It was made al lhe lnslructlons ol Philip 111, "Philip the Good", Duke of Burgundy. at David Aubert·s workshop In Bruges around 14S5 c,eated in roll form, and late< guillotined and bound. The text, written in French, in minuscule Burgundian Bastard script.

delicately embelílshed with golden ínitials. polychrome borders and beautiful mlníatures, tells the story of the conquests of the Holy Places during the Flrst Crusade, In lhe late 11 m Century, describlng how the knights took Jerusalem and many other areas from the Turks. Soma of the hlstorical events recounted are the story of the kingdom of Jerusalem until its fall and the conques! of the Holy City, as well as a short biography In the form of a genealogy of lts governors and slgniflcant court personalitles and knlghts, includlng the Order of the Knights Templar.

There are beautiful llluminations depicting cruel battles, lengthy sieges and violen! assaults on lhe cilles, reproducing In lavish detail weapons and war machines, lhe armies' clothing and annour. cavalry, ships and ports in the cities, green meadows and winding hllls on whích stylísed bulldlngs are poised. as well as rlchly decorated luxurlous and noble castles. wlth majesllc coronations taking place in their throne rooms.

The text and the lllumlnations are framed with subtle polychrome margíns of ptant motifs, such as acanthus leaves and flowers, small birds and sumptuous peacocks.

lis peculiar long and horizontal formal Is dueto being a chronicle and a genealogy, Genealogies tended to be drawn up on a parchment which could be rolled up and lhe entry for this manuscript in an lnventory of lhe Court of Burgundy made when Philip the Good died (1467) indeed says: tournant en maniere de rllle". Through hav,ng been cut f0< bíndíng in codex formal, the text written In columns does not follow on to the next column. but this Is all properly explained in the study book. which goes along wíth the facsímile.

Toe codex was kept at the Court of the Dukes of Burgundy until at Jeast 1487, the date of its first catalogue cIasslflcation. In 1517 it appearect as belonglng to Emperor Charles V of Germany and I of Spaln, In 1619 it was mentioned in the lnventory of Matthias, the third son of Maxlmillan 11. On 20th December 1752 lt was fortunately transferred from the Imperial treasury of Vienna to the Court Library, Osterreichísche Nationalbibllolhek, where lt has been kept in perfect condition ever since.