738 wall painting
own orthodox archbishopric at Arges in 1359. The king of
Hungary, Louis I of Anjou (r. 1342–82), however, was able
to impose Catholic bishops on Arges and Severin in 1370.
The OTTOMANTURKSconquered BULGARIAand SERBIAin
the early 15th century and obliged the Wallachian prince,
Mircea the Old (1386–1418), to pay them tribute. Wal-
lachia was then caught between the Hungarians and the
Ottomans. An attempt by VLADIII THEIMPALERto oppose
Sultan MEHMEDII in 1462 failed. Wallachia and MOLDAVIA,
however, did manage to avoid complete conquest, com-
plete integration, and Islamization by the Turks. Together
they eventually became the modern state of Romania.
See alsoEPIROS AND THEDESPOTATE OF.
Further reading: Nicolae Iorga, Byzantium after
Byzantium (Portland: Center for Romanian Studies,
2000).
wall painting SeePAINTING.
Walsingham, Thomas (ca. 1355–ca. 1422)English
chronicler, monk
He was a scriptor,historian, and monk in the monastery
of Saint Albans, with a term as prior of its subordinate
house at Wymondham. After writing a list of benefactors
for the abbey in 1380, between then and 1394 he wrote
his Major Chronicle(Chronica majora), actually a continu-
ation from 1259 of MATTHEWParis’s Great Chronicle,and
The Deeds of the Abbots,a history of the abbots of Saint
Albans. At Wymondham he wrote a condensed version of
the Major Chronicle.After returning to Saint Albans, he
completed his greatest and most famous work, the Saint
Albans Chronicle. His work has been of fundamental
importance for the study of Anglo-Norman and ecclesias-
tical history up to 1419 and particularly important for the
reigns of his contemporaries, Kings RICHARD II, and
Henry IV (r. 1399–1413), and HENRYV. He had a strong
distaste for John WYCLIFFE, whom he denounced in no
uncertain terms. He died at Saint Albans in about 1422.
Further reading: Thomas Walsingham, The Saint
Albans Chronicle, 1406–1420: Edited from Bodley Ms. 462,
ed. V. H. Galbraith (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937);
Antonia Gransden, Historical Writing in England. II, c.
1307 to the Early Sixteenth Century(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell
University Press, 1982); Ernest Fraser Jacob, The Fifteenth
Century, 1399–1485(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961).
Walter of Châtillon(fl. 1135–ca. 1190)French poet
Born in Lille in about 1135, Walter of Châtillon studied
at PARISand then at RHEIMS. He taught at the school of
Châtillon and later studied LAW at BOLOGNA. He was
employed by King HENRYII of ENGLAND. Returning to
FRANCE, he was appointed secretary to the archbishop of
Rheims and later a canon of Amiens. He is the author of a
Latin poem written in 1184 on Alexander the Great. His
moralistic and satirical lyrical works were enjoyed by the
LAITYfor their attacks on the higher CLERGY. He also
wrote an anti-Jewish tract and another on the Trinity. His
Alexandreis (1171–81), the epic about Alexander the
Great, was a very popular book about the East and world
geography. His Alexander was a moralistic model for cru-
saders, such as PHILIPII AUGUSTUS. He died in about
1190.
Further reading: Walter of Châtillon, Alexandreis,
trans. David Townsend (Philadelphia: University of Penn-
sylvania Press, 1997); Ernst Robert Curtius, European Lit-
erature and the Latin Middle Ages, trans. Walter Trask
(1948; reprint, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1953); Dennis Kratz, Mocking Epic: Waltharius,
Alexandries, and the Problems of Christian Heroism
(Madrid: José Porrúa Turanzas, 1980).Walter of Henley (d. 1250)English friar
Walter wrote a treatise called Housebondrie,a manual of
estate management. It included detailed descriptions of
the agrarian practices of his age. The work was used as an
agricultural handbook in the later Middle Ages and was
considered by many the best of its kind in the 13th and
14th centuries. It had abundant information on success-
ful agricultural practices, fertilizing techniques, prices,
comparative productivity of domestic animals, and infor-
mation on farming equipment and tools. Among his
interesting ideas was his belief that agricultural land must
yield three times what was sown to be worth the effort.
He died about 1250.
Further reading:Dorothea Oschinsky, Walter of Hen-
ley and Other Treatises on Estate Management and Account-
ing(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971).Walter Sansavoir of Poissy the Penniless(d. 1096)
French knight, a leader of the People’s Crusade
Born near PARISWalter Sansavoir, along with four other
members of his family, embarked on CRUSADEinitially as
a collaborator with PETER THEHERMIT. Unwilling to wait
for the arrival of most of the crusading army, Walter, his
uncle, and his three brothers set out on May 1, 1095,
from COLOGNEwith a few thousand compatriots, mostly
peasants. Entering HUNGARYon May 21, 1095, and pass-
ing into Byzantine territory at Belgrade, his followers pil-
laged the countryside to survive. In doing so some of his
men were killed, burned alive in a church. Pushing on to
a Byzantine provincial capital, the crusaders were well
received and fed. They were then sent under Greek escort
to CONSTANTINOPLE, where they arrived on August 1.
They were joined in a week or so by a group led by Peter
the Hermit. After crossing the Bosphorus on August 6
and 7 with an army of 25,000 infantry and 500 cavalry.
Walter, though advocating more caution, was killed along
with most of the rest of his army on October 21, 1096, in
a Turkish ambush or the Battle of Civetot.