abbotcies
n. C1 Advanced ab·bot·cies
n. the positions or titles held by the leaders of certain religious communities, especially monks.
n. the offices or titles held by the heads of religious communities, particularly those of the Benedictine order.
The abbotcies were passed down through the family for generations.
Historians often study the abbotcies to understand how local economies were managed during the Middle Ages.
The dissolution of the monasteries led to the redistribution of abbotcies and their associated lands to the crown, fundamentally altering the social hierarchy of the region.