Legal Definitions - advocatione decimarum

Advocatione decimarum refers to a historical legal document, specifically a type of court order, that the Church would use to compel individuals to pay tithes that were owed to it. Tithes were a traditional payment, typically one-tenth of one's annual produce or income, intended to support the clergy and church operations. This writ was essentially a legal mechanism to enforce the collection of these ecclesiastical dues when they were withheld or refused.

• Imagine a medieval village where a prosperous farmer, Thomas, consistently refuses to hand over his required tenth of the annual grain harvest to the local parish church. Despite repeated requests from the priest, Thomas keeps the full yield for himself, claiming he cannot afford it. To recover these unpaid tithes, the church authorities would petition a court to issue an advocatione decimarum. This writ would then legally compel Thomas to pay the outstanding tithes, potentially with additional penalties for his refusal, ensuring the church received its due support.

• Consider a wealthy landowner, Lord Alaric, who controls several manors. He is responsible for collecting the tithes from his many tenant farmers and passing them on to the diocese. However, due to a personal dispute with the local bishop or a desire to increase his own wealth, Lord Alaric withholds the collected tithes for several years. The church, unable to secure the payments through negotiation, could seek an advocatione decimarum against Lord Alaric. This legal order would force him to remit the accumulated tithes owed from his estates, thereby upholding the church's right to its traditional income.

• In a situation where a new fishing weir is established on a river that borders two different parishes, the owner of the weir, Eleanor, is unsure which church is entitled to the tithes from her catch. Both Parish A and Parish B claim the tithes. Unwilling to risk paying the wrong party, Eleanor withholds payment altogether. After attempts to resolve the jurisdictional dispute fail, one of the parishes (or both) might seek an advocatione decimarum from a higher ecclesiastical court. This writ would not only compel Eleanor to pay the tithes but also, in this complex scenario, help to legally determine which church had the rightful claim, thus enforcing the correct payment of the ecclesiastical dues.