Temporalities are the secular properties and possessions of the Christian Church. It is most often used to describe those properties that were used to support a bishop or other religious person or establishment. Its opposite description would be the spiritualities.[1]
In the Middle Ages, the temporalities were usually those lands that were held by a bishop, that were used to support him. After the Investiture Crisis was resolved, the temporalities of a diocese were usually granted to the bishop by the secular ruler after the bishop was consecrated.[2] Sometimes this granting of the temporalities could take some time. The temporalities were often confiscated by secular rulers to punish bishops.