noun. A legal arrangement in which a property owner such as an ecclesiastical institution is barred from transferring or selling its property.

noun. In law, possession of lands or tenements in dead hands, or hands that cannot alienate, as those of ecclesiastical corporations; unalienable possession.

noun. Possession of lands or tenements in, or conveyance to, dead hands, or hands that cannot alienate.

noun. The perpetual, inalienable possession of lands by a corporation or non-personal entity such as a church.

noun. A strong and inalienable possession.

noun. real property held inalienably (as by an ecclesiastical corporation)

noun. the oppressive influence of past events or decisions

"On the last occasion the king ennobled him, As prime minister he was most zealous in establishing the supremacy of the State over the Church, and in abolishing the privileges of the nobility together with feudalism, He restricted the jurisdiction of the bishops, impeded the last increment of the so-called mortmain, and reduced the taxes belonging to the chancery of the Roman Curia."

alienation in mortmain  mortmain act  statutes of mortmain  

immovable  influence  real estate  real property  realty  

bylaws  contrarieties  country-people  disestablishment  draftsmanship