Map
or MAPES, WALTER, a British scholar; born in the Welsh Marches, probably about 1150. He studied at the University of Paris, and made an important figure in the court of Henry II. He became Archdeacon of Oxford in 1199; contributed to the Arthurian cycle of romance the romances of the "Quest of the Holy Grail," "Launcelot of the Lake," and the "Death of Arthur"; was the au- MAPLE thor of "On the Trifles of the Court," a notebook of the events of the day and of court gossip; and to him is attributed a collection of rhymed Latin verse, in which the abuses of the Church are hit off with vigor and humor. Among the most remarkable of these are the satirical "Apocalypse" and the "Confession of Bishop Golias." He died about 1210.