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 Rome (vol. 9), a version of the Ordo romanus (vol. 10-11), pontifical chronicles (vol. 12-13), and a chartulary (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'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 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. 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.
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