Ecclesiastical advocates were specially bound to represent their lords by managing a court system, to protect law and order. They exercised civil jurisdiction in the domain of the church or monastery and were bound to protect the church with arms in the event of an actual assault. Finally, it was their duty to lead the men-at-arms in the name of the church or monastery, and to command them in time of war. In return for these services, the advocate received certain revenues from the possessions of the church in the form of supplies or services, which he could demand, or in the form of a lien on church property. Such advocates were to be found even in Roman times; a Synod of Carthage decreed, in 401, that the emperor should be requested to provide, in conjunction with the bishops, for the churches. There is evidence, moreover, for such in Italy, at the close of the fifth century, but
Pope Gregory I confined the office to members of the clergy. It was the duty of these to protect the poor and defend the rights and possessions of the church. In the
Frankish Kingdom, under the
Merovingians, these lay representatives of the churches appeared as and . The concept of the was related to the
Old German idea of the , or guardian, but also included some ideas of physical defence and legal representation (whence the connection with or "advocate"). Under the
Carolingians, the duties of the church advocate were enlarged and defined according to the principles of government which prevailed in the reign of
Charlemagne; henceforward the in the medieval sense. A
Capitulary of about 790 ordained that the higher clergy, "for the sake of the church's honour, and the respect due to the priesthood" () should have advocates. Charlemagne, who obliged bishops, abbots and abbesses to maintain , commanded to exercise great care in the choice of persons to fill the office; they must be judicious men, familiar with the law, and owning property in the—then still administrative—countship (). The churches, monasteries and canonries, as such, received advocates alike, who by degrees assumed the position above defined. Under the Carolingians, it was made obligatory for
bishops,
abbots and
abbesses to appoint such officials in every
county where they held property. The office was not at first
hereditary nor even for life, the being chosen, either by the abbot alone, or by the abbot and bishop concurrently with the
count. In the post-Carolingian period, it developed into a hereditary office, and was held by powerful nobles, who constantly endeavoured to enlarge their rights in connection with the church or the monastery. Conciliar decrees were passed as early as the ninth century to protect ecclesiastical institutions against the excessive claims of their advocates, who indeed became a burden to their ecclesiastical clients in many ways. They dealt with the possessions entrusted to them as with their own property, plundered the church estate, appropriated tithes and other revenues, and oppressed in many ways those whom they were appointed to protect. The office, since it offered many advantages, was eagerly sought after. The excessive claims of the advocates gave rise to disputes between them and the churches or monasteries. The bishops and abbots, who found their rights curtailed, appealed to the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope for protection. In the twelfth century, warnings were issued from Rome, restraining the high-handed actions of the advocates under pain of severe ecclesiastical penalties, which still did not put an end to all the abuses that prevailed. On occasions, emperors and princes exercised the office of an advocate, in which case they appointed deputy-advocates () to represent them. From the time of Charlemagne, who had such officials appointed in ecclesiastical territories not directly under the control of his counts, the was a state functionary representing ecclesiastical dignitaries (such as bishops and abbots) or institutions in secular matters, and particularly before secular courts. Such representatives had been assigned to the church since late antiquity, as it was not to act for itself in worldly affairs. Therefore, in areas such as the territories of abbeys and bishoprics, which by virtue of their ecclesiastical status were free (or immune) from the secular government of the local count (, in origin an administrative official in charge of a territory and reporting to the emperor), the fulfilled the function of a protective lordship, generally commanding the military contingents of such areas (). Beyond that, he administered the high justice instead of the count from the
court (, or ). In private and family monasteries (see
proprietary church), the proprietor himself often also held the office of , frequently retaining it after reform of the proprietorship (see also
lay abbot). The three-way struggle for control of the of the more important abbacies, played out among the central monarchy, the Church and the territorial nobility, was well established as a prerogative of the nobility; the
Hirsau formulary (1075) confirmed
count Adalbert of Calw as hereditary advocate of the Abbey, an agreement so widely copied elsewhere in Germany that from the tenth century, the office developed into a hereditary possession of the higher nobility, who frequently exploited it as a way of extending their power and territories, and in some cases took for themselves the estates and assets of the church bodies for whose protection they were supposedly responsible. In Austria, the teaching of the Church that, according to
canon law individuals were prohibited from exercising authority over Church property, was only accepted reluctantly by the nobles. The rights of advocacy were bought back by the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century abbeys in alliance with the Babenberg and early Habsburg dukes; the abolition of the () thereby exchanged local secular jurisdiction for the protective overlordship of the
duke of Austria, sometimes by forging charters that the duke confirmed. ==Imperial advocates==