Abridgment of Ecclesiastical Laws, Treatise · Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX.
Of Annates or Firſt-Fruits; as alſo of Tenths; of Aumone or Frank Almoign.
1. Annates, what; why ſo called; paid anciently to the Pope; when and by what Laws tranſlated to the Crown; a Court thereof, when erected▪ and by whom diſſolved.
2. The great Antiquity of Annates or Firſt-Fruits; the great Revenue it brings to the Papal See; often complained of as a great grievance anciently.
3. The Popes receiving of Annates compared to Aaron the High Prieſt's receiving Tithe of Tithes: The Original, Antiquity, and Equity thereof controverted by ſome of the Ancient Canoniſts.
4. What the Tenure of Aumone or Frank Almoigne is; a deſcription thereof, with its uſe and end.
5. The difference between Statute and Common Law touching Annates or Firſt-Fruits, whether due and payable upon Inſtitution, or not till Induction.
6. To whom the Tenths of Spiritualties were anciently paid, and how they came to the Crown originally.
(1.) BY the Statute of 25 H. 8. 20. Annates and Firſt-Fruits of Archbiſhopricks and Biſhopricks ſeem to be one and the ſame thing, and were Anciently paid to the See of Rome, and that throughout all Chriſtendom, as were alſo the Primitiae, Firſt-Fruits, or Profits of every Spiritual Living, but were afterwards by another Statute tranſlated from the Pope to the PrinceaSt. 26 H. 8. cap. 3.. For the due regulation whereof there was a Court purpoſely crected by a Third StatutebSt. 32 H. 8. c. 45. St. 34 H. 8. 17. 7 Ed. 6. 2. 1 Eliz. 4., whereby it was made a Court of Record, and commonly called the Court of the Firſt-Fruits and Tenths, and ſo continued until it was diſſolved by Queen Mary cSt. 1 Mar. S…ſſ. 2. cap. 10.; ſince which time it was never reſtored, albeit the Profits were reduced again to the Crown by Queen Elizabeth ddict. St. 1 Eliz. 4., and the matters thereof to be tranſacted, were transferred to the Exchequer. The Firſt-Fruits after the laſt Avoidance were probably called Annates, becauſe they took their meaſures from the rate or proportion of one years profit of all Spiritual Livings and Promotions, and accordingly are to be compounded for: ſo that theſe Annates, Primitiae, and Firſt-Fruits are all one; and it was anciently the value of every Spiritual Living by the year, which the Pope, claiming the diſpoſal of all Eccleſiaſtical Livings,Mich. 5 Jac. Co. lib. 12. reſerved. Theſe and Impropr…ations began about the time that Polydore Virgil, lib. 8. cap. 2. makes mention of, vid. Concilium Viennenſe, quod Clemens Quintus indixit pro Annatibus. Theſe Firſt-Fruits were given to the Crown, …0 H. 8. cap. 3. Sir Ed. Coke cites an Ancient Record of this Subject, …ill. 34 Ed. 1. An. 1307. At a Parliament held at Carliſle, great complaint was made of Oppreſſions of Churches, &c. by William Teſta (called Mala Teſta) and Legate of the Pope; in which Parliament the King, with the aſſent of his Barons, denied the payment of Firſt-Fruits; and to this effect he writ to the Pope: whereupon the Pope relinquiſhed his Demand, and the Firſt-Fruits for Two years were by that Parliament given to the King. Theſe Firſt-Fruits or Annates, Primitiae, are the Firſt-Fruits after Avoidance of every Spiritual Living for one whole year (except Vicarages not exceeding 10 l. Co. Inſt. par. 4. …ap. 14.and Parſonages not exceeding 10 Marks) but all are to pay Tenths. Which Tenths Eccleſiaſtical, Decimae, are the Tenth part of the value of all Eccleſiaſtical Livings yearly payable to the King, his Heirs and Succeſſors, by the ſaid Statute of 26 H. 8. cap. 3. and 1 Eliz. to be valued according to the value of Eccleſiaſtical Livings, which were ſometimes valued by a Book of Taxation made in 20 Ed. 1. which remaineth in the Exchequer, and by another Taxation in 26 H. 8. which alſo remaineth in that Court. And according to this latter Taxation are the values of Eccleſiaſtical Livingss computed for the Firſt-Fruits and Tenths.Co. ibid. The Lord Coke ſays, That the Biſhop of Norwich had in 19 Ed. 3. by Preſcription time out of mind, &c. Firſt-Fruits within his Dioceſs of all Churches after every Avoidance. But theſe were alſo given to the Crown by the Statute of 26 H. 8. cap. 3. And as for the Tenths the Can… niſts do hold, That the Pope pretended to have them Jure Divino, as due to the High Prieſt by pretence of theſe words,Num. 18. 26, &c. vid. Jerom. in Ezek. c. 44. v. 28, &c. Praecipe Levitis atque denuncia, cum acceperitis à filiis Iſrael Decimas quas dedi vobis, Primitias earum offerte Domino, id eſt, decimam partem Decimae, ut reputetur vobis in Oblationem Primitiarum tam de areis, quam de torcularibus, & univerſis quorum accipietis Primitias offerte Domino, & date ea Aaron Sacerdoti. But the Parliaments in 25 H. 8. and 26 H. 8. were not of opinion that theſe Tenths did belong to the Biſhop of Rome, as appears by the ſeveral Preambles of the Statutes then enacted: And had they been due Jure Divino to the Pope, it is not probable that Queen Mary by the Act of 2 & 3 Ph. & M. c. 4. would have exonerated and diſcharged the Clergy thereof, nor refuſed to have had them paid to the Pope; nor could the Biſhop of Norwich (as aforeſaid) have preſcribed to have Firſt-Fruits within his Dioceſs, if they had been due to the Pope de jure Divino, ſpeeially for that Anthony de Becke, for whom the Preſcription was made, was a Reteiner to the Court of Rome, and made Biſhop of Norwich by the Pope. Vid. Co. Inſtit. par. 4. cap. 14.
(2.) It was an old Obſervation, and of no leſs truth than Antiquity, that there never was any Invention that ever brought more Treaſure to the Biſhop of Rome, than this of Annates, which is of far greater Antiquity than ſome Modern Writers ſuppoſe: ſo Polydore Virgil. Pol. Virg. de invent. rerum, lib. 8. cap. 2. Et Annates more ſuo appellant Primos fructus unius Anni Sacerdotii vacantis, aut dimidiam eorum partem. Hiſtorians do not agree, what Pope firſt impoſed Firſt-Fruits: Walſ. An. Do. 1316. Trivet. Ranulphus Ciſtrenſis, lib. 7. c. 42. Polyd. Virg. ubi ſupra. Platina, Fox, &c. This Tribute or Revenue long ſince, when the Biſhop of Rome had not ſuch large poſſeſſions as now he hath, yet at vaſt expence and charge to uphold and maintain his Dignity, was gradually by little and little impoſed on ſuch vacant Benefices as himſelf conferred and beſtowed, which, as Hoſtienſis (contemporary with P. Alex. the Fo…rth) doth affirm, was often complained of as a very great Grievance: ſo that after this Labarell declared in the Council at Vienna, That Clement the Fifth, who was made Pope in the year 1305. forbad the receiving thereof; and that laying the ſame aſide, the Twentieth part of the Sacerdotal Revenues ſhould inſtead thereof be annually paid to the Biſhop of Rome; but this not taking effect, the Pope ſo retained the ſaid Annates to his Exchequer, as that to this day it remains one of the conſiderableſt parts of his Revenue. Polyd. Virg. ubi ſupr.
(3.) The Canoniſt Gammarus, in favour of the Apoſtolick See, aſſerts that Annates are very juſtly required by the Pope pro Conſervando decenti ſtatu, and compares it to Aaron the High Prieſt's receiving the Tithe of Tithes, the Tithe of ſuch Tithes as were given to the other Prieſts; adding withal, that Annates are of very great Antiquity; Gammar. in Extr. Julii 2. de Simon. Papae Elect. nu. 253. in Repet. Jur. Can. To. 6. par. 2. fo. 54. as appears by the Conceſſions of Jo. And…aeas, and of Hoſtienſis; Jo. Andr. & Hoſtienſ. in c. inter caetera, de Offic. Ordin. the which Tho. Aquinas doth not deny, ſaying, That it is but conſonant to Natural reaſon, that he qui omnium curam habet, de Communi alatur; and thence concludes, That the Pope may require Tithes and Annates from the Clergy; Aquin. 2. 2. quaeſt. 87. artic. 4. As to the Original of theſe Annates, Platina and Blondus report them to have been firſt exacted by Pope Boniface the Ninth: Others aſſert it to be in the time of Pope John the Two and twentieth, which was above Seventy years before that Boniface. But Johannes Eccius in his Enchiridion againſt the Lutherans, ſays, that both Blondus, Platina, and Gravaminus, whom he there nick-names (Eccleſiae Conſarcinatores) were all in an Error in aſcribing the original of Annates to this Boniface or that John; for ſays he (quoting Johannes And…aeas for his Author) in the Council at Vienna, An. 1311. whereof P. Clement the Fifth was Preſident (which was long before Boniface or John the 22d) there was a Debate concerning Annates; Jo. Andraeas ubi ſupr. & Gam. ubi ſupr. But their ſuppoſing Clement the Fifth to have been after John the 22d. was the ground or reaſon of their Error.
(4.) Aumone or Frank Almoign is the ſame which we call Libera Eleemoſyna, or Free Alms, whence that Tenure is known by the Name Tenure in Aumone, which is a Tenure by Divine ServiceaBritton. fo. 164.. It is a certain Tenure or Title of Lands at the Common Law, as when Lands or Tenements are freely given in the way of Alms, to ſome Church or Religious Houſe, upon this condition or conſideration, That Divine Service ſhall be offered, and Prayers made pro bono animae Donantis, or the like: So that this Aumone or Frank Almoign is no other than a Tenure or Title of Lands or Tenements beſtowed upon God, by giving them to ſuch as devote themſelves to the Service of God, for pure and perpetual Alms: whence the Feoffors or Donors cannot demand any Terreſtrial Service from the Feoffors, ſo long as the ſaid Lands and Tenements remain in their handsbBritt. c. 66. nu. 5.. With this agrees the Grand Cuſtomary of Normandy, cap. 23. and whereof Bracton writes at largecBract. l. 2. c. 5, & 10. vid. F. N. B. fo. 211. & New Book of Entries, verb. Frank Almoigne.. But Britton makes another kind of this Land, which is given in Alms, but not in Free Alms, becauſe the Tenants in this are obliged to certain Services to the FeoffordBritt. ubi ſupr..
(5.) In the Caſe of Dennis againſt Drake it was ſaid, That if a man be Inſtituted to a Benefice, he ought to pay the Firſt-Fruits before Induction by the Statute; but by the Common Law it was otherwiſe, for he is not to have the Temporalties until Induction, and therefore he could not pay the Firſt-Fruits: But another perſon cannot be Preſented to this Benefice during the continuance of the firſt Inſtitution. And an Inſtitution to a ſecond Benefice is a preſent Avoidance of the firſteIn Caſe Dennis verſ. Drake. Lane's Rep. Vid. Co. lib. 4. Digbie's Caſe. fo. 79. Mich. 5 Jac. Co. l. 12..
(6.) Decimae, id eſt, Tenths of Spiritualties were perpetual, and paid to the Pope, till Pope Ʋrban gave them to R. 2. to aid him againſt Charles, King of France, and others, who ſupported Clement the Seventh againſt him. And 5 H. 3. by the Pope's Bulls all Tenths were paid to H 3. for years: Theſe were given to the King 26 H. 8. cap. 3. Vid. Lambert de priſt. Angl. &c. fo. 128. cap. 10. St. ibid. inter Leges Inae, fo. 78. cap. 4.