Liber Censuum
Encyclopedia
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for "Census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
Book of the Roman Church"; also referred to as the Codex of Cencius) is an eighteen-volume (originally) financial record of the real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
revenues of the papacy from 492 to 1192. The span of the record includes the creation of the Apostolic Camera
Apostolic Camera
The Apostolic Camera, or in Latin Camera Apostolica or Apostolica Camera, is the central board of finance in the Papal administrative system, which at one time was of great importance in the government of the States of the Church, and in the administration of justice, led by the Camerlengo of the...
and the effects of the Gregorian Reform
Gregorian Reform
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, circa 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy...
. 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". 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
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
The Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
considers the Liber Censuum "perhaps the most valuable source for the history of papal economics during the Middle Ages".
History
The document has its roots in the Polyptique of Pope Gelasius IPope Gelasius I
Pope Saint Gelasius I was pope from 492 until his death in 496. He was the third and last bishop of Rome of African origin in the Catholic Church. Gelasius was a prolific writer whose style placed him on the cusp between Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages...
, created at the end of the 5th century and continued for the next four centuries. The Liber Censuum proper was assembled in 1192 by Cencius Camerarius (future Pope Honorius III), papal chamberlain
Papal chamberlain
Papal chamberlain was one of the highest honours that could be bestowed on a Catholic layman by the Pope, and was often given to members of noble families. It was mostly an honorary position, but a chamberlain served the Pope for one week per year during official ceremonies...
to Pope Clement III
Pope Clement III
Pope Clement III , born Paulino Scolari, was elected Pope on December 19, 1187 and reigned until his death.-Cardinal:...
and Pope Celestine II
Pope Celestine II
Pope Celestine II , born Guido di Castello, was pope from 1143 to 1144.-Early life:Guido di Castello, possibly the son of a local noble, Niccolo di Castello, was born either in Città di Castello, situated in Paterna Santa Felicita upon the Apennines, or at Macerata in the March of Ancona.Guido had...
, and his assistant, William Rofio, the clerk of the papal camera, compliling information contained in the Collectio canonum of Cardinal Deusdedit
Cardinal Deusdedit
Cardinal Deusdedit was Cardinal-priest of St. Peter ad Vincula.He was a friend of Pope Saint Gregory VII and defender of his reformation measures. Deusdedit joined the Benedictine Order and became a zealous promoter of ecclesiastical reforms in the latter half of the eleventh century.-References:...
(1087), the Liber politicus of the canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Benedict (c. 1140), dossiers of the former chamberlain Boson
Boso Breakspeare
-Origins:According to the older historiography Boso was an Englishman from St Albans and nephew of Nicholas Breakspear, future Pope Adrian IV, on his mother's side. He ostensibly joined the Order of Benedictines at St Albans Abbey in the young age, and then entered the Roman Curia when his uncle...
(1149–1178), and the Digesta of Cardinal Albinus
Albinus (cardinal)
Albinus was an Italian Cardinal of the late twelfth century. An Augustinian regular canon, he was Bishop of Albano from 1189 to 1197....
(1188). Albinus' Digesta was the "most ambitious" of the Liber Censuum predecessor records, containing—according to Albiunus—"whatever I knew or found in books of antiquities or what I myself heard and saw concerning the rights of St. Peter". The Liber Censuum also incorporates information from a contemporary general census and rent table of church properties organized by diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
, the Ordo romanus (a description of religious ceremonies) —as it pertains to the distribution of payments to the curia during such ceremonies, and works of pontifical history such as the Liber pontificalis
Liber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
.
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 Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
to the abbot of Lagny-sur-Marne
Lagny-sur-Marne
Lagny-sur-Marne is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France from the center of Paris....
requesting an annual payment of one ounce of gold, owed according to "a certain work among the books of the apostolic see". Although this specific claim dated to the time of Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II , born Otho de Lagery , was Pope from 12 March 1088 until his death on July 29 1099...
, the abbot rejected it and there is no evidence Alexander III pursued it further. Such incidences are likely what Cencius refers to in the preface of the Liber Censuum as the "no little damage and loss" incurred by the church as a result of earlier records being "incomplete and neither written nor arranged authentically". Furthermore, the Liber Censuum was compiled at a time when the papal patrimony was threatened by the Staufen emperor and individual payments from sources throughout the continent were being reduced by the evasiveness of payers and the inefficiency of the apostolic camera
Apostolic Camera
The Apostolic Camera, or in Latin Camera Apostolica or Apostolica Camera, is the central board of finance in the Papal administrative system, which at one time was of great importance in the government of the States of the Church, and in the administration of justice, led by the Camerlengo of the...
.
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 Mirabilia, a mythical description of the city of RomeRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(vol. 9), a version of the Ordo romanus (vol. 10-11), pontifical chronicles (vol. 12-13), and a chartulary
Chartulary
A cartulary or chartulary , also called Pancarta and Codex Diplomaticus, is a medieval manuscript volume or roll containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the foundation, privileges, and legal rights of ecclesiastical establishments, municipal corporations, industrial...
(vol. 14-18).
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. 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
Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX, born Ugolino di Conti, was pope from March 19, 1227 to August 22, 1241.The successor of Pope Honorius III , he fully inherited the traditions of Pope Gregory VII and of his uncle Pope Innocent III , and zealously continued their policy of Papal supremacy.-Early life:Ugolino was...
's nephew Niccolò as camerarius between 1255 and 1261.
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."
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".
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. V. Pfaff, estimating historical exchange rate
Exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...
s, 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
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
's annual income. The Liber Censuum, however, does not include several sources of papal revenue, in particular those collected in-kind
Payment in kind
Payment in kind refers to payment for goods or services with a medium other than legal tender ....
and the revenues of the Basilicas of Rome
Churches of Rome
There are more than 900 churches in Rome. Most, but not all, of these are Roman Catholic, with some notable Roman Catholic Marian churches.The first churches of Rome originated in places where Christians met. They were divided into three categories:...
.
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. The intent was to allow future camerarii to add future entries "until the end of the world". The original version of the Liber Censuum was identified by Paul Fabre in the Vatican LibraryVatican Library
The Vatican Library is the library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. It is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it has 75,000 codices from...
(ms Vat. Lat. 8486), with its blank spaces having been exhausted during the pontificate of Cencius (who was elected Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III
Pope Honorius III , previously known as Cencio Savelli, was Pope from 1216 to 1227.-Early work:He was born in Rome as son of Aimerico...
) and five new volumes having been added to the beginning and end of the document. A new version of the Liber Censuum was compiled by Cardinal Nicholas Roselli (d. 1362) in the 14th century.
A 1228 version of the Liber censuum in the library of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
(ms Riccard. 228) was updated through the Avignon Papacy
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
. By the end of the 13th century the addition of the dossiers of the cities of the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
and other papal biographies swelled the document to thirty-three volumes. A copy of the Liber censuum, along with a tiara
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
, was given by Antipope Clement VIII
Antipope Clement VIII
Clement VIII was one of the antipopes of the Avignon line, reigning from 10 June 1423 to 26 July 1429. He was born between 1369–1370, as Gil Sanchez Muñoz y Carbón, and died on 28 December 1446....
to the legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
of Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V
Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...
in 1429 as a sign of submission.
Modern, edited versions of the Liber Censuum, reconstructed as their editors though the original codex of Cencius would have appeared, have been produced by Fabre and Louis Duchesne
Louis Duchesne
Louis Marie Olivier Duchesne was a French priest, philologist, teacher and a critical historian of Christianity and Roman Catholic liturgy and institutions....
(1910). Fabre's identification of other portions of the Liber Censuum, for example the alleged acquiescence of King Harthacanute
Harthacanute
Harthacnut was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042.He was the son of King Cnut the Great, who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England, and Emma of Normandy. When Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions...
to ecclesiastical taxation, are more controversial.