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

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

translation and continuation of the Latin ''History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea'' by William of Tyre. It begins with recapture of Jerusalem by the Byzantine emperor, 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 The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

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 Ernoul was a squire of Balian of Ibelin who wrote an eyewitness account of the fall of Jerusalem in 1187. This was later incorporated into an Old French history of Crusader states">Crusader Palestine now known as the ''Chronicle of Ernoul and Berna ...

'' 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">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... prose history of the Crusades ...

''. 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 language, Italian: ''Corrado del Monferrato''; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''Conrà ëd Monfrà'') (c. 1146 – 28 April 1192) was a nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the '' ...

, the establishment of the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (; ) was a medieval kingdom of the Crusader states that existed between 1192 and 1489. Initially ruled as an independent Christian kingdom, it was established by the French House of Lusignan after the Third Crusade. I ...

, the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

and the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

down to the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. 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 literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts (mss) or of printed books. Such texts may range i ...

based on all the manuscripts.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{refend Old French chronicles about the Crusades