Etymologically
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advocatia

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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