Temporalities


Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties that were used to support a bishop or other religious person or establishment. Its opposite are spiritualities.

History

In the Middle Ages, the temporalities were usually those lands that were held by a bishop and used to support him. After the Investiture Crisis was resolved, the temporalities of a diocese were usually granted to the bishop by the secular ruler after the bishop was consecrated.
If a bishop within the Holy Roman Empire had gained secular overlordship to his temporalities imperially recognised as an imperial state, then the temporalities were usually called a Hochstift, or an Erzstift. Sometimes, this granting of the temporalities could take some time. Other times, a bishop-elect gained his temporalities even before or without his papal confirmation by an imperial act called "liege indult". The temporalities were often confiscated by secular rulers to punish bishops.