Folger Finds: New Year's Gift Rolls of Elizabeth I and Henry VIII

The long-standing custom of giving gifts to the monarch on New Year’s Day was a highly ritualized social and political act in early modern England. The Master of the Jewel-House and his assistants carefully recorded gifts from and given to high-ranking nobility and members of the royal household on “gift rolls,” sheets of paper or membranes of vellum stuck or sewn together and then rolled and kept in the Jewel House.

The New Year’s Gift Rolls featured here represent two of the seven gift rolls held at the Folger, which themselves are almost a third of the original rolls extant for the Tudor period. Henry VIII’s gift roll, signed on both sides, is written on paper and measures eight and one-half feet in length, while Elizabeth I’s gift roll, written on vellum, extends to 11 feet and is signed by her at the top and bottom of each side. The names of the gift-givers and their gifts are recorded on one side of the roll, grouped in descending order according to rank and position In the margin opposite each entry is noted the name of the person or officer to whom the gift was delivered, or the office to which it was consigned, The reverse side of the gift roll lists gifts presented by the sovereign.

New Year’s gift roll of Henry VIII, King of England, January 1, 1539

The gift roll of Henry VIII is from January 1, 1539—a year before his marriage to Anne of Cleves. Overwhelmingly Henry expected gifts to be gold. Most of the bishops and chaplains, and many of the lords and knights gave money, often presented in velvet or leather purses; the majority of the dukes and earls gave goldsmiths’ work, including “a sworde the pomell and hilt gilt.” Examples of this work still survive. Other forms of gifts were not uncommon: the marquis of Dorset gave a “brase of greyhoundes,” and Lord Morley presented a “boke covered withe grene veluet.” Henry also received numerous gifts of richly embroidered garments: the countess of Hampton gave “a night cap with cheynes & buttons of golde,” Lord Richard Grey “a shirte of camericke wrought in silke.”

Elizabeth I’s gift roll is from 1585, the 27th year of her reign. By the mid-Elizabethan period, gold and silver plate was no longer common among the New Year’s gifts. In December 1585, Elizabeth Wingfield counseled the countess of Shrewsbury that a gift of money would be “ell liked” [ill-liked]. Of greater prominence in 1585 were gifts of clothing, personal jewelry, and trinkets. Sir Francis Walsingham gave the queen “a French goune of Russett Satten Floryshed with Leves of Sylver bound Aboute with A passamayne of venis golde with pendant sleves Lyned with Cloth of Sylver,” Mrs. West “A Doblett of blacke Satten embraudered with Fethers of golde and Sylver and smaull sede perlles,” and the earl of Cumberland “A Juell of gold being a Oulle [Owl] garnished one the brest and Eyes with Opalles and Emeroddes.” The gifts of gentlemen and gentlewomen were less elaborate, sometimes no more than a scarf or handkerchief, while apothecaries customarily gave items such as preserved fruits, “pottes of green Gynger,” and “boxes of peches of Janua.” Striking in both rolls is the intimacy of many of the gifts to the monarch.

New Year’s gift roll of Elizabeth I, Queen of England, 1585

The return gifts from the monarch, less elaborate and imaginative, were always of gilt plate, the weight and value of which depended on the rank of the recipient, though both monarchs on occasion rewarded favorites more substantially. The Henrician roll records the giving of standing cups, bowls, or even simpler cruses (two-handed drinking vessels); the 1585 roll records only gifts of “guilt plate.” The names of recipients, again arranged in sections according to rank, are those of the gift-givers recorded on the other side. In general, entries give the name or initial of the goldsmith who supplied the gift, and the weight of the plate is noted in the margin. A sample entry reads, “Too Mrs Hopton in guilt plate k … 10 oz.” The 1585 roll also lists recipients of “free guiftes,” and “gyftes gyven and delyvered at sundry tymes.” The latter was a record of all gifts presented from the queen to ambassadors and other foreign visitors, and at weddings and christenings since the compiling of the last gift roll. They include a gilt bowl delivered at the christening of Lord Thomas Howard’s child, and a gold chain given to the Danish Ambassador Mathias Budde. Elizabethan gift rolls also record gifts presented to maids of honor, which reflects the increased ceremonial importance of these young women during the reign of a female monarch: they were absent from the male-dominated Henrician Privy Chamber. Overall, the monarch benefitted financially from the exchange of gifts; New Year’s gift-giving was one of the main ways by which the crown accumulated plate. Nevertheless, those of limited means and relatively low status at court could stand to gain from the exchange: John Dudley, Sergeant of the Pastry to Elizabeth I, in return for “a fayre Pye Orringed” received gilt plate weighing 6 oz.; Marke Antonio gave the queen “A glas of Swete water” and received in return plate weighing 5 oz.

Presentation of gifts to the sovereign was a public ceremony of political and social importance, which took place in the presence chamber of court: those out of favor were not allowed to take part in the ritual exchanging of gifts. The manner by which gifts were given is markedly different for Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. In the Henrician roll, gifts in most cases were recorded to be “with the kings grace,” although others were sent “to the juel house” and in the case of geldings “to the stable.” A 1538 letter from John Husee, Lord Lisle’s court agent, provides a snapshot of the personal nature of gift-giving during Henry VIII’s reign, and sheds light on the way in which gifts were recorded: “The King stood leaning against the cupboard, receiving all things; and Mr. Tuke at the end of the same cupboard, penning all things that were presented.” By contrast, presentation of gifts to Elizabeth was indirect to a court officer. Gifts are recorded being delivered to “John Astelley esquire Master of the Juelles & Platte,” “Mrs Blanch parry” and “Raulfe hope yeomen of the Robes.”