FELICITY HEAL, AMONG others, has shown the power and importance of New Year's gifts at the Tudor court. New Year's was not only an appropriate time to give gifts, but also to receive them, as there was an established protocol of gift-giving that required the receiver of the gift to acknowledge and give something in return. Additionally, gifts were used “to enhance bonds between individuals and families,” which I suggest Elizabeth attempted with the content of her manuscript dedications. This chapter examines the New Year's gift exchange among Henry VIII and his children to show how Mary and Elizabeth gave and received gifts differently, according to their status and abilities.

While books were not the most frequently given gift, they were a typical gift that was given to every Tudor monarch at each New Year. As such, I suggest that Elizabeth's gifts of manuscript translations were strategically planned to be New Year's gifts to her father, stepmother, and brother because this would have ensured that her gifts were at least looked at in the event that she did not present them at court in person and were attempts to strengthen the connection between Elizabeth and her family members.

Sources for New Year's Gifts

For the years in which Elizabeth gave her dedicated manuscripts, it is difficult to determine if she gave them in person, what she received in return, and what her siblings gave to gauge the significance of Elizabeth's gifts because extant New Year's gift rolls only exist for 1528, 1532, 1534, and 1539. Surviving state papers also offer few clues as to any expenses that Henry or Katherine may have incurred giving gifts to their children or giving rewards for the rest of the New Year's gifts that they would have received. However, New Year's gift rolls do not even tell the whole story of the New Year's gift exchange. According to Felicity Heal, beginning in the 1530s, gift-giving became more challenging with the upswing of Anne Boleyn and downfall of Catherine of Aragon. In 1532, Eustace Chapuys reported that the king would not accept Catherine of Aragon's gift of a gold cup, and then refused to send a gift to Catherine, her ladies, or Princess Mary.