Liber pontificalis

Liber Pontificalis
"The Book of Pontiffs"
Jerome, who since the ninth century was viewed as the original author of the Liber Pontificalis
Also known as	Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae; Gesta pontificum; Chronica pontificum
Author(s)	largely anonymous, but contributors include Martin of Opava
Ascribed to	Jerome for the first chapters up to Damasus I
Language	Latin
Date	started in the 3rd century as list of bishops; continued as biographical series at various stages between the 6th and 9th century, and between c. 1100 and the 15th century.
First printed edition	J. Busæus, Anastasii bibliothecarii Vitæ seu Gesta. Romanorum Pontificum (Mainz, 1602).
Genre	biography of the popes
Period covered	from St. Peter (1st century) to the 15th century.

The Liber Pontificalis (Latin for 'pontifical book' or Book of the Popes) 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 (867–872) or Pope Stephen V (885–891), but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV (1431–1447) and then Pope Pius II (1458–1464). Although quoted virtually uncritically from the 8th to 18th century, the Liber Pontificalis has undergone intense modern scholarly scrutiny. The work of the French priest Louis Duchesne (who compiled the major scholarly edition), and of others has highlighted some of the underlying redactional motivations of different sections, though such interests are so disparate and varied as to render improbable one popularizer's claim that it is an "unofficial instrument of pontifical propaganda."

The title Liber Pontificalis goes back to the 12th century, although it only became current in the 15th century, and the canonical title of the work since the edition of Duchesne in the 19th century. In the earliest extant manuscripts it is referred to as Liber episcopalis in quo continentur acta beatorum pontificum Urbis Romae (episcopal book in which is contained the blest acts of the pontiffs of the city of Rome) and later the Gesta or Chronica pontificum.

During the Middle Ages, Saint Jerome was considered the author of all the biographies up until those of Pope Damasus I (366–383), based on an apocryphal letter between Saint Jerome and Pope Damasus published as a preface to the Medieval manuscripts. The attribution originated with Rabanus Maurus and is repeated by Martin of Opava, who extended the work into the 13th century. Other sources attribute the early work to Hegesippus and Irenaeus, having been continued by Eusebius of Caesarea.