The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Gift giving at the court of Henry VIII: the 1539 New Year's gift roll in context

Gift giving at the court of Henry VIII: the 1539 New Year's gift roll in context
Gift giving at the court of Henry VIII: the 1539 New Year's gift roll in context
The exchange of gifts at the New Year was a very significant social, political and financial event at the court of Henry VIII, just as it would have been at the courts of his English predecessors and European contemporaries. The process of gift exchange, including who made, received and gave gifts, was recorded each year in the gift roll.
This article presents a detailed analysis of the 1539 gift roll, now in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, in the context of the other extant rolls for 1528, 1532 and 1534. Areas for discussion include a consideration of the range and significance of the gifts given and received by Henry and the role of the goldsmiths who made the king's gifts, including the weight, style and shape of the pieces commissioned. The article is supported by a full transcript of the 1539 gift roll, which is accompanied by extensive references comparing this gift roll to the other surviving gift rolls.
gift roll, new year, henry viii, goldsmith, plate
0003-5815
125-175
Hayward, M.A.
4be652e4-dcc0-4b5b-bf0b-0f845fce11c1
Hayward, M.A.
4be652e4-dcc0-4b5b-bf0b-0f845fce11c1

Hayward, M.A. (2005) Gift giving at the court of Henry VIII: the 1539 New Year's gift roll in context. The Antiquaries Journal, 85, 125-175.

Record type: Article

Abstract

The exchange of gifts at the New Year was a very significant social, political and financial event at the court of Henry VIII, just as it would have been at the courts of his English predecessors and European contemporaries. The process of gift exchange, including who made, received and gave gifts, was recorded each year in the gift roll.
This article presents a detailed analysis of the 1539 gift roll, now in the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, in the context of the other extant rolls for 1528, 1532 and 1534. Areas for discussion include a consideration of the range and significance of the gifts given and received by Henry and the role of the goldsmiths who made the king's gifts, including the weight, style and shape of the pieces commissioned. The article is supported by a full transcript of the 1539 gift roll, which is accompanied by extensive references comparing this gift roll to the other surviving gift rolls.

Text
37698.pdf - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Published date: 2005
Keywords: gift roll, new year, henry viii, goldsmith, plate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 37698
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/37698
ISSN: 0003-5815
PURE UUID: fdc51559-0e60-411c-b405-e0da2aa078ee
ORCID for M.A. Hayward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3299-4383

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 May 2006
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:04

Export record

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×