What is "in commendam"

In commendam \In com*men"dam\ [See Commendam.] (Law) See Commendam, and Partnership in Commendam, under Partnership.

In canon law, commendam (or in commendam) was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice in trust to the custody of a patron. The phrase in commendam was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical benefice, which was temporarily without an actual occupant, in contrast to the conferral of a title, in titulum, which was applied to the regular and unconditional occupation of a benefice.

The word "commendam" is the accusative singular of the Low Latin noun commenda, "trust", or "custody", which is derived from the verb commendare ("to entrust").

Granting a benefice in commendam became most common with monasteries, and the commendatory abbot drew a portion of the revenue of the monastery but without fulfilling the duties of the abbot or even residing at the monastery.