastical Law Journal:
"First, propose a sunset rule on individual private lay patronage providing that personal patronage may no longer be passed onto another individual. Second, develop a nominal figurehead ‘charity patron’ role without formal rights of presentation for educational or guild patrons that are willing to retain supportive links with a church. Finally, recognise value in the work of the patronage societies in reflecting churchmanship through provision for societies to assist parishes, but only where PCCs opt into continuing that arrangement at the point of vacancy."
Anthony Jennings responded to Sutton's article describing her proposal to abolish private patronage as "drastic". In March 2021, the PCC of St Luke's, West Holloway announced it is seeking a patron other than the
Church Pastoral Aid Society The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836. History of the Society The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take 'the gospel to ...
. St Luke's is a member of
Inclusive Church Inclusive Church is an organisation founded in 2003 that advocates for the full inclusion of all people regardless of ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, in the Christian churches (especially the Church of England), including in the threef ...
and flies an
LGBT Pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sh ...
flag, an outlook not shared by CPAS, according to Rev John MacKenzie, vicar of the church. The PCC believes that "the CPAS board of trustees did not want to give up this patronage without acquiring another in its place, but might be willing to swap". Writing about the system of patronage, Martin Wroe suggested it is "time to disempower some of these hidden hierarchies and place a little more trust in the local".


See also

*
Annates Annates ( or ; la, annatae, from ', "year") were a payment from the recipient of an ecclesiastical benefice to the ordaining authorities. Eventually, they consisted of half or the whole of the first year's profits of a benefice; after the appropr ...
* Royal peculiar * Society for the Maintenance of the Faith


References


Bibliography

* Chadwick, Owen. ''The Victorian Church, Part II 1860-1901'' (1970) pp 207–17. * . * Smith, Peter M. "The advowson: The history and development of a most peculiar property." ''Ecclesiastical Law Journal'' 5#26 (2000): 320–339. *


External links

* {{Citation, url=http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v006/bg006123.pdf , last=MacLean , first=Sir John , title=The History of the Manors of Dean Magna and Abenhall , journal=Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society , volume=6 , date=1881{{ndash82 , at=167–71 ("History of presentations to the Rectory of Dene Magna, Gloucestershire, 1280–1879") , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429093745/http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v006/bg006123.pdf , archive-date=29 April 2015 . English legal terminology History of Christianity in the United Kingdom History of the Church of England Real property law de:Kirchenpatronat