Commentary on the book by Inmaculada Llibrer Escrig: Accounting and Organization of the Cathedral of Valencia in the 16th Century, 2018.

Abstract

The work of Inmaculada Llibrer Escrig constitutes a meritorious historical accounting work carried out on handwritten documentary sources kept in the Archive of the Cathedral of Valencia, in the Archive of the Kingdom of Valencia and in the Municipal Archive.

The author, attracted by this scientific field, found in the cathedral of her city the best conditions to achieve a magnificent research focused on the exploration and explanation of the accounting systems that were used in this institution in the sixteenth century. The choice of the temporal scope is related to the importance of the historical moment. It was a period in which changes and modernization reached all structures and areas of humanity. In accounting matters, this century is also known as the golden century, with the widespread use of the double entry system. Since the institution analyzed was of great dimensions, and numerous account books have been preserved, the period of study is limited to one decade: from 1546 to 1555, a choice justified by the fact that this was the period of registration of the manual books and their major.