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ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advoca...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 242 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in law to call in the aid of a counsel or witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance)

ADVOCATE (See also:
LAT
Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in See also:
LAW
LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)
law to See also:
CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)
call in the aid of a counsel or See also:
WITNESS
WITNESS (from O. Eng. witan, to know)
witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance) , a lawyer authorized to plead the causes of litigants in courts of law. The word is used technically in See also:

Scotland (see See also:

ADVOCATES, FACULTY OF

ADVOCATES, See also:

FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

FACULTY OF) in a sense virtually See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent to the See also:

ENGLISH

English See also:

TERM

term See also:

BARRISTER

barrister, and a derivative from the same Latin source is so used in most of the countries of See also:

EUROPE

Europe where the See also:

CIVIL

civil law is in force. The word advocatus is not often used among the earlier jurists, and appears not to have had a strict meaning. It is not always associated with legal proceedings, and might apparently be applied to a supporter or coadjutor in the pursuit of any desired See also:

OBJECT

object. When it came to be applied with a more specific See also:

LIMITATION, STATUTES OF

limitation to legal services, the position of the advocatus was still uncertain. It was different from, and evidently inferior to, that of the See also:

JURIS

juris-consultus, who gave his See also:

OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion and See also:

ADVICE (Fr. avis, from Lat. ad, to, and visum, viewed)

advice in questions of law, and may be identified with the consulting counsel of the See also:

PRESENT

present See also:

day. Nor is the merely professional advocate to be confounded with the more distinguished orator, or patronus, who came forward in the See also:

guise of the disinterested vindicator of See also:

JUSTICE (Lat. justitia)

justice. This distinction, however, appears to have arisen in later times, when the profession became See also:

MERCENARY (Lat. mercenarius, from merces, reward, gain)

mercenary. By the lex Cincia, passed about two centuries B.C., and subsequently renewed, the See also:

ACCEPTANCE (Lat. acceptare, frequentative form of accipere, to receive)

acceptance of remuneration for professional assistance in lawsuits was prohibited. This law, like all others of the See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind, was evaded. The skilful debater was propitiated with a present; and though he could not See also:

SUE, EUGENE [JosEPH MARIE] (1804—1857)

sue for the value of his services, it was ruled that any honorarium so given could not be demanded back, even though he died before the anticipated service was performed. The traces of this evasion of a law may be found in the existing practice of rewarding counsel by fees in anticipation of services.

The term advocatus came eventually to be the word employed when the See also:

bar had become a profession, and the qualifications, See also:

ADMISSION

admission, See also:

numbers and fees of counsel had become a See also:

MATTER

matter of See also:

state regulation, to designate the pleaders as a class of professional men, each individual advocate, however, being still spoken of as See also:

PATRON

patron in reference to the litigant with whose See also:

INTEREST

interest he was entrusted. The advocatus fisci, or fiscal advocate; was an officer whose See also:

FUNCTION

function, like that of a See also:

SOLICITOR

solicitor of taxes at the present day, was connected with the collection of the See also:

revenue. The lawyers who practised in the English courts of See also:

COMMON

common law were never officially known as advocates, the word being reserved for those who practised in the courts of the civil and See also:

CANON

canon law (see DOCTORS' See also:

COMMONS

COMMONS). There was formerly an important See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official termed his See also:

MAJESTY (Fr. majeste; Lat. majestas, grandeur, greatness, from the base mag-, as in magnus, great, major, greater, &c.)

majesty's advocate-See also:

general, or more shortly, the See also:

king's advocate, who was the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal law officer of the See also:

CROWN

crown in the See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

College of Advocates or Doctors' Commons, and in the See also:

ADMIRALTY, HIGH COURT OF

admiralty and ecclesiastical courts. He discharged for these courts the duties which correspond to those of thesolicitor of the See also:

TREASURY

treasury (see SOLICITOR). His opinion was taken by the See also:

FOREIGN

foreign See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office on See also:

INTERNATIONAL, THE

international matters, and on high ecclesiastical matters he was also consulted; all orders in See also:

COUNCIL (Lat. concilium, from cum, together, and the root cal, to call)

council were submitted to him for approval. The office may now be said to be obsolete, for after the resignation of See also:

Sir Travers See also:

Twiss, the last holder, in 1872, it was not filled up. There was also a second law officer of the crown in the admiralty See also:

court called the admiralty advocate. This office has See also:

long been vacant. Advocate is also the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title still in use in some of the See also:

BRITISH

British colonies to denote the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief law officer of the crown there. For instance, in Sierra Leone (until 18y6), See also:

LAGOS

Lagos and See also:

Cyprus he is called the king's advocate; in See also:

Malta, crown advocate; in See also:

MAURITIUS

Mauritius, procureur and advocate-general, and in the provinces of See also:

India advocate-general. In See also:

France, the avocats, as a See also:

BODY

body, were re-organized under the See also:

EMPIRE

empire by a See also:

DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat. decernere)

decree of the 15th of See also:

DECEMBER (Lat. decent, ten)

December 181o.

There is, however, a distinction between avocats and avoues. The latter, whose number is limited, See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act as procurators or agents, representing the parties before the tribunals, draft and prepare for them all formal acts and writings, and prepare their lawsuits for the oral debates. The office of the avocat, on the other See also:

hand, consists in giving advice as to the law, and See also:

con-ducting the causes of his clients by written and oral pleadings. The number of avocats is not limited; every licentiate of law being entitled to apply to the See also:

CORPORATION (from Lat. corporare, to form into a body, corpus, corporis)

corporation of avocats attached to each court, and aftef presentation to the court, taking the See also:

OATH (0. Eng. ddh)

oath of office and passing three years in attendance on some older advocate, to have himself recognised as an advocate. In See also:

Germany the advocat no longer forms a distinct class of lawyer. Since 1879, when a sweeping judicature act (Deutsche Justizgesetzgebung) reconstituted the judicial See also:

SYSTEM

system, the advocat in his See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of adviser, as distinguished from the See also:

pro-See also:

CURATOR (Lat. for " one who takes care," curare, to take care of)

curator, who formerly represented the client in the courts, has become merged in the Rechtsanwalt, who has the dual character of counsellor and pleader. In the See also:

MIDDLE

middle ages the word, advocatus (Fr. (mue, Ger. See also:

VOGT, KARL CHRISTOPH (1817-1895)

Vogt) was used on the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent as the title of the See also:

lay See also:

lord charged with the See also:

PROTECTION

protection and See also:

REPRESENTATION

representation in See also:

SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular matters of an See also:

abbey. The office is traceable as See also:

early The advocatus as the beginning of the 5th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century in the See also:

ROMAN

Roman ecctesiae. empire, the churches being allowed to choose defen- sores from the body of advocates to represent them in the courts. In the Frankish See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom, under the See also:

MEROVINGIANS

Merovingians, these lay representatives of the churches appear as agentes, defensores and advocati; and under the See also:

CAROLINGIANS

Carolingians it was made obligatory on bishops, abbots and abbesses to appoint such officials in every See also:

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county where they held See also:

PROPERTY

property. The office was not hereditary, the advocatus being chosen, either by the See also:

abbot alone, or by the abbot and See also:

bishop concurrently with the See also:

COUNT (Lat. comes, gen. comitis, Fr. comte, Ital. conte, Span. conde)

count.

The same causes that led to the development of the feudal system also affected the advocatus. In times of confusion churches and abbeys needed not so much a legal representative as an armed See also:

PROTECTOR

protector, while as feudal immunities were conceded to the ecclesiastical See also:

FOUNDATIONS

foundations, these required a representative to defend their rights and to fulfil their secular obligations to the state, e.g. to See also:

lead the ecclesiastical levies to See also:

war. A new class of advocatus thus arose, whose office, commonly rewarded by a See also:

grant of See also:

LAND

land, crystallized into a See also:

FIEF

fief, which, like other fiefs, had by the beginning of the rxth century become hereditary. In France the advocati ((voues) were of two classes—(1) See also:

GREAT

great barons, who held the advocateship of an abbey or abbeys rather as an office than a fief, though they were indemnified for the protection they afforded by a domain and The See also:

French revenues granted by the abbey: thus the See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of avoue'. See also:

NORMANDY

Normandy was advocatus of nearly all the abbeys in the duchy; (2) See also:

PETTY, SIR WILLIAM (1623-1687)

petty seigneurs, who held their avoueries as hereditary fiefs and often as their See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole means of subsistence. The avoid of an abbey, of this class, corresponded to the See also:

VIDAME (Lat. vice-dominus)

vidame (q.v.) of a bishop. Their function was generally to represent the abbot in his capacity as feudal lord; to act as his representative in the courts of his See also:

SUPERIOR

superior lord; to exercise secular justice in the abbot's name in the abbatial court; to lead the retainers of the abbey to See also:

BATTLE

battle under the banner of the patron See also:

SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

saint. In See also:

England the word advocatus was never, used to denote an hereditary representative of an abbot; but in some of the larger abbeys there were hereditary stewards whose functions England. and privileges were not dissimilar to those of the See also:

CONTINENTAL

continental advocati. The word advocatus, however, was in See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant use in England to denote the patron of an ecclesiastical See also:

BENEFICE (Lat. beneficium, benefit)

benefice, whose sole right of any importance was an hereditary one of presenting a See also:

PARSON

parson to the bishop for institution. In this way the hereditary right of presentation to a benefice came to be called in English an "See also:

ADVOWSON

advowson " (advocatio). The advocatus played a more important See also:

PART

part in the feudal polity of the Empire and of the See also:

Low Countries than in France, where his functions, confined to the protection of the interests of religious houses, were superseded from the 13th century on-wards by the growth of the central See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power and the increasing efficiency of the royal See also:

ADMINISTRATION (Lat. administrare, to serve)

administration. They had, indeed, long ceased to be effective for their See also:

ORIGINAL

original purpose; and from the See also:

time when their office became a fief they had taken See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage of their position to pillage and suppress those whom, it was their function to defend.

The See also:

MEDIEVAL

medieval records, not in France only, are full of complaints by abbots of their usurpations,. exactions and acts of violence. In Germany the title of advocatus (Vogt) was given not only to the advocati of churches and abbeys, but to the officials appointed, from early in the middle ages, by the The See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor to administer their immediate domains, in See also:

German Vogt. contradistinction to the See also:

COUNTS

counts, who had become hereditary princes of the Empire. The territory so administered was known as See also:

VOGTLAND, or VOIGTLAND

Vogtland (terra advocatorum), a name still sometimes employed to designate the See also:

STRIP

strip of See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country which embraces the principalities of See also:

Reuss and adjacent portions of See also:

Saxony, See also:

Prussia and See also:

BAVARIA (Ger. Bayern)

Bavaria. These imperial advocati tended in their turn to become hereditary. Sometimes the emperor himself assumed the title of Vogt of some particular part of his immediate domain. In the See also:

NETHERLANDS

Netherlands as well as in Germany advocati were often appointed in the cities, by the overlord or by the emperor, sometimes to take the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of the See also:

BAILIFF

bailiff (Ger. Schultheiss, Dutch schout; Lat. scultetus), some-times alongside this official. See Du Cange, Glossarium (ed. 1,883, See also:

NIORT

Niort), s. " Advocati "; A. See also:

LUCHAIRE, DENIS JEAN ACHILLE (1846-1908)

Luchaire, See also:

Manuel See also:

des institutions francaises (See also:

Paris, 1892) ; See also:

Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie (ed. See also:

LEIPZIG

Leipzig, 1896), s.

" Advocatus ecclesiae," where further references will be found.

End of Article: ADVOCATE (Lat. advocatus, from advocare, to summon, especially in law to call in the aid of a counsel or witness, and so generally to summon to one's assistance)

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