New Year’s Gifts for Queen Elizabeth



Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I of England, by Nicholas Hilliard This section of the website consists of lists of gifts given to Queen Elizabeth as presents at New Year's celebrations, from The Progresses and Public Processions of Queen Elizabeth. I have attempted to remain faithful to the spellings used in the original inventories.

You can also find inventories of gifts given to her older sister Mary and her husband Philip in 1556-1557.

These lists are useful for artisans and craftspeople (especially those interested in 16th century English reenactment/recreation); there are detailed descriptions of garments, lace, embroidery, jewelry, and even food items. In order to provide a more complete picture of the items described in the inventories, I have cross-referenced them with links to related pages elsewhere on this site; when possible, there are links to the gift-givers’ biographies.

Who's who? See Who's Who in Tudor History and Ladies of Honour.
What's what? The Elizabethan Costuming Page has a useful Overview of an Elizabethan Outfit, and Color in Elizabethan Dress.

Additional reading:

The Progresses, Pageants, and Entertainments of Queen Elizabeth I Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd The Tudor Tailor: Reconstructing sixteenth-century dress Patterns of Fashion: The Cut and Construction of Clothes for Men and Women c. 1560-1620 Patterns of Fashion 4: The Cut and Construction of Linen Shirts, Smocks, Neckwear, Headwear and Accessories for Men and Women c. 1540-1660 The Queen's Progress