Danish Census Book

The Waldemar - Erdbuch (Latin: Liber Census Daniæ ) is a tax collection book, which was create in 1231 in Latin, the Danish King Waldemar II Sejr. It lists the possessions and revenues of the king.

The importance of Erdbuchs is, inter alia, that many places and administrative districts of the then Danish Empire were mentioned for the first time (Denmark, Schleswig, Fehmarn, Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and Estonia). It provides valuable insight into the power and social structures of the time. The lowest administrative unit was the Harde. The Harden had a rather geographical subdivision of land between Harde and summarized in SYSSEL.

The multi-volume original on parchment, called the Codex Holmiensis, contains different lists in different manuscripts. This includes listings of commercial centers as well as the royal and ecclesiastical possessions. It has been kept since his transfer in 1929 from Stockholm in the Danish State Archives in Copenhagen.

The Erdbuch was only in 1688 replaced by a register book.

Text output

• Svend Aakjær (ed.): Kong Valdemar Jordebog. ( = Samfund til Udgivelse af Gammel Nordisk literature. Udgave. Vol. 50, ZDB - ID 1348543 -x). 3 volumes (Vol. 1: Text Vol 2:. Commentary Vol 3:. Registre. ). Jørgensen, København 1926 to 1943.

• History of Denmark in the Middle Ages
• Schleswig- Holstein's history
• Fehmarn
• 1231
• Office book