Legal Definitions - indicavit

Indicavit refers to a historical legal writ, or formal order, used in England primarily from the 14th century onwards. This writ allowed a patron of a church (the individual or entity with the right to appoint a cleric to a church position) to transfer a dispute from an ecclesiastical (church) court to a common-law court. The dispute typically involved two clerics each claiming the right to a benefice – a church office that provides income, such as a rectory or vicarage.

The transfer was permitted when the patron's rights were implicated, for instance, if the two clerics in dispute had been appointed by different patrons, or if the validity of the patron's appointment itself was at issue. The indicavit ensured that matters touching upon property rights or patronage, which were traditionally within the purview of common-law courts, could be decided by those courts rather than solely by church courts.

• Example 1: Competing Patronage Claims
  Imagine Lord Ashworth appointed Father Thomas to the rectory of St. Jude's. Simultaneously, Lady Beatrice, asserting an older right to patronage, appointed Father Michael to the very same rectory. Father Thomas and Father Michael would then find themselves in an ecclesiastical court, each claiming the benefice. Lord Ashworth, seeing his right to appoint challenged by Lady Beatrice's claim, would issue an indicavit. This action would move the case to a common-law court, which would then determine which patron (Lord Ashworth or Lady Beatrice) had the legitimate right to appoint, and consequently, which cleric rightfully held the benefice.
• Example 2: Indirect Challenge to a Patron's Authority
  Consider the Duke of Northumberland, who has long held the patronage of the wealthy Abbey of St. Giles. He appoints Father Gregory as the new abbot. However, a rival cleric, Father Benedict, challenges Father Gregory's appointment in the church court, arguing that the Duke's appointment was invalid because the previous abbot had already made a commitment to him. While the immediate dispute is between Father Gregory and Father Benedict, Father Benedict's argument indirectly questions the Duke's authority to appoint. In this scenario, the Duke, as patron, would use an indicavit to move the case to a common-law court to defend his established right of patronage.
• Example 3: Dispute Over the Nature of the Benefice Affecting Patronage
  Suppose the local squire, Sir Reginald, is the recognized patron of the small parish of Little Hopes, and he appoints Father John to the vicarage. Another cleric, Father Peter, then claims that the position is not a vicarage but a rectory, which carries different rights and income, and that *he* was appointed to the rectory by a different, older patron (perhaps a dissolved monastery whose rights are now being asserted). The dispute between Father John and Father Peter over the nature of the benefice and who holds it would initially be in an ecclesiastical court. However, Sir Reginald, as the current patron, has a direct interest in the correct classification of the benefice and the validity of his appointment to it. If the ecclesiastical court were to rule that it was a rectory under a different patronage, it would undermine Sir Reginald's established rights. He would therefore issue an indicavit to have a common-law court decide the true nature of the benefice and the rightful patron.