Hugo Grotius

Hugo (Jugo) de Groot

Hugo Grocio
Huig de Groot

(10 April 1583 28 August

1645)

Hugo Grotius
was a Dutch jurist and writer. Along with
Alberico Gentili and Francisco de Vitoria,
he laid the foundations for international
law, based on natural law. One of the
first to define expressly the idea of one
society of states, governed not by force
or warfare but by actual laws and mutual
agreement to enforce those laws.

His major works are historical and legal

matters.
His most famous work De Jure Belli ac Pacis

(On the Law of War and Peace) in 1625

formed the basis for modern international law.
He is known for his advocacy of free access to

the sea.
Contemporary legal historians consider him

one of the greatest lawyers ever.

Life and Work of Hugo de Groot

born on April 10, 1583.
in Delft, Holland, Dutch Republic.
first child of Jan de Groot and Alida van

Overschie.
he entered theUniversity of Leiden at age 11.

He studied with some of the most acclaimed

intellectuals in northern Europe, including
Franciscus Junius,Joseph Justus Scaliger,
andRudolph Snellius.

In 1598, when he was fifteen, he participated

in a Dutch delegation that visited the French

court. King Henry IV of France received Hugo
with the words: Behold, the miracle of
Holland. The same year, Hugo graduated in
Orlans (France) and obtained his doctorate in
law.

Hugo at the age of 16 (by Jan Antonisz Van Ravesteyn,1599)

At age 16 he published his first book.

At same age he earned an appointment as judge-

advocate (prosecutor) to The Haguein 1599.

Then he became the official historiographer for

the States of Holland in 1601.

His first occasion to write systematically on

issues of international justice came in 1604,

when he became involved in the legal
proceedings following the seizure by Dutch
merchants of a Portuguese carrackand its
cargo in theSingapore Strait.

De Indis
(On the Indies)
A treatise that sought to ground his defense of the
seizure of the Portuguese carrack in terms of the
natural principles of justice. In this, he had cast a
net much wider than the case at hand; his interest
was in the source and ground of war's lawfulness
in general. The treatise was never published in full
during Grotius' lifetime. The court ruled in favor of
the Company.

In 1605, Grotius made considerable

advances in his political career, being

retained as Oldenbarnevelt's resident
advisor.
Advocate General of the Fisc of Holland.

Zeeland, and Friesland in 1607.

In 1608 he married Maria van

Reigersbergen, with whom he would have

eight children (only four survived to reach
adulthood).

InThe Free Sea(Mare

(Portrait of Grotius at age 25 (Michiel

Jansz van Mierevelt, 1608)

Liberum, published 1609)

Grotius formulated the new
principle that the sea was
international territory and
allnations were free to use it
for seafaringtrade.
England opposed this idea

and claimedthe Dominion of

the British Sea.

In 1613, Grotius became Pensionary of

Rotterdam (the equivalent of a mayoral office).

He became he right hand of Van Oldenbarnevelt,

the Dutch Lands advocate of Holland.

A great theological controversy broke out between the

Remonstrants (Arminians) and the Calvinist. (Gomarists or

Counter-Remonstrants).
Leiden University was under the authority of the States of

Holland
for the policy concerning appointments at this institution, which

was governed in their name by a board of Curators; and

for dealing with any cases of heterodoxy among the professors.

Grotius joined the controversy by defending the civil

authorities' power to appoint (independently of the wishes of

religious authorities) whomever they wished to become a
university faculty.

Loevestein Castle where Grotius was

imprisoned in 161821

Because of his unpopular view with the

Calvinist who were in control at that time,

Grotius was imprisoned in Loevestein in 1618.

He later escaped in March 22, 1621 with the

help of his wife and maidservant.

Grotius managed to escape the castle in a

book chest and fled to Paris

Grotius was well received in Paris by his

former acquaintances and was granted a royal

pension under Louis XIII. It was there in France
that Grotius completed his most famous
philosophical works.

De Jure Belli ac Pacis

(On the Law of War and Peace)

De jure belli ac pacis libri tres(On the Law of

War and Peace: Three books) was first

published in 1625. The work is divided into
three books:
- Book I: advances his conception ofwarand
of naturaljustice.
- Book II: identifies three 'just causes' for
war.
- Book III: takes up the question of
what rules govern the conduct of war
once it has begun.

In 1631 he returned toRotterdam, in the hope

that he could settle back in Holland.

From 1634 he lived as ambassador of

SwedeninParis.
It was his job to win French support for the

Swedish intervention policy in Germany.

On December 20, 1644 he was recalled

because of the influence of the "French party"

at the court in Stockholm.

The young QueenChristina of Swedenwanted to appoint

him as state board to advise it on matters of foreign policy.

In March 1645 he leftStockholm, to Lbeck.However, his

ship was wrecked when crossing theBalticSea.He arrived

safely ashore, but far to the east.
He traveled on horseback from August 13 towards Lbeck,

exhausted but he reachedRostock.

He died on August 28th.His last words would have been:

"to understand much I have achieved nothing.

Hugo Grotius is buried in theNieuwe Kerk in Delft.

Philosophy of Hugo
Grotius
Hugo Grotius defined natural law as the idea that certain things by

themselves are good or bad, and because of certain legal principles are
valid by themselves.
Natural law applies even on the assumption that God does not exist.These

legal principles he developed and applied inDe jure praedae(About the

loot right), Law on capture, circa 1604 (published by De Groot).
According to Hugo, natural law is the general human idea that regulates

society. It would therefore also apply to the coexistence of people and thus
on the use of the sea.
Grotius philosophy is that the sea belongs to everyone. Every nation has

the right to sail on all seas and to trade with anyone.

One of the arguments he argued to defend his thesis was that possession

could only be obtained through labor. The sea cannot be edited and can
therefore be no ones possession (res nullius). Everyone may use it.

InMare Liberum (The Free Sea), De Groot for the first time developed a

concept of a global community, based on the idea that the sea had to be
accessible for all so as to preserve the communication between peoples
to keep each other and not to deny access to the overseas territories.
Grotius' argument was that the sea was free to all, and that nobody had

the right to deny others access to it.

"Every nation is free to travel to every other nation, and to trade with

it."From this premise, Grotius argued that this self-evident and

immutable right to travel and to trade required (1) a right of innocent
passage over land, and (2) a similar right ofinnocent passage at sea.
The sea, however, was more like air than land, and was, as opposed to

land,common property of all.

De Groot was not only a lawyer, but also a

theologian in his right.

De Groot tried to reconcile his beliefs about

natural laws withCalvinismin theRepublic of

the United Netherlands.
He did not succeed, because this idea is not

compatible with the Calvinist concept

ofpredestination.

He wrote De jure belli ac pacis (English: On the

Law of War and Peace) in exile. This book would

make him the founder of international law.
In the introduction he wrote: to prove the

(natural) law, I also used the sayings of

philosophers, historians, poets, even orators, not
because they are unconditionally trustworthy
because the parties only wish to prove their case
with evidence; it is because, when many people
from different periods and places stick to the
same, this indicates a universally valid ground.

Natural law applies to states, it must also be applied to

wars between those states. This generates the laws of war.

Two types of wars: the righteous and the unrighteous.
Righteous wars are wars that are carried out to defend,

wars to get back what was taken away and wars for
punishment of crimes. This definition also means that one
of the warring parties always enters an unrighteous war.
The best is when wars are prevented by means of

conferences and arbitration. These ideas of Hugo would

have an enormous influence on later thinkers and they
would eventually be realized.

Grotius realized that states would not tolerate, let alone

accept , any system of law based on positive legal

system of any one country.
He therefore used what to him were principles that could

be justified by the precepts of the natural law.

Upon this principles, Grotius built the structure of rules

dealing with the relations of states with one another.

His time was gone. Yet, his ideas are far from gone. His

legacy, international law, is of inestimable significance.

The Hague, once his city, with several international
courts is still a center of that right.