Liber Censuum

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The Liber Censuum Romanæ Ecclesiæ (

papacy from 492 to 1192. The span of the record includes the creation of the Apostolic Camera[2] and the effects of the Gregorian Reform.[3] The work constitutes the "latest and most authoritative of a series of attempts, starting in the eleventh century, to keep an accurate record of the financial claims of the Roman church".[4] According to historian J. Rousset de Pina, the book was "the most effective instrument and [...] the most significant document of ecclesiastical centralization" in the central Middle Ages.[4]

Michael Ott considers the Liber Censuum "perhaps the most valuable source for the history of papal economics during the Middle Ages".[5]

History

The document has its roots in the

Liber pontificalis.[7]

The earliest documentary evidence for the use of such a document of papal property rights goes back even earlier to an 1163/1164 letter from

apostolic camera.[4]

Contents

The eighteen volumes of the Liber Censuum are divided between: census and rent tables (vol. 1–7), lists of bishoprics and monasteries directly administered by the Holy See (vol. 8), the

chartulary (vol. 14–18).[9]

The dating of the Liber Censuum to 1192 comports with the date given in the work's prologue, although this date may only be accurate for the record of taxes owed to the Holy See.[10] For example, the Vita Gregorii IX was inserted into the codex of the Liber Censuum between 1254 and 1265, likely during the tenure of Pope Gregory IX's nephew Niccolò as camerarius between 1255 and 1261.[11]

The original version of the Liber Censuum by Cardinal Cencius begins:

Incipit liber censuum Rom. Eccl. a Centio Camerario compositus, secundum antiquorum patrum Regesta et memorialia diversa. A. incarn. dni MCXCII. Pont. Celestini Pp. III. A. II.[1]

The Liber Censuum described itself as an authoritative list of "those monasteries, hospitals [...] cities, castles, manors [...] or those kings and princes belonging to the jurisdiction and property of St. Peter and the holy Roman church and owing census and how much they ought to pay".[6]

The census list included churches, abbeys and bisphorics, as well as some original receipts or payment records.[12]

The value of the rights recorded in the Liber Censuum is difficult to quantify exactly, and in any case, unlikely to have been paid in full.[13] V. Pfaff, estimating historical exchange rates, assessed the value of the revenue cited in the Liber Censuum as 1,214 gold ounces, a sum that would comprise less than 5% of Richard I of England's annual income.[13] The Liber Censuum, however, does not include several sources of papal revenue, in particular those collected in-kind and the revenues of the Basilicas of Rome.[13]

Later editions and legacy

Papal historians regard the Liber Censuum as well-organized compared to the works which preceded it, and it includes empty spaces for anticipated updating.[9] The intent was to allow future camerarii to add future entries "until the end of the world".[6] The original version of the Liber Censuum was identified by Paul Fabre in the Vatican Library (ms Vat. Lat. 8486), with its blank spaces having been exhausted during the pontificate of Cencius (who was elected Pope Honorius III) and five new volumes having been added to the beginning and end of the document.[9] A new version of the Liber Censuum was compiled by Cardinal Nicholas Roselli (d. 1362) in the 14th century.[14]

A 1228 version of the Liber censuum in the library of Florence (ms Riccard. 228) was updated through the Avignon Papacy.[9] By the end of the 13th century the addition of the dossiers of the cities of the Papal States and other papal biographies swelled the document to thirty-three volumes.[9] A copy of the Liber censuum, along with a tiara, was given by Antipope Clement VIII to the legate of Pope Martin V in 1429 as a sign of submission.[9]

Modern, edited versions of the Liber Censuum, reconstructed as their editors thought the original codex of Cencius would have appeared, have been produced by Fabre and

Harthacanute to ecclesiastical taxation, are more controversial.[15]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Gregorovius, 1896, p. 645.
  2. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Apostolic Camera" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  3. ^ a b c Levillain, 2002, p. 940.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Robinson, 1990, p. 262.
  5. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Pope Honorius III" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  6. ^ a b c Robinson, 1990, p. 261.
  7. ^ Levillain, 2002, p. 940-941.
  8. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Mirabilia Urbis Romæ" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Levillain, 2002, p. 941.
  10. ^ Bolton and Duggan, 2003, p. 55.
  11. ^ Andrews et al., 2004, p. 154.
  12. OCLC 1053710847. Retrieved May 14, 2021. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help
    )
  13. ^ a b c Morris, 1991, p. 215.
  14. ^ Reynolds et al., 2004, p. 291.
  15. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Peterspence" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Sources

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