Lars Kjaer is Associate Professor in Medieval History at the New College of the Humanities, UK. He is the author of The Medieval Gift and the Classical Tradition (2019) and the co-editor of Denmark and Europe in the Middle Ages (2014).Gustavs Strenga is a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Greifswald, Germany. He has previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Tallinn University, Estonia, and Researcher at the National Library of Latvia.

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.

• List of Illustrations1. Introduction: The Matter of the Gift – Lars Kjaer (New College of the Humanities, UK)2. Of Ivory, Gold and Elephants: Materiality and Agency of Pre-modern Chairs as Gifts - Sabine Sommerer (University of Zurich, Switzerland)3. Rituals, Objects and Conflicts: Gifts Given during the Entry of Archbishop Silvester Stodewescher in the Riga Cathedral (1449) - Gustavs Strenga (Tallinn University, Estonia)4. (Re)moving Relics and Performing Gift Exchange between Early Modern Tuscany and Lithuania - Ruth S. Noyes (National Museum of Denmark, Denmark)5. Gift-giving and the Cult of Living Matter in Late Medieval Europe - Mads Heilskov (EHESS, France)6. With this Rynge’: The Materiality and Meaning of Late Medieval Marriage Rings - Anna Boeles Rowland(University of Leuven, Netherlands)7. Votive Offerings as Communication: Gift Exchange with Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (14th–16th Centuries) - Sari Katajala-Peltomaa (Tampere University, Finland)8. Alms Boxes and Charity: Giving to the Poor after the Lutheran Reformation in Denmark – Poul Grinder-Hansen (National Museum of Denmark, Denmark)9. Beyond Materiality: Circulating Objects and the Semantics of Violent Transactions in Late Medieval Baltic Urban Spaces - Philipp Höhn (University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany)10. Conclusion - Miri Rubin (Queen Mary University of London, UK)Index

Lars Kjaer is Associate Professor in Medieval History at the New College of the Humanities, UK. He is the author of The Medieval Gift and the Classical Tradition (2019) and the co-editor of Denmark and Europe in the Middle Ages (2014).Gustavs Strenga is a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Greifswald, Germany. He has previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Tallinn University, Estonia, and Researcher at the National Library of Latvia.

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.

• List of Illustrations1. Introduction: The Matter of the Gift – Lars Kjaer (New College of the Humanities, UK)2. Of Ivory, Gold and Elephants: Materiality and Agency of Pre-modern Chairs as Gifts - Sabine Sommerer (University of Zurich, Switzerland)3. Rituals, Objects and Conflicts: Gifts Given during the Entry of Archbishop Silvester Stodewescher in the Riga Cathedral (1449) - Gustavs Strenga (Tallinn University, Estonia)4. (Re)moving Relics and Performing Gift Exchange between Early Modern Tuscany and Lithuania - Ruth S. Noyes (National Museum of Denmark, Denmark)5. Gift-giving and the Cult of Living Matter in Late Medieval Europe - Mads Heilskov (EHESS, France)6. With this Rynge’: The Materiality and Meaning of Late Medieval Marriage Rings - Anna Boeles Rowland(University of Leuven, Netherlands)7. Votive Offerings as Communication: Gift Exchange with Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (14th–16th Centuries) - Sari Katajala-Peltomaa (Tampere University, Finland)8. Alms Boxes and Charity: Giving to the Poor after the Lutheran Reformation in Denmark – Poul Grinder-Hansen (National Museum of Denmark, Denmark)9. Beyond Materiality: Circulating Objects and the Semantics of Violent Transactions in Late Medieval Baltic Urban Spaces - Philipp Höhn (University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany)10. Conclusion - Miri Rubin (Queen Mary University of London, UK)Index

Lars Kjaer is Associate Professor in Medieval History at the New College of the Humanities, UK. He is the author of The Medieval Gift and the Classical Tradition (2019) and the co-editor of Denmark and Europe in the Middle Ages (2014).Gustavs Strenga is a Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Greifswald, Germany. He has previously worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Tallinn University, Estonia, and Researcher at the National Library of Latvia.

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.

• List of Illustrations1. Introduction: The Matter of the Gift – Lars Kjaer (New College of the Humanities, UK)2. Of Ivory, Gold and Elephants: Materiality and Agency of Pre-modern Chairs as Gifts - Sabine Sommerer (University of Zurich, Switzerland)3. Rituals, Objects and Conflicts: Gifts Given during the Entry of Archbishop Silvester Stodewescher in the Riga Cathedral (1449) - Gustavs Strenga (Tallinn University, Estonia)4. (Re)moving Relics and Performing Gift Exchange between Early Modern Tuscany and Lithuania - Ruth S. Noyes (National Museum of Denmark, Denmark)5. Gift-giving and the Cult of Living Matter in Late Medieval Europe - Mads Heilskov (EHESS, France)6. With this Rynge’: The Materiality and Meaning of Late Medieval Marriage Rings - Anna Boeles Rowland(University of Leuven, Netherlands)7. Votive Offerings as Communication: Gift Exchange with Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (14th–16th Centuries) - Sari Katajala-Peltomaa (Tampere University, Finland)8. Alms Boxes and Charity: Giving to the Poor after the Lutheran Reformation in Denmark – Poul Grinder-Hansen (National Museum of Denmark, Denmark)9. Beyond Materiality: Circulating Objects and the Semantics of Violent Transactions in Late Medieval Baltic Urban Spaces - Philipp Höhn (University of Halle-Wittenberg, Germany)10. Conclusion - Miri Rubin (Queen Mary University of London, UK)Index