Map, Walter, active 1200. De nugis curialium

De nugis curialium (Medieval Latin for "Of the trifles of courtiers" or loosely "Trinkets for the Court") is the major surviving work of the 12th-century Latin author Walter Map. He was an English courtier of Welsh descent. Map claimed that he was a man of the Welsh Marches (marchio sum Walensibus);. He was probably born in Herefordshire, but his studies and employment took him to Canterbury, Paris, Rome and to several royal and noble courts of Western Europe. The book takes the form of a series of anecdotes of people and places, offering many sidelights on the history of his own time. Some are from personal knowledge, and apparently reliable; others represent popular rumours about history and current events, and are often far from the truth.