Estoire d'Eracles

It begins with recapture of Jerusalem 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.

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.

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, the establishment of the Kingdom of Cyprus, the Third Crusade and the Byzantine Empire down to the Fourth Crusade.

The emperor Heraclius carrying the True Cross into Jerusalem, from British Library MS Royal 15 E. i (15th century).