Impropriation

Impropriation

Impropriation, a term from English Ecclesiastical Law, refers to taking the profits from the sale of church property and placing them in the care of a layman or lay corporation for care and distribution. The institution was primarily used in the Church of England before the English Civil War and usually entailed buying the right to appoint the minister in a certain region.

Impropriations were deeply controversial because they were a form of simony. Impropriations could be purchased to increase the influence of one's favored interpretation of the Protestant movement. This was problematic because churchgoers had little alternative to the official church and impropriations were used primarily during a religiously formative period in English history when power balance between Protestant (primarily between Established and Puritain) sects was of great moment. It was also criticized because, when used to increase a minister's power, the policy exacerbated the habit of "pluralism," where one minister would serve several churches, usually inadequately.

Impropriations came under attack from the Puritan at the Hampton Court Conference of 1604. James I of England agreed to abolish them, but the reform was never acted on. An underground organization of radical Puritans known as the Feoffees for the Purchase of Impropriations responded by raising funds collectively to appoint known Puritans as ministers in the Church of England. The Feoffees would be subject to suppression by the establishment High Church Party.

A particular manifestation of the controversy brought about through Impropriation concerned the collecting of Tithes in the seventeenth century,of which the refusal to pay was an article of faith tenaciously held by the Quakers, especially in the period from 1652 to 1700.

For further reading on the Quakers, impropriation and the tithe seeEric J Evans: "The Contentious tithe", RKP 1979Christopher Hill, "Economic Problems of the CHurch" OUP, 1953NJ Morgan "Lancashire Quakers and the Tithe"; Bulletin of JRUL, no 70, vol 3, 1988


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Impropriation — Im*pro pri*a tion, n. 1. The act of impropriating; as, the impropriation of property or tithes; also, that which is impropriated. [1913 Webster] 2. (Eng. Eccl. Law) (a) The act of putting an ecclesiastical benefice in the hands of a layman, or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Improprĭation — (neulat.), Belehnung unter Abänderung der regelmäßigen Eigenschaften (Naturalien) des Lehens, daher der Gegensatz von eigentlichen und uneigentlichen Lehen (feuda propria, recta, regularia und f impropria, irregularia) …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • impropriation — index appropriation (taking), arrogation, assignment (transfer of ownership), assumption (seizure), condemnation (seizure) …   Law dictionary

  • impropriation — noun a) The act of impropriating; as, the impropriation of property or tithes; also, that which is impropriated. b) The act of putting an ecclesiastical benefice in the hands of a layman, or lay corporation …   Wiktionary

  • IMPROPRIATION —    the transference of the revenues of a benefice to a layman or lay body to be devoted to spiritual uses …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • impropriation — im·pro·pri·a·tion …   English syllables

  • impropriation — In ecclesiastical law, the annexing an ecclesiastical benefice to the use of a lay person, whether individual or corporate, in the same way as appropriation is the annexing of any such benefice to the proper and perpetual use of some spiritual… …   Black's law dictionary

  • impropriation — In ecclesiastical law, the annexing an ecclesiastical benefice to the use of a lay person, whether individual or corporate, in the same way as appropriation is the annexing of any such benefice to the proper and perpetual use of some spiritual… …   Black's law dictionary

  • impropriation — The investiture of a benefice in a layman or in a lay corporation …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • impropriation — (ˌ)imˌprōprēˈāshən, əm noun ( s) 1. : the act of impropriating or state of being impropriate 2. : something impropriated : appropriation …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”