The Introduction discusses the place of gift giving in the historiography of medieval Europe. It explores how gift giving has been studied by social anthropologists and the influence this has exercised on medieval historiography. Discussing recent interventions in the study of medieval ritualised communication, such as Philippe Buc’s The Dangers of Ritual, the Introduction argues that we need to pay far more attention to the explicitly formulated ‘native theories’ of gift giving available to medieval audiences, some of the most influential of which were those transmitted in classical literature and philosophy.