ABSTRACT
One of the remarkable qualities of Walter the Chancellor's account is that, as a member of Antiochene court, he wrote from the perspective of the principality rather than the kingdom of Jerusalem. In this early period only Ralph of Caen, the biographer of Tancred of Hauteville, can be said to have had a similar focus, and he dedicated most of his account to the history of the First Crusade rather than the Latin settlement of northern Syria. For the period between 1114 and 1122, and most importantly for the dramatic events of 1119, The Antiochene Wars is the only known Latin source written within the principality. Walter's account provides a brief but illuminating glimpse into the early administration of the city of Antioch. He recorded that in order to deal with the crisis precipitated by the earthquakes which racked northern Syria in the early summer of 1115, Roger of Salerno met with Ralph of Acre, duke of Antioch.
