The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism
Through the Middle Ages towards
the Renaissance
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Towards the end of Classical Antiquity
 The fall of the Roman Empire was to mark the beginning of
the end of Classical Antiquity.
 It was also to mark the foundation of the Western monastic
tradition and the beginning of the Middle Ages that would
eventually lead to the period known as the Renaissance.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Hospitality was regarded as a
fundamental moral practice
 Assuring strangers at least a minimum of provision,
protection and connection with the larger community.
 Sustaining the normal network of relationships on which a
community depended, enriching moral and social bonds
among family, friends and neighbours.
 Necessary for the wellbeing of mankind and essential to the
protection of vulnerable strangers.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The home was the primary
location for hospitality
 Hospitality offered in the home was still often indiscriminate
and welcoming to all.
 Civic and commercial principles already existed and a great
deal of the practices of civic and commercial hospitality
evolved from that of the home.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Potential for Paradox
 Hospitality based around the home follows a symbolic
transition that takes the visitor from stranger to guest to
friend. Hospitality often focus on the relief of homelessness
– however, this creates the paradox that without an actual
home hospitality is impossible.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
IDENTIFYING THE FIVE
DIMENSIONS OF HOSPITALITY
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Honourable Tradition
 The concepts of guest, stranger, and host are closely related
 Hospitality is seen as essentially organic, revealing much
about the cultural values and beliefs of the societies
 Reciprocity of hospitality is an established principle
 Providing hospitality is paying homage to the gods – a worthy
and honourable thing to do – and failure is condemned in both
the human and spiritual worlds
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Fundamental to human existence
 Hospitality includes food, drink and accommodation and the
approach to be adopted, e.g. welcoming, respectful and
genuine
 Hospitality is offered and the extent or limitation of it is based
on the needs and the purpose of the guests/strangers
 Alliances initially developed through hospitality between
friends, households and states, and are strengthened through
continuing mutual hospitality
 Hospitality once granted between individuals, households and
states is also granted to descendants and through extended
friendships
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Stratified
 Developments in the societies lead to the formal stratification of
hospitality: the codification of hospitality being based on
whether it was private, civic or business, and on the needs and
purpose of the guest/stranger, and their nature or status
 Reciprocity of hospitality becomes legally defined
 Civic and business hospitality develops from private hospitality
but retains the key foundations – treat others as if in their own
home
 Hospitality management, in the civic and business sense, is
established as being centred on persons responsible for formal
hospitality, and also for the protection of the guest/stranger and
ensuring their proper conduct.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Diversified
 Places of hospitality were initially differentiated primarily by
the existence, or not, of overnight accommodation
 Individual places of hospitality either offer associated services,
or are located near other places of hospitality
 Originally places of hospitality are for the lower classes that
did not have established networks of hospitality enjoyed by the
higher classes
 Increasing traveling amongst the higher classes created
demands for superior levels of places of hospitality
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Central to human endeavour
 Hospitality is a vital and integral part of the societies
 Shared hospitality is a principal feature in the development
and continuation of friendships and alliances between
persons, between communities, and between nations
 Hospitality is the focus for the celebrations of significant
private, civic and business events and achievements
throughout life
 Hospitality is also foreseen as a principal feature until the
end of time
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Five Dimensions of Hospitality
 One way of interpreting the outcomes
 Clearly evolving since the beginning of human history
 Inherent in human nature to offer hospitality and the
societies, and the contemporaneous religious teachings, all
support and reinforce this trait
 Hospitality has a long history, a honourable tradition, and a
rich heritage.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
THE MIDDLE AGES
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Middle Ages
 The period of European history, from around the 5th century
AD, to the beginnings of the Renaissance in the 15th century
AD
 And things of that period are known as mediaeval.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Dark Ages?
 Often considered the Dark Age because of its lack of
Christianity
 Historians often expanded the term to include lack of Latin
literature, a lack of contemporary written history and material
cultural achievements in general: really it is an age more
silent than dark
 Most modern historians dismiss notion of a Dark Age
 Pluralism and cultural diversity of Europe existed and the
period is now described and known as the early Middle Ages
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Early Middle Ages
 Relatively uncivilized
 Only major Western European institution was the Christian
Church
 Religious orders focussing on the standardisation of the
liturgical rite, the calendar, and the principles of monastic rule
codification of knowledge was being undertaken in the
monasteries
 Great households of Europe (ecclesial or not) responsible for
providing hospitality
 Moves towards European unity and expansion were weakened
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The High Middle Ages
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Growth of a more settled population
Town life, trade and commerce, and society more developed
Educational institutions founded and universities established
Literacy increased beyond the clergy
The Church became the most sophisticated governing
institution in Western Europe
 Monastic orders also grew and flourished
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Late Middle Ages
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Struggle for supremacy between Church and state
Emergence of the secular state in its own right
Church found itself challenged and often marginalized
Protestant Reformation
Establishment of the modern, and secular, nation-state, and
the continual expansion of trade and finance would contribute
to the transformation of the European economy
 Religious hospitality, hospitals, poor relief, and responsibility
to refugees became separated from their Christian roots as the
state increasingly took over more responsibility
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Renaissance
 From Italy in the 14th century, the period, which was to
become known as the Renaissance (or rebirth), had begun
and was to spread to the rest of Western Europe by the 16th
and 17th centuries
 The Renaissance was a period of European history that saw
a renewed interest in the arts and in the classical past
 The progress and achievements of the thousand years of the
Mediaeval World had certainly established the solid
foundations from which the Renaissance was to grow and
flourish
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
The Humanist Movement
 History became a branch of literature rather than of theology
and the critical analysis of the religious texts was to be
undertaken with a secular view of history.
 Whereas the mediaeval scholars had believed that they were
living in the final age before the last judgment, and had
considered the Greek and Roman Worlds as simply pagan, the
Renaissance authors explored the rich history of the ancient
and classical worlds, and proclaimed a new age of enlightened
Classicism.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010
Society transformed
 The fragmented feudal society of the Middle Ages was
transformed into one increasingly dominated by central
political institutions, had an urban and commercial economy,
and had lay patronage of education, the arts, and music.
 The monasteries had been the custodians of civilisation
during the various periods of unrest during the Middle Ages.
 The monasteries had also provided the blueprints for
hospitality, the care of the sick and the poor, and
responsibilities for refugees, which were to be adopted
within the nation-states and in secular organisations.
O’Gorman, The Origins of Hospitality and Tourism, Goodfellow Publishing © 2010