This deeply learned and theoretically nuanced collection of essays explores the importance of materiality in the study of gift and counter-gift. From rings to chairs to banners, relics, elephant bones, and one's self, the specificity of the object given was essential in creating the lasting relationships cemented in gift exchange, ensuring that the giver remained physically present with the receiver. And yet these objects had lives of their own, their significance changing over time in relationship to the communities that preserved them. The essays discuss not only the gifts themselves but objects such as poor boxes and images that were integral to gift-giving. Spanning the late Middle Ages to the early modern period, the volume also considers the changing meaning of gift giving brought about by the Reformation.

Patrick Geary, Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, US

Gift-exchange, long treated as the motor of social relations in archaic societies, is brought to fresh life in these innovative and reflective essays. They return us to the emotional content of the gift and bring out the special qualities of the material objects that made gifting so attractive. The collection sweeps right across Europe in the late medieval and early modern periods. Its breadth and originality make it both fascinating and compelling.

Paul Fouracre, Professor Emeritus, University of Manchester, UK