COMMENDATION (from the

See also:

• LAT

Lat. commendare, to entrust to the

See also:

• CHARGE
• CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. " cargo ")

charge of, or to procure a favour for)  , approval, especially when expressed to one person on behalf of another, a recommendation . The word is used in a liturgical sense for an office commending the souls of the dying and dead to the mercies of God . In feudal law the term is applied to the practice of a freeman placing himself under the protection of a lord (see FEUDALISM), and in ecclesiastical law to the granting of benefices in commendam . A benefice was held in commendam when granted either temporarily until a vacancy was filled up, or to a layman, or, in case of a monastery or abbey, to a secular cleric to enjoy the revenues and privileges for life (see ABBO:), or to a bishop to hold together with his see . An act of 1836 prohibited the holding of benefices in commendam in England .