Courtiers’ Trifles

work by Map

Also known as: “De nugis curialium”

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July 16, 2026

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Courtiers' Trifles (De nugis curialium) is a miscellany written in Latin by Walter Map between 1181 and 1192. The work illuminates the society and religious issues of Map's era. It includes legends, folklore, tales, gossip, observations, and reflections, showcasing Map's knowledge, shrewdness, and wit. A notable item is a letter on the folly of marriage, referenced in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The book also contains histories of Christian heretical sects and Anglo-Norman kings. Walter Map was an English churchman and writer who lived from approximately 1140 to 1209.1

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Walter Map
…composed De nugis curialium (Courtiers’ Trifles). A miscellany written in Latin, it contains legends, folklore, and tales as well as gossip, observations, and reflections, and it reveals the author to have been knowledgeable and shrewd and a man of considerable wit. Perhaps the best-known item is the letter from…
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…composed De nugis curialium (Courtiers’ Trifles). A miscellany written in Latin, it contains legends, folklore, and tales as well as gossip, observations, and reflections, and it reveals the author to have been knowledgeable and shrewd and a man of considerable wit. Perhaps the best-known item is the letter from…
Read More