Legal Definitions - impetration

Impetration refers to a historical practice involving the formal act of petitioning or requesting something, typically a legal order or an ecclesiastical appointment. It describes the process of seeking to obtain a specific grant or authorization through a formal request.

Historically, this term was used in two main contexts:

• In a legal sense: It referred to the act of formally petitioning a court or sovereign for a specific legal instrument, such as a writ (a formal written order issued by a court).
• In an ecclesiastical (church) law sense: It described the act of formally requesting and obtaining a papal benefice (an endowed church office or position) from the Pope, often with the intention of bestowing it upon another person, such as a king appointing a loyal subject to a church office.

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of impetration:

• Example 1 (Historical Legal Context): Imagine a wealthy landowner in 14th-century England who believes a neighboring lord has illegally seized a portion of his estate. To initiate legal proceedings, the landowner would engage in impetration by formally petitioning the King's court to issue a specific writ, such as a writ of novel disseisin, which would command the sheriff to investigate and restore possession if the claim was valid.

  This example illustrates impetration as the formal act of requesting a specific legal order (a writ) from a judicial authority to address a grievance and initiate a legal process.

• Example 2 (Historical Ecclesiastical Context): Consider a powerful European monarch in the 15th century who wishes to reward a loyal but younger son with a prestigious and financially lucrative church position, such as an abbacy (the office of an abbot). The monarch would undertake impetration by formally requesting the Pope to grant this specific benefice, which the monarch would then bestow upon his chosen son.

  Here, impetration describes the act of a lay patron (the king) formally requesting a church office from the supreme ecclesiastical authority (the Pope), not for personal use, but for the purpose of appointing someone else to it.