The traditions we know of gift-giving was centered usually on Epiphany, but differ very little from the practice we know and love today. During the Renaissance and Medieval revels of Twelfth Night, gifts were given, in rememberance of the Magi's gift to the baby Christ. Nowhere was the tradition of gift-giving more lavish than in the royal courts of the age. Those wishing to curry the favor of the Crowned Heads of Europe would take the Christmas holiday as their big moment. They would travel from all over Europe with expesive gifts in hand, and pass them into the king or queen or princes' waiting hands, in hopes of receiving whatever boon or title for which they so wished. Ah, but this generosity worked both ways, and in the reverse could be quite tricky. If one was lucky enough to be on the Royal Christmas list, one might have to be careful. The Royal Majesty could then ask of the recipient anything he or she wished, and who in their right mind would turn down such a generous monarch?

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