Map, Walter

Map, Walter

▪ English writer
born c. 1140, Hereford?, England
died c. 1209

      English churchman and writer whose work helps to illuminate the society and religious issues of his era.

      Probably of Welsh descent, Map studied at the University of Paris from about 1154 to 1160. He took holy orders and became a clerk in the household of Henry II, and he served the king as an itinerant judge and represented him at the third Lateran Council (1179). After holding various church positions, he became archdeacon of Oxford in 1197.

      It was as a writer rather than an ecclesiastic, however, that Map came to be remembered. Between 1181 and 1192 he 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 Valerius to Rufinus on the folly of marrying that is referred to in the prologue to “The Wife of Bath's Tale” in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The book also includes valuable histories of Christian heretical sects of the period and of the Anglo-Norman kings. Other works once attributed to Map, including Arthurian romances and goliardic satires against the clergy, are no longer thought to be his work.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Map, Walter — • Archdeacon of Oxford, b. at, or in the vicinity of, Hereford, c. 1140, d. between 1208 and 1210 Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006 …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Map, Walter — (ca. 1140–ca. 1210)     Walter Map was a courtier and writer, a favorite in the English court of HENRY II, whose best known work, De nugis curialium (Courtiers’ Trifles), is a witty, entertaining, and often satirical collection of miscellaneous… …   Encyclopedia of medieval literature

  • Map, Walter — (c.1140 c.1209)    A clerk in the household of Henry II, who made him an itinerant judge; he also had a good career in the Church, rising to be Archdeacon of Oxford. Around 1190 he wrote a light hearted miscellany called De Nugis Curialium (… …   A Dictionary of English folklore

  • Walter Map — Born c. 1140 Herefordshire, England Died circa 1209 Occupation Clergyman Writer Walter Map (born 1140, died c. 1208–1210) was a medieval writer of works written in Latin. Only one work is attributed to Map with any certainty: De Nugis Curialium …   Wikipedia

  • Walter Map —     Walter Map     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Walter Map     (Sometimes wrongly written MAPS)     Archdeacon of Oxford, b. at, or in the vicinity of, Hereford, c. 1140, d. between 1208 and 1210. Belonging by birth to the Welsh Marches, he was in… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Walter Map — (né en 1140, mort vers 1208 1210) était un historien anglais. Homme d église et écrivain du Moyen Âge, il rédigait en latin. Un seul ouvrage lui est attribué avec certitude : De nugis curialium. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Écrits …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Map — [map] Walter 1140? 1209?; Welsh poet & satirist: also, Latin name, Mapes [māps, mā′pēz΄] …   English World dictionary

  • Walter Map — (* um 1140; † zwischen 1208 und 1210) war ein englischer Schriftsteller walisischer Herkunft. Map studierte in Paris Theologie, wurde später Archidiakon in Oxford und wirkte als bedeutender Gelehrter am Hof des englischen Königs Heinrich II.. Im… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Map — /map/, n. Walter, c1140 1209?, Welsh ecclesiastic, poet, and satirist. Also, Mapes /mayps, may peez/. * * * I Graphic representation, drawn to scale and usually on a flat surface, of features usually geographic, geologic, or geopolitical of an… …   Universalium

  • Walter Ristow — Walter William Ristow (April 20, 1908 in La Crosse, Wisconsin ndash; April 3, 2006 in Mitchellville, Maryland) was the head librarian of the map library at the New York Public Library and later the Library of Congress. The Washington Map Society… …   Wikipedia

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