What Is a Church Endowment?

A form of feudal land ownership in Western Europe from the 4th to 15th century AD. The Christian Church owns the land and uses or serf labor.

Western European Church Territory

Right!

A form of feudal land ownership in Western Europe from the 4th to 15th century AD. The Christian Church owns the land and uses or serf labor.

Chinese name

Western European Church Territory

Time

4th to 15th century

Place

Western Europe

Types of

A form of feudal land ownership

In 321, Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire allowed Christian churches to own real estate. Since then, nobles often donated land to the church as a sign of atonement. If the believer has no children, the inheritance also belongs to the church. The church also requires believers with children to donate part of the inheritance to the church to save the soul. In the second half of the 4th century, pagan temples were gradually banned, and their industries were also classified as Christian churches. As a result, the land owned by Christian churches has increased year by year. These lands are called divine possessions and are controlled by the bishop. Christian church regulations of 330 and 341 AD stipulate that the church industry is operated by groups. Since the 5th century, the regulations on the non-transferability of the property rights of church property have become increasingly strict. In 470 AD, the laws of the Eastern Roman Empire stipulated that the property rights of churches could not be changed. At the same time that the private property was transferred to the church, the slaves attached to the land were also transferred to the church. Roman law provided that the bishop had the right to release the slave, but he remained attached to the master after release.

After the 6th century, the territorial economy of the church developed rapidly, so that at the end of the 6th century, the Frank aristocratic resentment the church drained the kingdom's wealth. In the 9th century, after Charles the Great, kings and nobles often allocated a portion of the land under their jurisdiction to churches or monasteries as territories in exchange for political support. Like the secular lords, the church lords will swear allegiance to the king and superior nobles, and fulfill their obligations such as leading soldiers, assisting the war, and paying tribute. In order to seek protection, many peasants became attached to church or monastery lords and became serfs.

The serfs of the church lords are tied to the cultivated lands, like the serfs of the secular lords. (The marriage of male and female serfs of the same lord must be approved by the lord) and so on. Serf crimes are heard by lords. The descendants of the serfs belonged to the lord for generations. Free peasants also coexisted with serfs on church territory. They also had to pay various taxes, labor, loyalty to the lord, and be subject to the lord's legal trial. However, once they left the farmland, they no longer depended on the lord.

Between the 12th and 13th centuries AD, about a third of the land in Western Europe was controlled by the church. The land owned by a church or monastery ranges from 5,000 acres to as many as 100,000 acres. The church occupied such a large amount of land and operated as a serfdom, becoming one of the important features of the feudal land system and economic structure in Western Europe.

After entering the 15th century, the feudal territorial system in Western Europe, including the secular and church territories, gradually declined under the exclusion of the commodity currency economy and the emerging feudal kingship.