ANNATA. - What before the 14th century was called fructus primi temporis, annalia, annualia, was later called a.: a word which in its specific meaning indicated all the fruits of a minor benefice reserved to the Pope, to be paid to the Apostolic Camera. Under the designation of a. there were also, less properly, included both the communis servitia, owed by consistorial benefices to the Pope and the cardinals, and the minuta servitia to be paid to the minor officials of the Roman Curia, as well as the quinduniai, that is, the fruits to be paid to the Pope every fifteen years by benefices incorporated into some ecclesiastical institute that never falls vacant. Even more improperly, the name of a. was used to designate the fructus medii temporis (also called intercalares), that is, the fruits of benefices accrued during the first year of vacancy, and other taxes and contributions to be paid for other reasons.
The origin of the a. is not entirely established. Apart from certain very ancient antecedents, such as the Greek intronisticum and the Roman oblatio, Fagnano calls them so ancient that they must be numbered among the immemorial institutions. It appears that the institution in its substance is already found in the 9th century; in the following centuries it was expanded and perfected, although the passive subject of attribution varied. The attribution to the Apostolic Camera, which later characterized the true and proper a., evidently derives from the reservation: when the provision of benefices passed to the Pope, there naturally passed to him all the rights of the previous collators (Reg. 46, in 6º), among which were also the annualia. In any case, the first example of a pontifical a. with a general character is found under Clement V (1 Feb. 1306), who reserved to the Apostolic Camera for a period of three years the fruits of all benefices vacant in the British Isles. The measure was extended by John XXII (in 1316) to all of Europe for vacant and non-vacant benefices in the following three years; and finally, in the same year, the a. of all minor benefices vacant apud S. Sedem were reserved to the Holy See. The same John XXII then regulated the quota and the manner of collecting the a. (c. 2, I, in Extr. Ioann. XXII); hence many called this Pope the true author of the a. Finally Gregory XI (1376) subjected to the a. all benefices reserved to the Apostolic See.
The a. were collected directly by the Holy See by means of commissioners, collectors or collectores furnished with special powers. At first the a. constituted the net fruits of the benefice; but Boniface IX (1384-1409) reduced them to half; a. bonifaciaria or mezz'a., to be paid, however, in advance. The Bonifacian mezz'a. is not to be confused with that introduced by Benedict XIII by means of the constitution Pius et misericors of 20 Apr. 1728, by which all minor benefices not reserved to the Holy See were burdened, with certain exceptions, by a half a., that is, by the gross fruits of six months (of vacancy) in favor of the respective cathedral or collegiate church, and this only for Italy and the adjacent islands. This a., however, was not collected if in the church a patrimony had been established for the fabric or if there existed a patron to whom the obligation of repairs belonged.
Great opposition arose everywhere against the a. The heretics, and also some Catholics, unjustly called them simoniacal. The opposition culminated in the Council of Constance. Martin V in 1418 settled the question with Germany, Spain, England, France and Italy by means of particular concordats, but the a. were, in principle, maintained. The Council of Basel abolished the a. (9 June 1435, sess. XXI); and its decree, although it had no immediate effect, nonetheless constituted a very fierce blow to the institution. At first many exceptions were admitted; subsequently the true a. fell everywhere into disuse; not so the Benedictine half a., established in favor of the cathedral and collegiate churches of Italy. It is precisely to these that canon 1482 refers, which wills that they be maintained where they are still in force, with the observance of the particular statutes and laudable customs that regulate them in the different regions.