abbacy
/ˈabəsi
/noun (plural abbacies)
The office or period of office of an abbot or abbess: the abbacy of Ely was vacant he made several notable improvements during his short abbacy...
- Nobles occupied all bishoprics and all the choicest abbacies and canonries.
- The distribution and control of offices, such as countships, abbacies, and bishoprics, became the main foci of the political rivalries.
- Some of its clergy married, and abbacies could be held by secular men.
Origin
Late Middle English: from ecclesiastical Latin abbacia, from abbas, abbat- (see abbot).