Kirchengut (German: Church territory)

Japanese: 教会領 - きょうかいりょう（英語表記）Kirchengut ドイツ語

Territory belonging to the Church. There are various theories as to who owns it: God, the Pope as God's representative, or the patron saint of the church. According to the Roman legal concept, it is one of the foundation properties of the Church as a legal entity, and according to the canonical legal concept, it refers to the churches belonging to a diocese and hereditary territories directly under the Pope. The right to manage it was exclusively held by the bishop, but it took various forms, such as bishoprics, papal territories as special forms of bishoprics, cathedral chapters, monasteries, and private church territories.

[Konno Kunio]

Establishment and expansion

The Church already possessed a considerable amount of land property before Christianity was officially recognized (313), but the foundations of this property were solidified after the return of church lands by the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (reigned 306-337), and in the Middle Ages, church land increased significantly through land donations from kings, feudal lords, and ordinary believers. Moreover, from the 6th century onwards, ecumenical councils repeatedly declared that church land could not be transferred, and it also became customary for the church to inherit the property of childless bishops, so that at the end of the 7th century, one-third of the Frankish Kingdom had become church land. The church and monastery reforms of the 11th and 12th centuries greatly contributed to the stabilization and expansion of church and monastery land.

[Konno Kunio]

State and Church

Since the reign of Emperor Theodosius (379-395), church lands were subordinate to imperial power and did not completely separate from state lands. In particular, the policies of the Ottonian emperors of the Holy Roman Empire strongly linked church lands to the administration and military service of the empire, and they played a role in complementing the imperial lands. The spread of private church ownership by secular lords furthered this trend. The Pope, who had been expanding the Papal States in Italy since the 8th century, clashed with the imperial policies and prevented this trend through the Investiture Controversy, but the independence of the bishoprics only strengthened, and this marked the beginning of the transformation of the bishoprics into territorial states. The Reformation promoted the secularization of church lands. In other words, the state of the Teutonic Knights became the Archduchy of Prussia, and Protestant princes appropriated church property (Treaty of Passau). In England, Henry VIII, and in Austria, Joseph II, confiscated monasteries. The French Revolution also nationalized church property, and the largest church territory, the Papal States, was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 and disappeared, leaving only the Vatican Palace.

[Konno Kunio]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

教会に属する所領。その所有主は、神、神の代理人たる教皇、聖堂の守護聖人、の諸説があるが、ローマ法的概念によれば、法人たる教会の財団財産の一つであり、教会法的概念によれば、司教管区に属する教会および教皇に直属する世襲領地をさす。その管理権は、司教に専属したが、具体的には司教領、その特殊形態としての教皇領、聖堂参事会領、修道院領、私有教会領など多様な形態をとった。

［今野國雄］

成立と拡大

教会はキリスト教公認（313）以前にすでにかなりの土地財産を有したが、ローマ皇帝コンスタンティヌス大帝（在位306～337）による教会領の返還以後その基礎が固まり、中世に入るや国王、諸侯、一般信徒の土地寄進によって教会領は著しく増大した。しかも教会領が譲渡しえぬことが6世紀以後繰り返し公会議によって宣言され、また子のない司教の財産相続人を教会とすることも慣習化し、7世紀末フランク王国の3分の1は教会領になった。11、12世紀の教会・修道院改革は、教会・修道院領の安定と拡大に貢献するところ大であった。

［今野國雄］

国家と教会領

テオドシウス帝（在位379～395）以来、教会領は皇帝権に服属し、国家領から完全に離脱しなかった。とくに神聖ローマ帝国のオットー諸帝の政策によって教会領は帝国の行政、軍事奉仕に強く結び付けられ、帝国領を補完する役割を担った。俗人領主による私有教会制の普及がこの傾向を助長した。8世紀以降イタリアで教皇領を拡大しつつあった教皇は、皇帝のこの政策と衝突し、叙任権闘争を通じてこの傾向を阻止したが、司教領の独立化はかえって強まり、ここから司教領の領邦国家化が始まった。宗教改革は、教会領の世俗化を促進した。すなわち、ドイツ騎士団国家はプロイセン大公領となり、プロテスタント諸侯は教会財産を占有した（パッサウ条約）。イギリスではヘンリー8世が、オーストリアではヨーゼフ2世が修道院領を没収した。またフランス革命は教会財産を国有化したが、最大の教会領たる教皇領も1870年イタリア王国に合併され、バチカン宮を残して消滅した。

［今野國雄］

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