(beneficium), in middle-age writers, is used for a fee, sometimes denominated more peculiarly beneficium militare. In this sense, benefice was an estate in land, at first granted for life only; so called, because it was held ex mero beneficio of the donor: and the tenants were bound to swear fealty to the lord, and to serve him in the wars. In after-times, as these tenures became perpetual and hereditary, they left their name of beneficia to the livings of the clergy; and retained to themselves the name of sevus.

in an ecclesiastical sense, a church endowed with a revenue for the performance of divine service; or the revenue itself assigned to an ecclesiastical person, by way of stipend, for the service he is to do that church.

All church-preferments, except bishoprics, are called benefices; and all benefices are, by the canonists, sometimes styled dignities: but we now ordinarily distinguish between benefice and dignity; applying dignity to bishoprics, deaneries, archdeaconries, and prebendaries; and benefice to parsonages, vicarages, and donatives.

Benefices are divided by the canonists into simple and facerotal. In the first there is no obligation but to read prayers, sing, &c. such as canonries, chaplainships, chantries, &c.: the second are charged with the cure of souls, or the direction and guidance of consciences; such as vicarages, rectories, &c.

The Romanists again distinguish benefices into regular and secular. Regular or titular benefices are those held by a religious, or a regular who has made profession of some religious order; such are abbeys, priories, conventuals, &c.; or rather, a regular benefice is that which cannot be conferred on any but a religious, either by its foundation, by the institution of some superior, or by prescription: for prescription, forty years possession by a religious makes the benefice regular. Secular benefices are only such as are to be given to secular priests, i.e. to such as live in the world and are not engaged in any monastic order. All benefices are reputed secular, till the contrary is made to appear. They are called secular benefices, because held by seculars; of which kind are almost all cures.

The canonists distinguish three manners of vacating a benefice, viz. 1. De jure, when the person enjoying it is guilty of certain crimes expressed in those laws, as heresy, simony, &c. 2. De facto, as well as de jure, by the natural death or the resignation of the incumbent; which resignation may be either express or tacit, as when he engages in a state, &c. inconsistent with it, as, among the Romanists, by marrying, entering into a religious order, or the like. 3. By the sentence of a judge, by way of punishment for certain crimes, as concubinage, perjury, &c.

Benefices began about 500. The following account of those in England is given as the fact by Dr Burn, viz. that there are 1071 livings not exceeding 10l. per annum; 1467 livings above 10l. and not exceeding 20l. per annum; 1126 livings above 20l. and not exceeding 30l. per annum; 1049 livings above 30l. and not exceeding 40l. per annum; 884 livings above 40l. and not exceeding 50l. per annum; 5597 livings under 50l. per annum. It must be 500 years before every living can be raised to 60l. a-year by Queen Anne's bounty, and 339 years before any of them can exceed 50l. a-year. On the whole, there are above 11,000 church-preferments in England, exclusive of bishoprics, deaneries, canons, prebendaries, priory-vicars, lay-vicars, secondayes, &c. belonging to cathedrals, or choristers, or even curates, to well-beneficed clergymen.

BENEFICE in commendam is that, the direction and management of which, upon a vacancy, is given or recommended to an ecclesiastic, for a certain time, till he may be conveniently provided for.