advocatia

Forms

advocātia f (genitive advocātiae); first declension^[1][2] It is also spelled ⟨advocacia⟩ and ⟨avocatia⟩.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin advocātus (“advocate, legal protector”) + -ia, the office of an advocate.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The MLW's examples begin with diplomas of the German emperors, where it is the office and rights of the lay protector of a monastery: an abbot and his community are given the power to grant the advocātia of their house to whomever they wish.^[1] Pope Gregory VII uses it in his letters for this protectorship together with the right to appoint an abbot.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin the advocātus was a lay lord who protected a church and its lands and judged its people, and advocātia was his office, with all its rights and powers.^[3][1] The word spread to the king's authority over royal churches and to the area in which an advocate ruled,^[3] and German sources use it for imperial, territorial and town advocacies, for the protection an advocate gave, and for the tax paid to him.^[1][2]

In Britain it meant patronage of a church: a papal letter of 1172 forbids anyone to claim lordship or advocātia within the territory of Glasgow.^[4] In Hungary and Bohemia it was also the office of a village judge or the seat of his jurisdiction.^[5][6]

Timeline

• 1073–1085 – Pope Gregory VII uses it of a monastery's lay protectorship.^[1][2]
• 1172 – A papal letter for Glasgow uses it of patronage.^[4]
• 1317 – A Hungarian charter uses it of protection.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) The office of an ecclesiastical advocate, the lay protector of a church, with its rights and powers; advowry.^[3][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) The king's authority over royal churches.^[3]
3. (Medieval Latin) The district ruled by an advocate; a tax due to him.^[1][2]
4. (Medieval Latin) Patronage of a church.^[4]
5. (Medieval Latin) Protection; the office of a village judge.^[5][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
4. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
6. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences