BL Heraclius carrying the True Cross, Livre d'Eracles Royal 15 E

The ''Estoire d'Eracles'' ("History of Heraclius") is an anonymous

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

translation and continuation of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea'' by

William of Tyre William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...

. It begins with recapture of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

by the Roman emperor Heraclius in AD 630, from which it takes its name, and continues down to 1184. The continuation recounts the history of the Crusader states from Saladin's capture of Jerusalem in 1187 down to 1277. The translation was made between 1205 and 1234, possibly in Western Europe. Several times the text of the translation was changed and the manuscripts preserve different versions of William's text. The continuations were added to the translation between 1220 and 1277. There are two different versions of the first continuation, covering the years 1185–1225. Both reflect the political attitudes of the Crusader aristocracy. There are 49 surviving manuscripts of the ''Eracles''. Of these, 44 contain a first continuation drawn from the '' Chronicle of Ernoul'' and five (the so-called Colbert–Fontainebleau manuscripts) contain a different version. Twelve of the manuscripts contain a unique continuation for the years 1229–1261 drawn from the independent work known as the ''

Rothelin Continuation The ''Rothelin Continuation'' is an anonymous Old French prose history of the Crusades and the Crusader states between 1229 and 1261. It is one of the most important sources for the period it covers, which includes the Barons' Crusade (1239–124 ...

''. The continuations of the ''Eracles'' have varying historical value. The translation itself, insofar as it differs from the original, is of no historical value as an independent source. The Ernoul continuation is an invaluable source for the period from 1187 until 1204, including the fall of Jerusalem, the reign of

Conrad of Montferrat Conrad of Montferrat ( Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (died 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the ''de facto'' King of Jerusalem (as Conrad I) by ...

, the establishment of the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Ana ...

, the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

down to the Fourth Crusade. Although the ''Eracles'' has been published twice from different manuscripts versions, there has been no

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...

based on all the manuscripts.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{refend Crusade chronicles Old French texts