abbotshipn.
/ˈabətʃɪp/, U.S. /ˈæbətˌʃɪp/ 1. The position or office of abbot or (formerly) †abbess; the benefice of an abbot. Cf. abbacy n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun] > office of
abbotricOE
abbatiea1300
abbeyc1300
abbotshipc1450
abbacy1469
abbotcy1814
abthanage1862
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbess > [noun] > office of
abbotricOE
abbotshipc1450
coadjutrixship1837
c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1905) II. 480 (MED) He gaff vp his abbotshup & become a closter monke.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. clviii. f. clxiiiv All the Religious yt so besily desyred her to take vpon her the auctorytee of the abbotshypp.
1539 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 2 399 For the forsakyn of the abbotschyp.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cccxlvijv In steade of one bishoppricke, which they left, they had of them again many abbotships, or such other like promotions.
a1600 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 290 The bischoperick of Murray and abbotschip of Skwne.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 114 Richlieu..confer'd upon him the abbatship of Charroux.
1723 G. Jacob Poet. Reg. I. 116 He was made Canon of Exeter, and some Writers tell us, he was preferred to the Abbotship of Glocester.
1777 W. Nimmo Gen. Hist. Stirlingshire vi. 102 He died in 1502, having held the abbotship above thirty years.
1814 J. Britton Archit. Antiq. Great Brit. IV. 89 Richard de Croyland, a monk and native of the place, succeeded to the abbotship.
1924 Hispania 7 182 The romanesque church..was then the seat of a powerful abbotship, whose jurisdiction extended to the shores of the distant sea.
1957 Folklore Stud. 16 212 Though the apt scholar may not rise to an abbotship..he may attain a rank or degree in religious scholarship.
1999 Jrnl. Amer. Acad. Relig. 67 715 He was deprived of his abbotship and then his status as a Zen priest.
2. The term of office of an abbot. Cf. abbacy n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbot > [noun] > office of > period of
abbotship1631
abbacy1756
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 252 Albinus..died in the 24. yeare of his Abbotship, 732.
1799 E. Hasted Hist. Kent IV. 653/1 In the 2d year of K. Edward II, anno 1309, being the last year of his abbatship, he [sc. Thomas de Fyndon] obtained licence from the king to embattle the gates of his monastery.
a1823 J. N. Johnson Life T. Linacre (1835) ii. 68 He died in the thirtieth year of his abbotship.
1872 Spectator 6 Apr. 444 The last years of John of Whethamstede's first abbotship were not passed without the accustomed miscellaneous litigations.
1915 T. S. Holmes Reg. J. Stafford I. p. xl After the long abbotship of John Chynnock,..it was likely that his successor..found much to reform.
2006 F. D. Logan Hist. Church in Middle Ages vi. 60 During his abbotship the library collection was doubled.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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