Hugo Grotius (/ˈɡroʊʃiəs/GROH-shee-əss; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known asHugo de Groot[a] (Dutch:[ˈɦyɣoːdəˈɣroːt]) orHuig de Groot (Dutch:[ˈɦœyɣdəˈɣroːt]), was aDutchhumanist, diplomat, lawyer,theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born inDelft and studied atLeiden University. He was imprisoned inLoevestein Castle for his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of theDutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was regularly brought to him and was transported toGorinchem.[1][2] Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile inFrance.
Grotius was a major figure in the fields of philosophy,political theory and law during the 16th and 17th centuries. Along with the earlier works ofFrancisco de Vitoria andAlberico Gentili, his writings laid the foundations forinternational law. Two of his books have had a lasting impact in the field:De jure belli ac pacis (On the Law of War and Peace) dedicated toLouis XIII of France and theMare Liberum (The Free Seas) for which Grotius has been called the "father of international law."[3] Grotius has also contributed significantly to the evolution of the notion ofrights. Before him, rights were, above all, perceived as attached to objects; after him, they are seen as belonging to persons, as the expression of an ability to act, or as a means of realizing something.
Peter Borschberg suggests that Grotius was significantly influenced byFrancisco de Vitoria and theSchool of Salamanca inSpain, who supported the idea that the sovereignty of a nation does not lie simply in a ruler through God's will, but originates in its people, who agree to confer such authority upon a ruler.[4] It is also thought that Grotius was not the first to formulate theinternational society doctrine, but he was one of the first to define expressly the idea of one society of states, governed not byforce orwarfare but by actual laws and mutual agreement to enforce those laws. AsHedley Bull declared in 1990: "The idea of international society which Grotius propounded was given concrete expression in thePeace of Westphalia, and Grotius may be considered the intellectual father of this first general peace settlement of modern times."[5] Additionally, his contributions toArminiantheology helped provide the seeds for later Arminian-based movements, such asMethodism andPentecostalism; Grotius is acknowledged as a significant figure in theArminian–Calvinist debate. Because of his theological underpinning of free trade, he is also considered an "economic theologist".[6]
After fading over time, the influence of Grotius's ideas revived in the 20th century following theFirst World War.
Born inDelft during theDutch Revolt, Grotius was the first child ofJan Cornets de Groot and Alida van Overschie. His father was a man of learning, once having studied with the eminentJustus Lipsius atLeiden University,[7] as well as of political distinction. His family was considered Delftpatrician as his ancestors played an important role in local government since the 13th century.[8]
In 1598, at the age of 15 years, he accompaniedJohan van Oldenbarnevelt to a diplomatic mission in Paris. On this occasion, the KingHenri IV of France would have presented Grotius to his court as "the miracle ofHolland".[12] During his stay in France, he passed or bought a law degree from the University of Orleans.[13] In Holland, Grotius earned an appointment as advocate toThe Hague in 1599[14] and then as officialhistoriographer for the States of Holland in 1601. It was on this date that the States of Holland requested from Grotius an account of the United Provinces' revolt against Spain;[3] Grotius is indeed contemporary with theEighty Years' War betweenSpain and theNetherlands.[13] The resulting work, entitledAnnales et Historiae de rebus Belgicis, describing the period from 1559 to 1609, was written in the style of the Roman historianTacitus[15] and was first finished in 1612. The States, however, did not publish it, possibly because of the way the work resonated with the politico-religious tensions within the Dutch Republic (see below).[16]
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 Portuguesecarrack and its cargo in theSingapore Strait.[citation needed] Throughout his life Grotius wrote a variety of philological, theological and politico-theological works.
Page written in Grotius' hand from the manuscript ofDe Indis (circa 1604/05)
The Dutch were atwar with Spain; although Portugal wasclosely allied with Spain, it was not yetat war with the Dutch. Near the start of the war, Grotius's cousin captainJacob van Heemskerk captured a loaded Portuguesecarrack merchant ship,Santa Catarina, off present-day Singapore in 1603.[17] Heemskerk was employed with the United Amsterdam Company (part of theDutch East India Company), and though he did not have authorization from the company or the government to initiate the use of force, many shareholders were eager to accept the riches that he brought back to them.[18]
Not only was the legality of keeping theprize questionable under Dutch statute, but a faction of shareholders (mostlyMennonite) in the Company also objected to the forceful seizure on moral grounds, and of course, the Portuguese demanded the return of their cargo. The scandal led to a public judicial hearing and a wider campaign to sway public (and international) opinion.[citation needed] It was in this wider context that representatives of the Company called upon Grotius to draft apolemical defence of the seizure.[18]
The result of Grotius' efforts in 1604/05 was a long, theory-laden treatise that he provisionally entitledDe Indis (On the Indies). Grotius sought to ground his defense of the seizure 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, perhaps because the court ruling in favor of the Company preempted the need to garner public support.[citation needed]
Preface to theMare Liberum, read in Latin with English subtitles
InThe Free Sea (Mare Liberum, published 1609), Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and allnations were free to use it for seafaringtrade.[19] Grotius, by claiming 'free seas' (freedom of the seas), provided suitable ideological justification for the Dutch breaking up of various trademonopolies through its formidable naval power.England, competing fiercely with the Dutch for domination of world trade, opposed this idea and claimed inJohn Selden'sMare clausum(The Closed Sea), "That the Dominion of the British Sea, or That Which Incompasseth the Isle of Great Britain, is, and Ever Hath Been, a Part or Appendant of the Empire of that Island."[20]
It is generally assumed that Grotius first propounded the principle offreedom of the seas, although all countries in theIndian Ocean and other Asian seas accepted the right ofunobstructed navigation long before Grotius wrote hisDe Jure Praedae (On the Law of Spoils) in the year of 1604. Additionally, 16th-century Spanish theologianFrancisco de Vitoria had postulated the idea of freedom of the seas in a more rudimentary fashion under the principles ofjus gentium.[21] Grotius's notion of the freedom of the seas would persist until the mid-20th century, and it continues to be applied even to this day for much of thehigh seas, though theapplication of the concept and the scope of its reach is changing.
Aided by his continued association withVan Oldenbarnevelt, Grotius made considerable advances in his political career, being retained as Oldenbarnevelt's resident advisor in 1605, Advocate General of theFisc ofHolland,Zeeland andFriesland in 1607, and then asPensionary ofRotterdam (the equivalent of a mayoral office) in 1613.[22] Also in 1613, following the capture of two Dutch ships by the British, he was sent on a mission to London,[23] a mission tailored to a man who wroteMare liberum [The Free Seas] in 1609. However, it was opposed by the English by reason of force and he didn't obtain the return of the boats.[23]
Leiden University "was under the authority of the States of Holland – they were responsible, among other things, for the policy concerning appointments at this institution, which was governed in their name by a board of Curators – and, in the final instance, the States were responsible for dealing with any cases of heterodoxy among the professors."[24] The domestic dissension resulting over Arminius' professorship was overshadowed by the continuing war with Spain, and the professor died in 1609 on the eve of theTwelve Years' Truce. The new peace would move the people's focus to the controversy and Arminius' followers.[citation needed] Grotius played a decisive part in this politico-religious conflict between the Remonstrants, supporters of religious tolerance, and the orthodox Calvinists or Counter-Remonstrants.[23]
The controversy expanded when the Remonstrant theologianConrad Vorstius was appointed to replace Jacobus Arminius as the theology chair at Leiden. Vorstius was soon seen by Counter-Remonstrants as moving beyond the teachings of Arminius intoSocinianism and he was accused of teaching irreligion. Leading the call for Vorstius' removal was theology professorSibrandus Lubbertus. On the other side,Johannes Wtenbogaert (a Remonstrant leader) andJohan van Oldenbarnevelt, Grand Pensionary of Holland, had strongly promoted the appointment of Vorstius and began to defend their actions. Gomarus resigned his professorship at Leyden, in protest that Vorstius was not removed.[citation needed] The Counter-Remonstrants were also supported in their opposition by KingJames I of England "who thundered loudly against the Leyden nomination and gaudily depicted Vorstius as a horrid heretic. He ordered his books to be publicly burnt in London, Cambridge, and Oxford, and he exerted continual pressure through his ambassador in the Hague, Ralph Winwood, to get the appointment canceled."[25] James began to shift his confidence from Oldenbarnevelt towards Maurice.
Grotius joined the controversy by defending the civil authorities' power to appoint (independently of the wishes of religious authorities) whomever they wished to a university's faculty. He did this by writingOrdinum Pietas, "a pamphlet...directed against an opponent, the Calvinist Franeker professor Lubbertus; it was ordered by Grotius' masters the States of Holland, and thus written for the occasion – though Grotius may already have had plans for such a book."[26]
The work is twenty-seven pages long, is "polemical and acrimonious" and only two-thirds of it speaks directly about ecclesiastical politics (mainly of synods and offices).[26] The work met with a violent reaction from the Counter-Remonstrants, and "It might be said that all Grotius' next works until his arrest in 1618 form a vain attempt to repair the damage done by this book."[26] Grotius would later writeDe Satisfactione aiming "at proving that theArminians are far from beingSocinians".[26]
Led by Oldenbarnevelt, theStates of Holland took an official position ofreligious toleration towards Remonstrants and Counter-Remonstrants. Grotius (who acted during the controversy first as Attorney General of Holland and later as a member of the Committee of Counsellors) was eventually asked to draft an edict to express the policy of toleration.[27] This edict,Decretum pro pace ecclesiarum was completed in late 1613 or early 1614. The edict put into practice a view that Grotius had been developing in his writings onchurch and state (seeErastianism): that only the basic tenets necessary for undergirding civil order (e.g., the existence of God and Hisprovidence) ought to be enforced while differences on obscure theological doctrines should be left to private conscience.[28]
The edict "imposing moderation and toleration on the ministry" was backed up by Grotius with "thirty-one pages of quotations, mainly dealing with theFive Remonstrant Articles."[26] In response to Grotius'Ordinum Pietas, Professor Lubbertus publishedResponsio Ad Pietatem Hugonis Grotii in 1614. Later that year, Grotius anonymously publishedBona Fides Sibrandi Lubberti in response to Lubbertus.[26]
Jacobus Trigland joined Lubberdus in expressing the view that tolerance in matters of doctrine was inadmissible, and in his 1615 worksDen Recht-gematigden Christen: Ofte vande waere Moderatie andAdvys Over een Concept van moderatie[29] Trigland denounced Grotius' stance.
In late 1615, when Middelburg professorAntonius Walaeus publishedHet Ampt der Kerckendienaren (a response toJohannes Wtenbogaert's 1610Tractaet van 't Ampt ende authoriteit eener hoogher Christelijcke overheid in kerckelijkcke zaken) he sent Grotius a copy out of friendship. This was a work "on the relationship between ecclesiastical and secular government" from the moderate counter-remonstrant viewpoint.[26] In early 1616, Grotius also received the 36-page letter championing a remonstrant viewDissertatio epistolica de Iure magistratus in rebus ecclesiasticis from his friendGerardus Vossius.[26]
The letter was "a general introduction on (in)tolerance, mainly on the subject of predestination and the sacrament...[and] an extensive, detailed and generally unfavourable review of Walaeus'Ampt, stuffed with references to ancient and modern authorities."[26] When Grotius wrote asking for some notes "he received a treasure-house of ecclesiastical history. ...offering ammunition to Grotius, who gratefully accepted it".[26] Around this time (April 1616) Grotius went to Amsterdam as part of his official duties, trying to persuade the civil authorities there to join Holland's majority view about church politics.
In early 1617 Grotius debated the question of giving counter-remonstrants the chance to preach in theKloosterkerk in The Hague which had been closed. During this time lawsuits were brought against the States of Holland by counter-remonstrant ministers and riots over the controversy broke out in Amsterdam.
As the conflict between civil and religious authorities escalated, in order to maintain civil order Oldenbarnevelt eventually proposed that local authorities be given the power to raise troops (theSharp Resolution of August 4, 1617). Such a measure undermined the unity of the Republic's military force, the very same reason Spain had managed to retake so much lost territory in the 1580s, something the Captain-General of the republic,Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange could not allow with the treaty nearing its end.[citation needed] Maurice seized the opportunity to solidify the preeminence of theGomarists, whom he had supported, and to eliminate the nuisance he perceived in Oldenbarnevelt (the latter had previously brokered theTwelve Years' Truce with Spain in 1609 against Maurice's wishes). During this time Grotius made another attempt to address ecclesiastical politics by completingDe Imperio Summarum Potestatum circa Sacra, on "the relations between the religious and secular authorities...Grotius had even cherished hopes that publication of this book would turn the tide and bring back peace to church and state".[26]
The conflict between Maurice and the States of Holland, led by Oldenbarnevelt and Grotius, about the Sharp Resolution and Holland's refusal to allow a National Synod, came to a head in July 1619 when a majority in the States General authorized Maurice to disband the auxiliary troops in Utrecht. Grotius went on a mission to the States of Utrecht to stiffen their resistance against this move, but Maurice prevailed. The States General then authorized him to arrest Oldenbarnevelt, Grotius andRombout Hogerbeets on 29 August 1618. They were tried by a court of delegated judges from the States General. Van Oldenbarnevelt was sentenced to death and was beheaded in 1619. Grotius was sentenced to life imprisonment and transferred to Loevestein Castle.[30]
From his imprisonment in Loevestein, Grotius made a written justification of his position "as to my views on the power of the Christian [civil] authorities in ecclesiastical matters, I refer to my...bookletDe Pietate Ordinum Hollandiae and especially to an unpublished bookDe Imperio summarum potestatum circa sacra, where I have treated the matter in more detail...I may summarize my feelings thus: that the [civil] authorities should scrutinize God's Word so thoroughly as to be certain to impose nothing which is against it; if they act in this way, they shall in good conscience have control of the public churches and public worship – but without persecuting those who err from the right way."[26] Because this stripped Church officials of any power some of their members (such asJohannes Althusius in a letter to Lubbertus) declared Grotius' ideas diabolical.[26]
A book chest exhibited atLoevestein, presumed to be that in which Grotius escaped in 1621
In 1621, with the help of his wife and his maidservant,Elsje van Houwening, Grotius managed to escape the castle in a book chest and fled toParis. In the Netherlands today, he is mainly famous for this daring escape. Both theRijksmuseum inAmsterdam and the museumHet Prinsenhof in Delft claim to have the original book chest in their collection.[31]
Grotius then fled toParis, where the authorities granted him an annual royal pension.[32] Grotius lived in France almost continuously from 1621 to 1644. His stay coincides with the period (1624-1642) during which theCardinal Richelieu led France under the authority ofLouis XIII. In France in 1625 Grotius published his most famous book,De jure belli ac pacis [On the Law of War and Peace] dedicated to Louis XIII.
While in Paris, Grotius set about rendering into Latin prose a work which he had originally written as Dutch verse in prison, providing rudimentary yet systematic arguments for the truth of Christianity. The Dutch poem,Bewijs van den waren Godsdienst, was published in 1622, the Latin treatise in 1627, under the titleDe veritate religionis Christianae.
In 1631, he tried to return to Holland, but the authorities remained hostile to him. He moved to Hamburg in 1632. But as early as 1634, the Swedes - a European superpower - sent him to Paris as ambassador. He remained in this position for ten years, where he had the mission to negotiate for Sweden at the end of theThirty Years' War. During this period, he had been interested in the unity of Christians and published many texts that would posthumously (1679) be published under the title ofOpera Omnia Theologica.
Grotius also developed a particular view of theatonement of Christ known as the "Governmental theory of atonement". He theorized that Jesus' sacrificial death occurred in order for the Father to forgive while still maintaining his just rule over the universe. This idea, further developed by theologians such asJohn Miley, became one of the prominent views of the atonement inMethodistArminianism.[33]
Title page from the second edition (Amsterdam 1631) ofDe jure belli ac pacis
Living in the times of theEighty Years' War betweenSpain and the Netherlands and theThirty Years' War between Catholic and Protestant European nations (Catholic France being in the otherwise Protestant camp), it is not surprising that Grotius was deeply concerned with matters of conflicts between nations and religions. His most lasting work, begun in prison and published during his exile in Paris, was a monumental effort to restrain such conflicts on the basis of a broad moral consensus. Grotius wrote:
Fully convinced...that there is a common law among nations, which is valid alike for war and in war, I have had many and weighty reasons for undertaking to write upon the subject. Throughout the Christian world, I observed a lack of restraint in relation to war, such as even barbarous races should be ashamed of; I observed that men rush to arms for slight causes or no cause at all and that when arms have once been taken up, there is no longer any respect for the law, divine or human; it is as if, in accordance with a general decree, frenzy had openly been let loose for the committing of all crimes.[34]
De jure belli ac pacis libri tres (On the Law of War and Peace: Three books) was first published in 1625, dedicated to Grotius' current patron, Louis XIII. The treatise advances a system of principles of natural law, which are held to be binding on all people and nations regardless of local custom. The work is divided into three books:
Book I advances his conception ofwar and of naturaljustice, arguing that there are some circumstances in which war is justifiable.
Book II identifies three 'just causes' for war:self-defense,reparation of injury, andpunishment; Grotius considers a wide variety of circumstances under which these rights of war attach and when they do not.
Book III takes up the question of what rules govern the conduct of war once it has begun; influentially, Grotius argued that all parties to war are bound by such rules, whether their cause is just or not.
Grotius' concept ofnatural law had a strong impact on the philosophical and theological debates and political developments of the 17th and 18th centuries. Among those he influenced wereSamuel Pufendorf andJohn Locke, and by way of these philosophers, his thinking became part of the cultural background of theGlorious Revolution in England and theAmerican Revolution.[35] In Grotius' understanding,nature was not an entity in itself but God'screation. Therefore, his concept of natural law had a theological foundation.[36] TheOld Testament contained moral precepts (e.g. theDecalogue), whichChrist confirmed and therefore were still valid. They were useful in interpreting the content of natural law. Both Biblicalrevelation and natural law originated in God and could, therefore, not contradict each other.[37]
Many exiled Remonstrants began to return to the Netherlands after the death of Prince Maurice in 1625 when toleration was granted to them. In 1630, they were allowed complete freedom to build and run churches and schools and to live anywhere in Holland. The Remonstrants guided byJohannes Wtenbogaert set up a presbyterial organization. They established a theological seminary at Amsterdam where Grotius came to teach alongsideEpiscopius,van Limborch,de Courcelles, andLeclerc.
In 1634, Grotius was given the opportunity to serve asSweden's ambassador toFrance.Axel Oxenstierna, regent of the successor of the recently deceased Swedish king,Gustavus Adolphus, was keen to have Grotius in his employ. Grotius accepted the offer and took updiplomatic residence in Paris, which remained his home until he was released from his post in 1645.[citation needed]
In 1644, the queenChristine of Sweden, who had become an adult, began to perform her duties and brought him back to Stockholm. During the winter of 1644–1645, he went to Sweden in difficult conditions, which he decided to leave in the summer of 1645.
While departing from his last visit to Sweden, Grotius wasshipwrecked on the voyage. He washed up on the shore ofRostock, ill and weather-beaten, and on August 28, 1645, he died; his body at last returned to the country of his youth, being laid to rest in theNieuwe Kerk in Delft.[38][39]
Grotius' personal motto wasRuit hora ("Time is running away"); his last words were purportedly, "By understanding many things, I have accomplished nothing" (Door veel te begrijpen, heb ik niets bereikt).[40] Significant friends and acquaintances of his included the theologianFranciscus Junius, the poetDaniel Heinsius, the philologistGerhard Johann Vossius, the historianJohannes Meursius, the engineerSimon Stevin, the historianJacques Auguste de Thou, the Orientalist and Arabic scholarErpinius, and the French ambassador in the Dutch Republic,Benjamin Aubery du Maurier, who allowed him to use the French diplomatic mail in the first years of his exile. He was also friends with theBrabantianJesuitAndreas Schottus.[41]
Grotius was the father of regent and diplomatPieter de Groot.
Grotius designed his theory to apply not only to states but also to rulers and subjects of law in general. Grotius's masterpieceDe Jure Belli ac Pacis thus proved useful in the later development of theories of both private and criminal law.[42]
The king of Sweden,Gustavus Adolphus, was said to have always carried a copy ofDe jure belli ac pacis in his saddle when leading his troops.[43] In contrast,King James VI and I of Great Britain reacted very negatively to Grotius' presentation of the book during a diplomatic mission.[43]
Into the very midst of all this welter of evil, at a point in time to all appearance hopeless, at a point in space apparently defenseless, in a nation of which every man, woman, and child was under sentence of death from its sovereign, was born a man who wrought as no other has ever done for the redemption of civilization from the main cause of all that misery; who thought out for Europe the precepts of right reason in international law; who made them heard; who gave a noble change to the course of human affairs; whose thoughts, reasonings, suggestions, and appeals produced an environment in which came an evolution of humanity that still continues.[44]
In contrast,Robert A. Heinlein satirized the Grotiangovernmental approach to theology inMethuselah's Children: "There is an old, old story about a theologian who was asked to reconcile thedoctrine ofDivine Mercy with the doctrine ofinfant damnation. 'The Almighty,' he explained, 'finds itnecessary to do things in His official and public capacity which in His private and personal capacity He deplores.'"[45]
The influence of Grotius declined following the rise ofpositivism in the field of international law and the decline of natural law in philosophy.[46] TheCarnegie Foundation has nevertheless re-issued and re-translatedOn the Law of War and Peace after theWorld War I.[47] At the end of the 20th century, his work aroused renewed interest as a controversy over the originality of his ethical work developed. For Irwing, Grotius would only repeat the contributions ofThomas Aquinas andFrancisco Suárez.[48] On the contrary, Schneewind argues that Grotius introduced the idea that "the conflict can not be eradicated and could not be dismissed, even in principle, by the most comprehensive metaphysical knowledge possible of how the world is made up".[49][43]
As far as politics is concerned, Grotius is most often considered not so much as having brought new ideas but rather as one who has introduced a new way of approaching political problems. For Kingsbury and Roberts, "the most important direct contribution of ["On the Law of War and Peace"] lies in the way it systematically brings together practices and authorities on the traditional but fundamental subject ofjus belli, which he organizes for the first time from a body of principles rooted in the law of nature."[50][51]
TheGrotiana Foundation seeks through its journal,Grotiana, to advance "the Grotian tradition".[52]
Marble bas-relief of Grotius among 23 reliefs of great historical lawgivers in the chamber of theU.S. House of Representatives in the United States CapitolAnnotationes ad Vetus Testamentum (1732)
ThePeace Palace Library inThe Hague holds the Grotius Collection, which has a large number of books by and about Grotius. The collection was based on a donation fromMartinus Nijhoff of 55 editions ofDe jure belli ac pacis libri tres.
Works are listed in order of publication, with the exception of works published posthumously or after long delay (estimated composition dates are given).[53][54] Where an English translation is available, the most recently published translation is listed beneath the title.
Martiani Minei Felicis Capellæ Carthaginiensis viri proconsularis Satyricon, in quo De nuptiis Philologiæ & Mercurij libri duo, & De septem artibus liberalibus libri singulares. Omnes, & emendati, & Notis, siue Februis Hug. Grotii illustrati [The Satyricon by Martianus Minneus Felix Capella, a man from Carthage, which includes the two books of 'On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury', and the book named 'On the Seven Liberal Arts'. Everything, including corrections, annotations as well as deletions and illustrations by Hug. Grotius] - 1599
Adamus exul (The Exile of Adam; tragedy) – The Hague, 1601
De republica emendanda (To Improve the Dutch Republic; manuscript 1601) – pub. The Hague, 1984
De Indis (On the Indies; manuscript 1604–05) – pub. 1868 asDe Jure Praedae
Christus patiens (The Passion of Christ; tragedy) – Leiden, 1608
Mare Liberum (The Free Seas; from chapter 12 ofDe Indis) – Leiden, 1609
De antiquitate reipublicae Batavicae (On the Antiquity of the Batavian Republic) – Leiden, 1610 (An extension ofFrançois Vranck'sDeduction of 1587[55])
The Antiquity of the Batavian Republic, ed. Jan Waszink and others (van Gorcum, 2000).
Annales et Historiae de rebus Belgicis (Annals and History of the Low Countries' War; manuscript 1612-13) – pub. Amsterdam, 1657
The Annals and History of the Low-Countrey-warrs, ed. Thomas Manley (London, 1665):
- Modern English translation of theAnnales only in: Hugo Grotius,Annals of the War in the Low Countries, ed. with introduction by J. Waszink (Latin/English edition), Leuven UP 2023. Bibliotheca Latinitatis Novae,ISBN978-94-6270-351-3,978-94-6166-485-3,doi:10.11116/9789461664853.
- Modern Dutch translation of theAnnales only in: Hugo de Groot, "Kroniek van de Nederlandse Oorlog. De Opstand 1559-1588", ed. Jan Waszink (Nijmegen, Vantilt 2014), with introduction, index, plates.
Ordinum Hollandiae ac Westfrisiae pietas (The Piety of the States of Holland and Westfriesland) – Leiden, 1613
Ordinum Hollandiae ac Westfrisiae pietas, ed. Edwin Rabbie (Brill, 1995).
De imperio summarum potestatum circa sacra (On the power of sovereigns concerning religious affairs; manuscript 1614–17) – pub. Paris, 1647
De imperio summarum potestatum circa sacra, ed. Harm-Jan van Dam (Brill, 2001).
De satisfactione Christi adversus Faustum Socinum (On the satisfaction of Christ against [the doctrines of]Faustus Socinus) – Leiden, 1617
Defensio fidei catholicae de satisfactione Christi, ed. Edwin Rabbie (van Gorcum, 1990).
Inleydinge tot de Hollantsche rechtsgeleertheit (Introduction to Dutch Jurisprudence; written in Loevenstein) – pub. The Hague, 1631
The Jurisprudence of Holland, ed. R.W. Lee (Oxford, 1926).
Bewijs van den waaren godsdienst (Proof of the True Religion; didactic poem) – Rotterdam, 1622
Apologeticus (Defense of the actions which led to his arrest (This was for a long time the only source for what transpired during Grotius' trial in 1619, because the trial record was not published at the time. However,Robert Fruin edited this trial record in[56]) – Paris, 1922
De jure belli ac pacis (On the Law of War and Peace) – Paris, 1625 (2nd ed. Amsterdam 1631)
Hugo Grotius: On the Law of War and Peace. Student edn. Ed. Stephen C. Neff (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012)
De veritate religionis Christianae (On the Truth of the Christian religion) – Paris, 1627
The Truth of the Christian Religion, ed. John Clarke (Edinburgh, 1819).
Sophompaneas (Joseph; tragedy) – Amsterdam, 1635
De origine gentium Americanarum dissertatio (Dissertation of the origin of the American peoples) – Paris 1642
Via ad pacem ecclesiasticam (The way to religious peace) – Paris, 1642
Annotationes in Vetus Testamentum (Commentaries on the Old Testament) – Amsterdam, 1644
Annotationes in Novum Testamentum (Commentaries on the New Testament) – Amsterdam and Paris, 1641–50
^Borschberg, Peter (2011),Hugo Grotius, the Portuguese and Free Trade in the East Indies, Singapore and Leiden, NUS Press & KITLV Press,ISBN978-9971-69-467-8
^Nellen, Henk J. M. (2014).Hugo Grotius: A Lifelong Struggle for Peace in Church and State, 1583 – 1645. Leiden: BRILL. p. 22.ISBN978-90-04-27436-5.
^abBlom, Hans W. (2009).Property, Piracy and Punishment: Hugo Grotius on War and Booty in De iure praedae: Concepts and Contexts. Leiden: BRILL. p. 249.ISBN978-90-04-17513-6.
^Brunstetter, Daniel R.; O'Driscoll, Cian (2017).Just War Thinkers: From Cicero to the 21st Century. Oxon: Routledge.ISBN978-1-317-30711-2.
^Korab-Karpowicz, W. Julian (2010).A History of Political Philosophy: From Thucydides to Locke. New York, NY: Global Scholarly Publications. p. 223.ISBN978-1-59267-113-7.
'^"Hugo Grotius | Dutch statesman and scholar | Britannica".www.britannica.com. Retrieved21 April 2023. and: J. Waszink, 'Tacitism in Holland: Hugo Grotius'Annales et Historiae de rebus Belgicis in Rhoda Schnur (ed.), Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Bonnensis: Proceedings of the 12th International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies (Bonn 2003). Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies vol. 315, 2006
^Grotius and Waszink (2023). Waszink, Jan (ed.).Annals of the War in the Low Countries, ed. with an introduction by J. Waszink. Bibliotheca Latinitatis Novae. Leuven (BE): Leuven UP.doi:10.11116/9789461664853.ISBN978-94-6270-351-3.S2CID251530133.
^"The Santa Catarina Incident". The National Library Board, Government of Singapore. 2021. Retrieved1 April 2021.[The Santa Catarina] was taken under the laws of war by Dutch Admiral Jacob van Heemskerk
^Miller 2014. While they are probably apocryphal, his supposed last words—"By attempting many things, I have accomplished nothing"—do evoke the span of his life's work and his personal assessment of the results.
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