Appropriation

Appropriation in the canon law, is the setting apart of an ecclesiastical benefice to the peculiar and permanent use of some religious body. Appropriations sprung originally from the monastic orders, who purchased all the advowsons within their reach, and then appropriated the larger proportion of the proceeds of such benefices to the use of their own corporations, which they contended were not only institutions for pious purposes, but religious bodies; leaving the small remainder for the support of the incumbent. The appropriations now annexed to bishoprics, prebends, etc., in England, had all of them the above origin, if traced to their source; and at one period similar appropriations were made to religious houses, nunneries, and certain military orders, which were regarded as spiritual corporations. — Blackstone, vol. 1.