Legal Definitions - impropriation

Impropriation refers to a historical practice, primarily within ecclesiastical (church) law, where the financial rights or income associated with a church office or property (known as a benefice) were granted to a layperson. A layperson is someone who is not a member of the clergy. This grant meant that a non-clerical individual or a secular institution would receive the revenues, such as tithes or rents, that would traditionally support a priest or other spiritual office, even though a priest might still perform the religious duties of the parish.

• Example 1: A Noble Family's Income

  Imagine a powerful noble family in medieval England. The King, perhaps as a reward for loyalty or service, grants this family the right to collect the tithes (a portion of agricultural produce or income paid to the church) from a particular parish church's lands. The family then receives this income annually, rather than the local priest who serves the parish.

  This illustrates impropriation because the noble family consists of laypersons. The tithes represent the income from an ecclesiastical benefice (the financial support for the parish church). By receiving these tithes, the family is impropriating the benefice, meaning they benefit financially from church property without being clergy or a spiritual body.

• Example 2: A University's Endowment

  Consider a newly established university in the 16th century, founded by a wealthy patron who is not a member of the clergy. To ensure the university's long-term financial stability, the founder arranges for the income from several church rectories (parish churches with associated land and tithes) to be permanently assigned to the university. The university then uses these funds to pay professors and maintain its buildings.

  This is an example of impropriation because the university, as a secular educational institution, is a corporate lay entity. The income from the church rectories constitutes ecclesiastical benefices. The university's receipt and use of these funds for its non-religious purposes demonstrate the transfer of church income to a lay body.

• Example 3: Post-Reformation Land Grants

  Following the English Reformation, when many monasteries were dissolved, the Crown seized vast amounts of church property and income streams. In some instances, the financial rights that had previously supported a monastery (which would have been an "appropriation" to a spiritual body) were then granted to a loyal nobleman or a newly established secular charitable trust.

  Here, the nobleman or the secular trust represents a lay entity. The income streams, originally derived from former monastic lands and rights, are ecclesiastical benefices. The transfer of these financial benefits from a spiritual body (the monastery) to a lay individual or secular institution is a clear instance of impropriation.