ABSTRACT
Walter was chancellor of Antioch between c. 1114 and c. 1122 and probably came from a clerical background. He was almost certainly an eyewitness to most of the events he recorded, although he was probably captive in Aleppo for at least the latter part of 1119. He may have composed The Antiochene Wars in three stages, with breaks between Books One and Two, and chapters twelve and thirteen of Book Two. Walter's writings also contain a relative wealth of information about the prosopographical and institutional history of Latin Antioch, and offer a range of important observations on military practice. Like many Latins who wrote about the Levant in this period, Walter produced a negative and distorted image of the Islamic world, although he showed some respect for Muslim tactics in war. Walter's work offers a uniquely detailed account of Latin life in northern Syria at the start of the twelfth century.
