A Church censure that prohibited the performance of divine services in a particular place or to particular persons. Unlike excommunication which targeted individuals, an interdict could be placed on entire kingdoms or regions.
From Latin 'interdictum,' meaning 'forbidden' or 'prohibited,' derived from 'inter-' (between) and 'dicere' (to speak). The term evolved to mean a formal prohibition issued by ecclesiastical authority.
King John of England learned the hard way about interdicts when Pope Innocent III placed all of England under one in 1208 - no church services, no Christian burials, no marriages! This spiritual blockade lasted six years and helped force John to accept papal authority.
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