Commendam

Commendam (or in commendam) was a form of ecclesiastical commendation (a grant of property by the church in return for service) that came in to common use in the 14th and 15th centuries. The origins can be found in the Early Middle Ages when, during periods of upheaval and invasion, church property (ecclesiastical benefice) would be given to someone (usually a member of the church) to safeguard until order was restored. The safeguarder would then receive any revenues generated from the property in return.

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By the 14th century, however, grants in commendam were used by papal officials to increase the coffers of favorite church members, even sometimes laymen. The arrangements were no longer temporary and could last a lifetime. Monastic communities, from which the grants were taken, were hard hit; they lost the revenues and gained nothing in return. By the 16th century the practice was less common, but remains to this day in limited form.

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The custom of giving benefices in commendam dates back to the fourth century. St. Ambrose makes mention of a church which he gave in commendam, while he was Bishop of Milan: "Commendo tibi, fili, Ecclesiam quae est ad Forum Cornelii . . . donec ei ordinetur episcopus (Ep. ii, P.L., XVI, 886-87) The Third Council of Orleans, held in 538, in its eighteenth canon puts commendams under episcopal supervision. St. Gregory the Great on various occasions gave churches and monasteries in commendam to such bishops as had been driven from their sees by the invading barbarians, or whose own churches were too poor to furnish them a decent livelihood (Epp. i, 40; ii, 38; iii, 13; vi, 21; in P. L., LXXVII, 493, 577, 614, 812). In course of time the custom arose of allowing ecclesiastics, and even laymen, to draw the revenues of ecclesiastical benefices, without having any jurisdiction over spiritual affairs. In many cases, also, the one who held a benefice in commendam in this manner had the right and the obligation to engage and pay an ecclesiastic for fulfilling the spiritual obligations of the benefice. In the Middle Ages such commendams were often given to students, professors, church diplomats, cardinals, and others. The pope has now reserved to himself the right of giving benefices in commendam, but makes use of this right only in cases of cardinals who reside in Rome.

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The word "commendam" is the accusative of the Low Latin noun commenda, "trust", or "custody", which is derived from the verb commendare ("to give in trust"). The phrase in commendam was originally applied to the provisional collation and occupation of an ecclesiastical benefice which was temporarily without an actual occupant. It was thus opposed to the phrase in titulum which was applied to the regular and unconditioned collation of benefices.

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Early Middle Ages: The Early Middle Ages is a term denoting the period of European history between approximately the 5th and 10th centuries. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages. The period saw a continuation of trends set in Late Antiquity, including...