The decrees of the Council of Lateran, A.D. 1215, had not disturbed the then existing appropriations of tithes to monasteries, but were directed towards the future, and made void all new grants of tithes to monasteries after the date of this council. The council is a landmark for the following arrangements: (1) The tithes of parishes, which before A.D. 1215 could have been given by the owners of the property to any church they pleased, either in or out of the kingdom, were henceforth to be given only to the parsons of the parishes from which they arose. (2) The tithes which had been appropriated to corporations outside of the parishes, continued to be given to them. (3) The tithes which the parsons possessed before A.D. 1215 could not be appropriated afterwards to any other person. Therefore the tithes which rectors received were those which they possessed at the date of this council, and all tithes created after A.D. 1215. The parish system which commenced in its germ about A.D. 686 was completed about A.D. 1200, thus covering a period of over five hundred years in its development. From the beginning of the 13th century, tithes became payable to the parsons of the parishes by _common right_. But monasteries and chapters had to show their title to them either by _grants_ or by _prescriptions_. We may thus trace tithes in England from their origin, (1) as free-will offerings; (2) compulsory payment to some religious body, and (3) compulsory payment only to the incumbents of parishes. It is an error to state that all the tithes of England were paid freely. I have stated enough to show that it was not so. Tithes appropriated to monasteries were of two kinds—(1) Monastical, (2) Parochial. With reference to (1), the monastic bodies performed no spiritual functions for the tithes which the benefactors had granted them out of demesnes which had no churches annexed. For these tithes they had distributed alms to the sick, the poor, and stranger who called at their gates; and said masses perpetually in their own churches for the souls of their founders and benefactors, and those of their heirs and relatives.