A portion of land or property, especially ecclesiastical land, attached to a parish church or benefice in England.
From Latin 'gleba' meaning 'a clod of earth' or 'soil,' derived from an Indo-European root meaning 'to stick' or 'to cleave'; in English ecclesiastical usage since medieval times.
Medieval English clergy didn't get paid salaries—instead they received 'gleba,' actual land that produced crops and income, making them feudal landholders as much as spiritual leaders.
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