First Fruit
the fruit or produce first matured or collected in any season; first profits of anything; first or earliest effects of anything, in a good or bad sense.
In ecclesiology, that portion of the fruits of the earth and other natural produce, which, by the usage of the Jews and other ancient nations, was offered to God.
The mediæval ecclesiastical impost known under the name of primitiæ, or first fruits, and sometimes of annates or annalia, was the first year's whole profits, first of a bishopric, and afterward of any benefice, claimed by by the Pope. This claim was the subject of many contests in Germany, in France, and in England.
Henry VIII. withdrew the right of first FISH fruits from the Pope, in order to transfer it to the king; and he established a special court for the administration of first fruits. In the reign of Anne, the revenues arising from this impost in England were vested in a board, to be applied for the purpose of supplementing the incomes of small benefices.