Walter of Compiègne was a French poet who lived in the middle of the 12th century and was a monk at Saint Martin's at Tours.
The story of Mahomet reached Walter by oral tradition, according to the information he himself provides.
Its source was a young Muslim who was brought to France after the First Crusade by a French knight, and who converted to Christianity.
He narrated the life of Mahomet to Pagan of Sens, the abbot of Notre Dame d'Étampes [fr].
The poem begins: Quisquis nosse cupis patriam Machometis et actus otia Walterii de Machomete lege.