Advowson facts for kids

Advowson, also known as patronage, is a special right in English law. It allows a person, called a patron, to suggest someone to a bishop for a church job. This job is usually for a parish priest in a local church. The process of suggesting someone is called presentation.

The word "advowson" comes from a French word, which itself came from the Latin word advocare. This means "to call to" or "to summon". So, it's about calling someone to a church position. In the past, this right was often held by the lord of the manor, who was the main landowner in a local area. Many small parishes had just one manor, so the lord of that manor held the advowson.

How Advowsons Started

Advowsons began to appear as parishes and their churches were created across England, mostly in the 11th and 12th centuries. A big reason for this was the system of tithes. Tithes were like a tax, where people gave a tenth of their farm produce or income to support the church and its priests.

Landowners wanted to keep these tithe payments within their own estates. So, they built new churches or improved existing ones on their land. They also set aside special land, called a glebe, to provide income for the priest.

Before the Norman Conquest in 1066, similar things happened with Anglo-Saxon lords. They also established churches. At first, these lords had a lot of control over the churches they built. They might even charge a fee when a new priest was appointed or an annual rent.

However, over time, church rules changed. These rules, part of the "Gregorian Reform," said that lay lords (non-church people) could not take money from church income. So, the lords' rights became limited to just the "advowson"—the right to present a candidate. This new system worked with the bishop of the area, who had to approve the chosen priest.

Since the lord of the manor spent a lot of money building the church and providing land for the priest, it made sense that they wanted to choose who would be the priest. The bishop, on the other hand, needed to approve the choice to make sure the church had proper religious standing. So, from the beginning, the advowson was closely linked to the manor and was used by its lord.

This right, being a type of property, could be sold or given away. But like the manor itself, it often needed special permission from the lord's own overlord.

Sharing the Right to Choose

Sometimes, a manor would be split, for example, if a lord died and his land was divided between his daughters. In such cases, the advowson was also split. Before the 13th century, this could mean the church's income and the right to choose a priest were literally divided. Each heir would then choose a "portioner" priest.

However, new church laws strongly disliked dividing the care of souls for a single parish. Bishops stopped allowing this, except for some special church groups. So, if a lord had two daughters, the manor lands would be split. The advowson would then be shared, with each daughter's family taking turns to choose the priest. The family of the elder daughter would usually get the first turn, and the other family would get the second turn, and so on.

If a manor was split into three or more parts, the turns for choosing a priest would expand accordingly. Sometimes, patrons who needed money would sell their turns to choose a priest. They might sell the very next turn or even alternate turns far into the future.

Church Law and Kings

By the 12th century, church law said that the right to choose a priest belonged to the saint the church was named after. It also said that only church courts could decide cases about advowsons. However, King Henry II disagreed. After the murder of Thomas Becket, the king made sure that cases about advowsons were heard in regular, non-church courts.

The Reformation's Impact

During the Reformation in the 16th century, many monasteries were closed down. Their properties, including the advowsons they held, were transferred to ordinary people. This created a large group of lay patrons (people who were not church officials). By 1603, about 3,849 church positions out of 9,284 were controlled by these lay patrons.

Some lords of manors and patrons were "recusants," meaning they remained Roman Catholics and did not adopt the new Protestant religion. A law passed in 1605 (the Presentation of Benefices Act 1605) stopped these Catholic patrons from choosing priests. Their right was temporarily given to the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, depending on where the parish was located. The universities could then pass this right on to someone who followed the new Protestant faith.

Legal Status of Advowsons

Legally, advowsons were treated like real property, similar to land. They could be owned, sold, or have debts placed on them. They were considered one of the earliest "incorporeal hereditaments," meaning rights that could be inherited but were not physical things.

Over time, as parish administration changed in the late 1800s, advowsons lost most of their commercial value. A law in 1923 (the Benefices Act 1898 (Amendment) Measure 1923) aimed to gradually end the sale and inheritance of advowsons. It stated that after two vacancies occurred after July 14, 1924, advowsons could no longer be sold or inherited.

However, this law had an unexpected effect. As the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, noted in 1933, the sale of advowsons actually increased rapidly. Patrons wanted to sell them while they still had some financial value. This led to advowsons being bought by groups with specific religious aims, like Anglo-Catholic or Evangelical groups, to ensure a certain style of worship in a parish. This practice had started in the 19th century and sometimes led to priests being forced upon parishes. To address this, Diocesan Boards of Patronage were set up in 1932.

Why Advowsons Were Valuable

Advowsons were valuable for several reasons:

• Influence: They allowed the patron to have a moral influence over the local people, especially their tenants, through the priest's teachings and sermons.
• Community harmony: For a manor to succeed, it was important for everyone to live and work together. A good priest could help foster a law-abiding attitude.
• Rewards: An advowson could be used to provide an income for a valued servant who was also a priest, or as a reward for past services to the patron.

A church job (benefice) usually included a house (like a vicarage or rectory) and income from the glebe land and tithes. This income would cover the priest's living expenses. So, the value of an advowson depended on how much land and income the church had. For example, the advowson for the parish of Paulerspury was bought for £1,300 in 1750.

Advowsons were also often used by lords to provide a career and income for a younger son. Because of the custom of primogeniture (where the eldest son inherits everything), younger sons might not inherit land. If a father didn't own a suitable advowson, he might buy one for this purpose.

Advowsons as Historical Records

Records of who was chosen for church positions are kept in the archives of the local diocese (the bishop's area). These records often go back for centuries and list the names of the patron and the priest, along with other details.

These records are very useful for historians studying manors and for genealogists (people who study family histories). They can confirm who was the lord of a manor at a certain time, their life dates, and the names of their heirs or spouses. Most historical records about manors are found in manor rolls or government archives. So, having a separate set of records in church archives is a valuable resource.

Advowsons Today

In the 20th century, many English dioceses started to buy advowsons for the churches in their areas. This gave the bishop more control over choosing priests. This also meant that the church's income was distributed more widely, rather than being concentrated among a few wealthy individuals. This change helped to end the era of the very independent, sometimes wealthy, "fox-hunting parson."

With the end of manorial courts in the 19th century and the removal of copyhold land titles by 1925, the power of the lord of the manor mostly disappeared.

Today, if someone inherits land that includes an advowson, they hold that right. In most cases, people who hold these rights are willing to give them to the diocese without payment, especially if the bishop asks politely. Advowsons have less value to private owners now because selling church positions is harder to do, and few people want to control the morals of their neighborhood in this way. Also, the idea of providing a good income for younger children through church positions is no longer as relevant.

Some advowsons are held by religious societies, like the Church Society (Protestant wing) or The Church Union (Anglo-Catholic wing). Donating an advowson to one of these groups can help ensure a certain style of worship continues in a parish, even if local bishops introduce reforms. However, bishops still have the final say in appointments.

In recent discussions, some people have suggested reforms for advowsons. For example, Teresa Sutton proposed ending the ability for private individuals to pass on advowsons. She also suggested a "charity patron" role for educational groups and allowing patronage societies to help parishes only if the local church council agrees. Others, like Anthony Jennings, have called such proposals "drastic."

In March 2021, the PCC (the local church council) of St Luke's, West Holloway, announced it was looking for a new patron. Their current patron, the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS), has different views from St Luke's, which is an Inclusive Church and flies an LGBT Pride flag. The PCC believes CPAS might be willing to swap advowsons with another group. This shows that the system of patronage is still being debated today, with some arguing for more local control over priest appointments.

See Also

• Annates
• Royal peculiar
• Society for the Maintenance of the Faith