1 January – New Year’s Day
In Tudor England the eighth day of Christmas or New Year’s Day, not Christmas Day, was the traditional time to give gifts. Evidence suggests that it was mostly upper and middle class people who gave gifts, and these included items of food, expensive spices or money. Medieval people usually gave a gift to their lord on New Year’s Day. In a similar way, it was expected that everyone at the Tudor court would give a gift to the king or queen. These gifts were presented to the monarch in a ceremony, and then each item was displayed on a sideboard for everyone to see. Gifts to Henry VIII included gold cups, paintings, purses of coins, foods and even wild animals – one year he was given a pet marmoset (a type of small monkey)!
It wasn’t all one way, though. Monarchs gave gifts back to their subjects, and one year, Henry VIII spent over £800 (£400,000 today) on Christmas presents! In Christmas 1540, Hans Holbein gave Henry a painting of his young son Edward (the future Edward VI). Henry was so pleased with the gift, that he commissioned a silver-gilt cup (silver that has been covered with a thin layer of gold) to give back to the painter as a thank you.
Text from English Heritage