Map

Map, or Mapes, Walter, the creator of the Arthurian legend in its modern form, was perhaps a native of Herefordshire. After studying at the university of Paris, he rose rapidly at the Court of Henry II., was a justice itinerant in 1173, and became Archdeacon of Oxford in 1196. He appears to have been equally in favour with Richard I. and John, but when he died we do not know. Map wrote in French the Quest du Saint Graal, and probably also the Saint Graal, and great part of Lancelot du Lac. In Latin he wrote an anecdotal work, Be Aneedotis Citrialium, and the satirical poems, Golias Episcopus and the rest, have often been ascribed to him. He was the friend of Becket and Giraldus Cambrensis.