In ancient Greece and Rome, the concept of hospitality was considered to be a guest’s divine right and the host’s divine duty. Other cultures also followed such hospitality relationships though they referred to these relationships by other names.
During the time of Homer, strangers (without any exception) were protected by Zeus Xenios who was the god of strangers and suppliants. Strangers had the right to be treated with respect and honor.
As soon as a guest entered the home of a Greek host, he or she would be clothed as well as entertained and no questions would be asked of them regarding their antecedents and name. Only after all hospitality duties were completed would the guest be questioned. When the guest was ready to leave, they would be given a parting gift.
This helped to establish a family connection and the gift (normally, a die) would serve as recognition of the fact that the host would protect the guest if the latter ever required protection.
Those who violated these hospitality relationships would have to suffer the wrath of the gods. In ancient Rome, private hospitality was well defined in both legal and other terms.
The relationship between guest and host was almost the same as that of a client and patron. When a guest and host clasped hands, a strong relationship was established between them and a written agreement would also be exchanged by them.
Xenia is the Greek concept of hospitality in which guests who were far from their homes were to be treated with generosity as well as courtesy by their hosts. The hospitality relationship created between the two existed at two levels. The first level involved material benefits and the second level involved non-material benefits.
At the material level the host gave gifts to the guest while at the non-material level, the host would provide protection and shower favors as well as give shelter to the guest. In Greek, the word Xenos implies a stranger though this term can be interpreted in different ways.
In 1215 King John ceded England and Ireland to the Roman Pope and continues to pay tribute, Canada also uses the papal bulls as a source of authority. This however makes the Kings and Queen of Britain agents for the Pope, carrying the papal offer to be our father, and we the creatures or sons of the Pope.
The Two Row Wampum treaty is an agreement between the Iroquois’s Five Nations and representatives of the government of Holland. This treaty was signed in 1613 and the agreement was recorded in a wampum belt called the Two Row Wampum.
The meaning of the belt is, “You say that you are our Father and I am your Son. We say ‘We will not be like Father and Son, but like Brothers”.
Papal Bulls of the fifteenth century gave license to Spanish and Portuguese kings to usurp lands and enslave non-Christian populations.
The possessions and resources of people who were enslaved according to the papal bulls would then be expropriated by the kings of Spain and Portugal. Lately, however, there is a move underfoot to revoke as well as denounce these documents.
If we trust the Two Row Wampum treaty, then we find that both parties to the agreement are to be treated as Brothers and not as Father and Son.
Hence, this treaty may be treated as a treaty that voids the papal bulls.
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