In these days, the tradition of giving gifts to loved ones on Christmas is predominant in the Christian world. However, in the age of the Ancien Régime, such gifts were exchanged in celebration of the new year; in comparison, Christmas was reserved for religious ceremonies. The gifts were known as "etrennes" and were far from a new invention; quite on the contrary, it had been a tradition at the court of France for centuries. The gifts themselves exchanged within the royal family gives an insight into both the personal tastes and relations as well as the extravagance expected from a royal court.
Giving out gifts was not reserved solely for the nobility's friends; some noblemen bestowed smaller signs of their gratitude to their households - including their servants. Naturally, considering the sheer scale of some aristocratic households these would be of a smaller nature. Before the birth of Louis XIV, in 1603, the governess employed by the family of La Trémoille was given 12 livres which was not a small sum.
Louis XIV
In December 1684, Madame de Montespan - who had recently been evicted from her splendid apartment on the ground floor - made a magnificent present to her royal lover. The Marquis de Dangeau relate that she presented Louis XIV with a book bound in gold and containing miniature depictions of the Dutch cities conquered by the French king in his campaign of 1672. She had apparently also recruited both Racine and Despréaux - the Marquis estimated that the book had cost her 4.000 pistoles. In return, Louis XIV ensured that her magnificent estate of Clagny would pass on to her children after her death.
On occasion, the gift in question could be cash - for instance, Madame de Maintenon received 12.000 livres from her royal lover, while both the Grand Dauphin and Monsieur each got 4.000 pistoles in 1685.
The short-lived favourite, Mademoiselle de Fontagnes, made a rather unusual new year's gift for Louis XIV's son by Madame de Montespan: the Duc du Maine. The young boy was nearly five years old when he received the gift on 12 January 1675 - the gift itself has been immortalized by the Comte de Bussy-Rabutin. Mademoiselle de Fontagnes had had a "room" built which was the size of a table and depicted a bedchamber in remarkable detail. Besides the usual furniture of a bed, writing desk, chairs etc. the "room" also had its proper inhabitants made of wax - including the Duc du Maine himself and a new figure: Madame Scarron, his governess who would later become known as Madame de Maintenon. Besides these, several familiar faces to the young boy was present including his tutors and Madame de Lafayette.
In an interesting twist, Madame de Montespan realised that she would gain no ground with Louis XIV by publicly snubbing the young Mademoiselle de Fontagnes. Therefore, she presented her with a new year's gift composed by La Fontaine and consisting of predictions for the coming four seasons. It was not the first - or last - time that the occasion of a new year's gift exchange was used as a tool for manipulation in the game for the king's heart. As the governess of the king's children by Madame de Montespan, Madame de Maintenon was eager to show off her progress with her pupil. As such, she sent a packet to his parents of his letters and the clever things he had said so they could see for themselves how well he was learning. That particular present was given in 1679 - and it was far from the most spectacular one received by Madame de Montespan.
Monsieur gifted her with a "gold salver exquisitely chiselled with a border of emeralds and diamonds, and two golden goblets with the lids encrusted with emeralds and diamonds". While the author of that line (Madame de Scudéry) did not know what the king had given her, she was sure it could not be less than what she had gotten from his brother.
Naturally, a particularly well-chosen present might just result in a rise to favour which everyone at court knew. In 1699, the ladies who served Marie Adélaide of Savoy, Duchesse de Bourgogne, gathered their presents in a large basket which they had brought in just when the king was visiting. As they had hoped for the king took the trouble of looking them over and praising some of them.
Louis XV
Like his predecessor, Louis XV did not shy away from giving his nearest and dearest a gift of cash. The dauphin, Louis Ferdinand, thus received 100 louis on New Year's Day. On occasion, gifts of a financial nature could be given in a different manner. For instance, for the New Year of 1770, Madame du Barry received a brevet for a life-long interest in the "Lodges de Nantes".
While Louis XIV appears to have given gifts rather more freely to his family members, Louis XV used the occasion to show his appreciation - or displeasure. For instance, in 1740, it was widely noted that the king only gave a single present to a lady of the court: Madame de Vintimille, who would later become his mistress. In contrast, he completely refrained from making his own wife a gift in 1737 after she had given birth to their last daughter - their marital relations were strained at this time, as she had allegedly refused him access to her bed (after 10 years of constant pregnancies) and he had been disappointed that only two of those had resulted in sons.
The poor queen was the centre of another inconsiderate action by Louis XV on this subject. When he finally did give a New Year's gift, it was a gilded snuffbox which had a watch in the lid - it had also originally been made for Madame de Pompadour which was well-known to the whole court. Whether the queen knew herself is not certain but if she did, she hid it well.
Even Madame de Pompadour was not immune to the king's changing habits when it came to his new year's gift. Whereas she had received 50.000 livres and a diamond necklace in 1747 that number was cut to 24.000 in 1749 and 1750 - and after that, such expenses no longer figure in the king's expenses.
Louis XVI
Thanks to his meticulous nature, Louis XVI kept a journal of his personal expenses which includes his personal presents for his nearest family.
On an almost yearly basis he gave his sister, Madame Élisabeth, a sizable amount in cash. However, in the years 1780-83, the king truly spoiled his sister with jewellery worth 148.864 livres. The king had commissioned the pieces from Ange-Joseph Aubert and the gifts included necklaces, rings, snuffboxes etc.
Much like the gift received by Montespan the previous century, Marie Antoinette is said to have received a similar one by her own son, the young dauphin. The story goes that she had lamented that her son (aged four or five) could not read at all to which he promised her that he would make an endeavour. Allegedly, the following New Year's Day he proudly met with his mother and read a few words from a book he had brought with him.
As the financial situation in France grew ever more dire, Madame Campan recalled how Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had donated the money that would otherwise have been spent on presents for their children. Instead, it was used to feed and clothe the poor through the cold season.
As can be seen from the above, the "etrennes" were a firm fixture of the royal family. However, their courtiers - and presumably those outside the court - were not shying away from the tradition either. One good example gives an insight into a struggle many parents have faced. The 10-year old daughter of the Duc de La Force was apparently acting up and caused her father to threaten to withhold her gifts - whether he followed through is a matter of conjecture, though.
Naturally there were opponents of such gifts - there always seem to be some. Several clerics went so far as to claim that the etrennes were nothing less than pagan while Jacob Son published "De l'Origine d'Etrennes" in 1674 which also spoke heartily against them. Even Madame de Sévigné and her daughter were against them. In a letter of 27 December 1684 from the former to the latter, Madame de Sévigné commended her daughter for "suppressing" the etrennes which she claimed was "great expense to no purpose".
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