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. Outline of contents Distinctio prima A comparison of royal courts with Hell; Hell and its mythical inhabitants Courtiers and serfs (including a conversation with Ranulf de Glanvill) The legendary King Herla and the origins of the Wild Hunt Tale of an early king of Portugal (probably Afonso I or Sancho I) who had his wife murdered Anecdotes of the poet Giscard de Beaulieu and of another Cluniac monk The capture of Jerusalem by Saladin on 2 October 1187 Founding of the Carthusian Order Founding of the Order of Grandmont by Saint Stephen of Muret Founding of the Knights Templar by Hugues de Payens with anecdotes of their early years The senex Axasessis or Old Man of the Mountain, founder of the Assassins Founding of the Knights Hospitaller Foundation of the Cistercian Order with anecdotes of Stephen Harding, Bernard of Clairvaux and Arnold of Brescia Further anecdotes of the Cistercians, Benedictines, Grandmontines and Carthusians Gilbert of Sempringham and his Order The heretic or robber bands known as Routiers, Brabantians or Brabazons The heretics called Publicans and Patarines; this section includes a tale of devil-worship which illustrates the development of medieval ideas of witchcraft Narrative of a meeting with the Waldensians, who had come to the Third Lateran Council at Rome in 1179 to petition Pope Alexander III for the right to preach Story told by Philip of Naples of a meeting in Montenegro with three hermits, a Frenchman, an Englishman and a Scot Distinctio secunda Prologue Anecdote of Gregory, a monk of Gloucester Anecdotes of Peter of Tarentaise Anecdote about a hermit, a demonic pet snake, and foolish charity A meeting with Luke of Hungary