ONLINE SEMINAR: 'Kings of Privateering: A History of the Spanish enterprise' with Vera Moya - German Maritime Museum & Prize Papers Project (23 FEB 2026, 1-2 pm CET)

 

(Source: Prize Papers Project)

Dr Vera Moya Sordo is a Mexican archaeologist and historian whose work dives into shipwrecks, life and fear aboard ships, and the hidden world of privateering. She has held positions at the University of Navarra, INAH-Mexico, and the Nautical Archaeology Society (UK), and is part of the international Red Imperial Contractor State Group, exploring how warfare and state-building were shaped by society itself.

What to expect: Contrary to the traditional historiographical view of Spanish privateers having limited or nonexistent agency, they were fundamental instruments of modern naval warfare and the deployment of monarchical power internationally. Among these "kings" of privateering, those who operated in the Caribbean throughout the 18th century exemplify a multifaceted agency, mobilizing resources for war, trade, smuggling, the slave trade, and other businesses, both regionally and beyond imperial geopolitical borders.

The online lecture series "Ships & Seafaring 1500–1800" is presented as a special collaboration between the German Maritime Museum, Leibniz Institute for Maritime History in Bremerhaven (Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum der Leibniz Association) and the Prize Papers Project (Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg / The National Archives, UK) and hosted together with Nele Popp.

Register here: https://lnkd.in/eKkz_8X6.

                     https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ships-seafaring-15001800-tickets-1931080938069

BOOK: Pierre PRÉTOU, L’invention de la piraterie en France au Moyen Age (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2021). ISBN: 2130829007, pp. 228, 23,00 €

 

(Source: PUF)

ABOUT THE BOOK

À la fin du Moyen Âge, après des siècles d'abandon du lexique maritime antique, les écritures souveraines s'agitent soudain, car les mots d'une nouvelle accusation pénale sublime - le crime de piraterie des Latins - s'infiltrent dans les archives. Peu à peu, le lexique médiéval des « larrons de mer » se retire des rivages, tandis que s'avance le « pirate » : la France réinventait son criminel en mer au seuil de la modernité. Cette mécanique fut avant tout atlantique et royale : une invention, ou découverte, de la piraterie, telle une relique sainte du passé romain qui serait remontée à la surface avant d'être exploitée par les Valois pour ses vertus pénales. Cette apparition médiévale du pirate français est remarquable en ce qu'elle scrutait désormais l'obéissance des gens de mer, ainsi mis en sujétion par une inflexion terrible de la doctrine pénale. Le royaume de France, devenu une puissance maritime au XVe siècle, livrait ici un nouveau récit pénal des navigations, dans lequel pirates et rois se combattaient, pour mieux transformer le statut de ses frontières atlantiques.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pierre Prétou est professeur d’histoire du Moyen Âge à La Rochelle Université. Spécialiste de l’histoire de la justice dans les espaces atlantiques, il est membre de l’UMR LIENSs, (Littoral, Environnement et Sociétés, CNRS, UMR 7266). Il a également codirigé (avec D. Roland) Fureur et cruauté des capitaines en mer (PUR, 2012).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

CHAPITRE 1. LES VIOLENCES MEDIEVALES EN MER

I. L’extinction des récits pirates

II. Le règlement des conflits maritimes

III. L’Amirauté contre le crime

CHAPITRE 2. LA FABRIQUE DU MALEFICE MARITIME

I. Les mers diaboliques

II. Le lexique criminel

III. Le retour du pirate antique

CHAPITRE 3. LE ROYAUME CONTRE LES PIRATES

I. La piraterie en Parlement

II. Les pirates dans les Jugements de la mer

III. Les traités internationaux et les pirates

Conclusion

Pièces justificatives/Table des figures/Sources et bibliographie

More information and preview with the publisher.

REMINDER CFP:CALL FOR PAPERS: Workshop 'Freedom of the seas and freedom of the individual: a historical appraisal' (London: School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, 7 FEB 2025) [DEADLINE 20 NOV 2024]

Call for papers

Freedom of the seas is a time-honoured principle of international law and the dogma of old and new maritime powers. Traditionally associated with Western-dominated legal doctrine and imperialist mindset, freedom of the seas allowed European states to expand and engage in direct trade with East and West, eventually leading to imperialism and colonisation. Conceptually, its genesis is generally attributed to the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius and his advocacy in favour of Dutch trade interests in the Indian Ocean in the early XVII century. However, this narrative entirely overlooks forms of State practice and customs developed in other regions of the world, let alone other contemporary or pre-existing scholars.

Generally portrayed in a positive light and recognised as an inherent right of states, freedom of the seas has also benefitted peoples and individuals. Many people oppressed on land have turned to the sea in an effort to leave war and discrimination and to seek refuge and a better future. Starting with Aeneas escaping by ship from the burning Troy, down to the pilgrims of the Mayflower and the thousands of people who have used maritime routes for migration, the free seas have always been the means for trying to reach safety and protection and a way to be able to freely pursue one’s opinions and beliefs, ultimately furthering societal change and visions of a fairer world. 

However, freedom of the seas has also its dark side. The principle has underpinned colonial domination and allowed the slave trade in the Atlantic Ocean and other seas. These lesser known aspects have remained unresearched for many decades. Only recently did they start coming to the forefront, with scholars drawing parallels between old and new state practices to limit free use of the seas by individuals, while allowing slavery and forced labour.

Starting from these premises, the research project on freedom of the seas and protection of human rights, funded by the British Academy and led by Professor Irini Papanicolopulu at SOAS, organises a Workshop, bringing together leading experts and emerging young scholars to debate the relationship between freedom of the seas and individual freedom in a historical perspective. The workshop will take place at SOAS, University of London (UK) on 7 February 2025.

This call for papers invites young scholars to explore various aspects of the relationship between freedom of the seas and individual freedom in a historical perspective, focusing on the XV-XIX centuries. Thematically, we invite participants to deal with aspects relating but not limited to the following topics:

- Historically, who could benefit from the freedom of the seas? And to what purpose? 

- What consequences did this produce upon the determination of the rights (and the duties) that states and individuals had at sea and over the sea? 

- How does the freedom of the seas reflect the deeply entrenched patterns of domination that characterise much of early international law? 

- To what extent (if any) could it be considered to embody also different values? 

- What legal tools were developed to allow some actors to freely use the seas while limiting the freedom of others? 

- Which actors were most relevant at sea, and how does the private/public divide factor into this?

- Why were some empires/State powers particularly proactive in attempting to legally defend their arguments?

Papers may focus on a specific jurist, geographic area, school of thought, historical period, or may address more transversal aspects across the identified timeframe and regions, and may do so from a variety of approaches. We particularly encourage papers from young scholars based in the Global South.

Abstracts of 800-1000 words, addressing the theme and methodology of the proposed paper, and accompanied by an academic CV are to be submitted to al77@soas.ac.uk and ip14@soas.ac.uk by Wednesday 20 November 2024. Selected candidates will be informed by Wednesday 27 November 2024 and must submitted a 7000-8000 words paper by 6 January 2025. The draft papers will be then distributed to the discussants and will be presented and discussed in the course of the Workshop of 7 February 2025. 

Selected participants may be offered a scholarship to cover their travel and accommodation expenses for participating in the workshop. Scholars from the Global South, at early career stage, or belonging to underrepresented groups in Higher Education will be prioritised for the scholarship.

Key Dates 

20 November 2024: deadline for the submission of abstracts

27 November 2024: communication of selection outcome

6 January 2025: deadline for the submission of draft papers

7 February 2025: workshop

For further information please contact Dr Andrea Longo at al77@soas.ac.uk 

CALL FOR PAPERS: Workshop 'Freedom of the seas and freedom of the individual: a historical appraisal' (London: School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, 7 FEB 2025) [DEADLINE 20 NOV 2024]

Call for papers

Freedom of the seas is a time-honoured principle of international law and the dogma of old and new maritime powers. Traditionally associated with Western-dominated legal doctrine and imperialist mindset, freedom of the seas allowed European states to expand and engage in direct trade with East and West, eventually leading to imperialism and colonisation. Conceptually, its genesis is generally attributed to the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius and his advocacy in favour of Dutch trade interests in the Indian Ocean in the early XVII century. However, this narrative entirely overlooks forms of State practice and customs developed in other regions of the world, let alone other contemporary or pre-existing scholars.

Generally portrayed in a positive light and recognised as an inherent right of states, freedom of the seas has also benefitted peoples and individuals. Many people oppressed on land have turned to the sea in an effort to leave war and discrimination and to seek refuge and a better future. Starting with Aeneas escaping by ship from the burning Troy, down to the pilgrims of the Mayflower and the thousands of people who have used maritime routes for migration, the free seas have always been the means for trying to reach safety and protection and a way to be able to freely pursue one’s opinions and beliefs, ultimately furthering societal change and visions of a fairer world. 

However, freedom of the seas has also its dark side. The principle has underpinned colonial domination and allowed the slave trade in the Atlantic Ocean and other seas. These lesser known aspects have remained unresearched for many decades. Only recently did they start coming to the forefront, with scholars drawing parallels between old and new state practices to limit free use of the seas by individuals, while allowing slavery and forced labour.

Starting from these premises, the research project on freedom of the seas and protection of human rights, funded by the British Academy and led by Professor Irini Papanicolopulu at SOAS, organises a Workshop, bringing together leading experts and emerging young scholars to debate the relationship between freedom of the seas and individual freedom in a historical perspective. The workshop will take place at SOAS, University of London (UK) on 7 February 2025.

This call for papers invites young scholars to explore various aspects of the relationship between freedom of the seas and individual freedom in a historical perspective, focusing on the XV-XIX centuries. Thematically, we invite participants to deal with aspects relating but not limited to the following topics:

- Historically, who could benefit from the freedom of the seas? And to what purpose? 

- What consequences did this produce upon the determination of the rights (and the duties) that states and individuals had at sea and over the sea? 

- How does the freedom of the seas reflect the deeply entrenched patterns of domination that characterise much of early international law? 

- To what extent (if any) could it be considered to embody also different values? 

- What legal tools were developed to allow some actors to freely use the seas while limiting the freedom of others? 

- Which actors were most relevant at sea, and how does the private/public divide factor into this?

- Why were some empires/State powers particularly proactive in attempting to legally defend their arguments?

Papers may focus on a specific jurist, geographic area, school of thought, historical period, or may address more transversal aspects across the identified timeframe and regions, and may do so from a variety of approaches. We particularly encourage papers from young scholars based in the Global South.

Abstracts of 800-1000 words, addressing the theme and methodology of the proposed paper, and accompanied by an academic CV are to be submitted to al77@soas.ac.uk and ip14@soas.ac.uk by Wednesday 20 November 2024. Selected candidates will be informed by Wednesday 27 November 2024 and must submitted a 7000-8000 words paper by 6 January 2025. The draft papers will be then distributed to the discussants and will be presented and discussed in the course of the Workshop of 7 February 2025. 

Selected participants may be offered a scholarship to cover their travel and accommodation expenses for participating in the workshop. Scholars from the Global South, at early career stage, or belonging to underrepresented groups in Higher Education will be prioritised for the scholarship.

Key Dates 

20 November 2024: deadline for the submission of abstracts

27 November 2024: communication of selection outcome

6 January 2025: deadline for the submission of draft papers

7 February 2025: workshop

For further information please contact Dr Andrea Longo at al77@soas.ac.uk 

REMINDER SYMPOSIUM/CFP: 'The Worlds of Pre-Modern Neutrality (ca. 1400-1800): Norms, Institutions and Practices' [Special Issue/Numéro spécial Clio@Thémis] (Antwerp: Conscience Heritage Library, 8-9 MAY 2025)

Symposium: The Worlds of Pre-Modern Neutrality (ca. 1400-1800):
Norms, Institutions and Practices 

Conveners: dr. Stefano Cattelan & Prof. dr. Frederik Dhondt -
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Research Group CORE 

Supported by FWO Junior Fundamental Research Project G016122N (2024-2026)

Venue: Nottebohm Room, Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library - Hendrik Conscienceplein 4, 2000 Antwerp (Belgium)

Date: 8-9 May 2025

   

Concept: To ensure their security in a world dominated by competing Great Powers, states have the choice between an alliance or a neutral position. If we consider the world as governed by brute force, neutrality (the choice not to participate in a conflict between two or more other polities) would merely be a factual condition, dependent on the big players’ goodwill. Even today the ongoing war in Ukraine and the geopolitical tensions between China and the US pose existential challenges to third countries and their positioning, demonstrating the persistent vitality of the concept of neutrality in the 21st century. This equally reverberates on third states’ nationals and other non-state actors. The articulation of the set of rights and duties associated with neutrality has a long pedigree in legal history. The rhetorical use of legal arguments is intertwined with the protection of one’s territory and population but also with the interdependence that fosters trade, especially at sea, connecting markets, spaces and peoples. Law and power are never disconnected in matters related to neutrality, a mutual and reciprocal influence of both tenets is usually present.

This symposium aims to contribute new insights to the long-term history of neutrality, focusing on its ‘pre modern’ dimension broadly understood (ca. 1400-1800). Indeed, the law of neutrality started to emerge in the Early Modern Age through the practices and beliefs of the European state system, but also from its interactions with non-European normative and cultural systems. Different but complementary angles of approach can be used to understand this phenomenon: e.g. diplomatic history, IR history, political history, economic history and legal history. Throughout history, polities as well as private actors have interpreted neutrality in flexible and divergent ways, e.g. proposing a proactive-assertive approach or a more passive and inward looking one.

Benefiting from multiple disciplinary perspectives, the symposium takes into consideration both the theory and the practice of neutrality, advancing our knowledge of the often-contested conceptualisation of legal regimes at sea as well as on land. Such a conceptualisation depended on the interaction between situations of peace and diverged across different temporal and spatial coordinates. The symposium participants will also unravel the recurrent misalignment between legal-dogmatic approaches and practical uses of knowledge, as well as its intellectual and bureaucratic production. As such, the symposium participates in a broader turn to bottom-up approaches in the history of international law, a booming field of interdisciplinary research. 

Keynote speakers: Prof. Silvia Marzagalli, Université Côte d’Azur & Prof. Éric Schnakenbourg, Nantes Université.

Venue: The symposium will be held at the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library (Antwerp) on 8th-9th May 2025. It will be a relatively small event in order to enable in depth discussions. Applications for participation, including a 250-word abstract and a 100-word brief biography should be sent to stefano.cattelan@vub.be by 1st October 2024. The conference organization is willing to consider funding demands for travel and accommodation from scholars without an own bench fee or project means, or from the Global South, depending on the means available. The conference will be held at the historical building of the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library in the city centre of Antwerp, which is close to the city’s Central Station and easily reachable from Brussels-Zaventem Airport by train. 

(Nottebohm Room at the Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library. Source: Erfgoed Bibliotheek)

Themes: The conference explores many facets of pre-modern neutrality. We invite twenty-minute papers on various aspects of this phenomena. Suggested paper topics include, but are not limited to: 

• Aspects related to maritime neutrality (axis 1), e.g. privateering, contraband, blockade and strategies developed by private actors (e.g. merchants, but also bankers) or urban authorities to align their interests with the most favourable interpretation of state policy.

• Aspects related to neutrality on land (axis 2), e.g. innocent passage, neutralisation and strategies developed by private actors, urban authorities or seignorial power brokers to obtain the most favourable outcome of their interactions with both belligerents and the neutral polities norms and actions.

• The conceptualisation of neutrality in legal doctrine, political and economic thought.

• The practice of neutrality: military and diplomatic aspects, but also case law, prize papers and private business archives.

• Small power neutrality, as a balancing element in the European or extra-European state system.

Deadlines: paper proposal should be sent by 1st October 2024. Draft versions of the papers should be sent to the conveners by 15th March 2025 to allow their circulation among participants. 

Publication: The contributions to the conference (in English or French) will be submitted to the journal Clio@Themis for publication. They will undergo a double-blind review as part of the dossier for issue 31|2026, according to the following schedule:

• Submission of articles by December 1, 2025.

• First evaluation of articles during the January 2026 committee meeting.

• Submission of revised articles by May 1, 2026.

• Second evaluation of articles during the June 2026 committee meeting.

• Final submission of articles by September 15, 2026.

• Publication in November 2026.

Contact Information: dr. Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), email: stefano.cattelan@vub.be.

Selected bibliography: 

Akashi, Kinji, Cornelius Van Bynkershoek: His Role in the History of International Law (Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1998).

Alatri, Paolo, Le relazioni internazionali in Europa nella prima metà del XVIII secolo (Napoli: IISF, 1990).

Alimento, Antonella (ed.), War, Trade and Neutrality: Europe and the Mediterranean in the Seventeenth and Eighteen Centuries (Milano: Franco Angeli, 2011).

Id., and Stapelbroek, Koen (eds.), The Politics of Commercial Treaties in the Eighteenth Century (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017). 

Baugh, Daniel A., The Global Seven Years War, 1754–1763: Britain and France in a Great Power Contest (Harlow and New York: Longman, 2011).

Bazzoli, Maurizio, Il piccolo Stato nell’età moderna. Studi su un concetto della politica internazionale tra XVI e XVIII secolo (Milano: Jaca Book, 1990).

Benton, Lauren, A Search for Sovereignty. Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400-1900 (Cambridge: University Press, 2010).

Blyte Raviola, Alice, L’Europa dei piccoli stati. Dalla prima età moderna al declino dell’antico regime (Roma: Carocci, 2008).

Bromley, John S, Corsairs and Navies: 1660–1760 (London: Hambledon Press, 1987).

Cahen, Raphael, Dhondt, Frederik and Fiocchi Malaspina, Elisabetta, ‘L’essor récent de l’histoire du droit international’, Clio@Thémis, 18 (2020) 1-7.

Calafat, Guillaume, Une mer jalousée: contribution à l’histoire de la souveraineté (Méditerranée, XVIIe siècle) (Paris: Seuil, 2019).

Cattelan, Stefano, ‘Maritime warfare in Old Regime Europe, 1660-1776’ in The Cambridge History of International Law, vol. VI/2: International Law in Ancien Regime Europe (ed. Lesaffer, Randall) (Cambridge: University Press, forthcoming).

Id. and Kubben, Raymond, ‘Warfare on land in Old Regime Europe, 1660-1776’, in The Cambridge History of International Law, vol. VI/2: International Law in Ancien Regime Europe (ed. Lesaffer, Randall) (Cambridge: University Press, forthcoming).

Id., ‘In the Shadow of the Great Powers: Freedom of the Sea and Neutrality in the Long Eighteenth Century’, research note in Grotiana, 44(1) (2023) 145-53.

Id., ‘Challenging Empires: Pirates, Privateers and the Europeanisation of Ocean Spaces (c. 1500–1650)’, in Giuseppina de Giudici, Dante Fedele and Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina (eds.), Soggettività contestate e diritto internazionale in età moderna (Rome: Historia et ius, 2023), 125-51.

Chanet, Jean-François and Windler, Christian (dir.), Les ressources des faibles. Neutralités, sauvegardes, accommodements en temps de guerre (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles) (Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2010).

Clark, George N., The Dutch Alliance and the War against French Trade, 1688–1697 (Manchester: University Press, 1923).

Crouzet, François, La guerre économique franco-anglaise au XVIIIe siècle (Paris: Fayard, 2008).

Dadson, Trevor J. and Elliott, John H., Britain, Spain and the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713-2013 (London: MHRA-Maney, 2014).

Davies, J. D., James, Alan and Rommelse, Gijs (eds.), Ideologies of Western Naval Power, c. 1500–1815 (New York: Routledge, 2020).

Dhondt, Frederik, ‘“Arrestez et pillez contre toute sorte de droit”: Trade and the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718-1720)’, Legatio: The Journal for Renaissance and Early Modern Diplomatic Studies 1 (2017), 98-130. 

Id., ‘Delenda est haec Carthago. The Ostend Company as a Problem of European Great Power Politics (1722-1727)’, Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire, 93 (2015), 397-437.

Id., ‘Looking Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: Diplomatic Praxis and Legal Culture in the History of Public International Law’, Rechtskultur 2 (2013), 31-42.

Id., ‘The Historiography of International Law on the European Continent’, in: Lesaffer and Peters (eds.), The Historiography of International Law, 244-272.

Dollot, René, Les origines de la neutralité de la Belgique et le système de la Barrière (1609-1830) (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1902).

Félicité, Indravati, Négocier pour exister: les villes et duchés du nord de l'Empire face à la France 1650-1730 (Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2016).

Fulton, Thomas W., The Sovereignty of the Sea (London-Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1911).

Gotthard, Axel. Der liebe und werthe Fried: Kriegskonzepte und Neutralitätsvorstellungen in der Frühen Neuzeit (Köln: Böhlau, 2014). 

Grewe, Wilhelm G., The Epochs of International Law (Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 2000)

Harding, Richard, Seapower and Naval Warfare, 1650–1830 (London: Routledge, 2002). 

Jessup, Philip C. and Deák, Francis, Neutrality: its History, Economics and Law: The Origins Vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1935).

Kleen, Richard, Lois et usages de la neutralité d’après le droit international conventionnel et coutumier des états civilisés (Paris: Chevalier-Maresq, 1898). 

Kulsrud, Carl J., Maritime Neutrality to 1780: A History of the Main Principles Governing Neutrality and Belligerency to 1780 (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1936).

Lesaffer, Randall and Peters, Anne (eds.), The Historiography of International Law, vol. I of The Cambridge History of International Law (Cambridge: University Press, 2024).

Marzagalli, Silvia, Les consuls en Méditerranée, agents d’information, XVIe-XXe siècle (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2015).

Mattéi, Jean-Mathieu, Histoire du droit de la guerre (1700–1819) (Aix-en-Provence: Presses universitaires d’Aix-Marseille 2006).

Morozzi, Ubaldo, Endangered Neutrality. Tuscany, England and the Plowman Case (1696–1704) (London: Springer, 2024).

Müller, Leos, Neutrality in World History (New York: Routledge 2019).

Id., ‘Sweden’s Early-Modern Neutrality: Neutral Vessels, Prize Cases and Diplomatic Actors in London in the Late Eighteenth Century’, Journal of Early Modern History, 23(5) (2019), 475–90.

Naguib Leerberg, Nora, The Legal Politics of Neutrality in the Age of Privateering. Martin Hübner’s Law of Neutrality and Prize (Oslo: Dreyersforlag, 2015).

Neff, Stephen C., The Rights and Duties of Neutrals: A General History (Manchester: University Press 2000).

Id., War and the Law of Nations. A General History (Cambridge: University Press 2005).

Id., Justice among Nations. A History of International Law (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014).

Nimwegen, Olaf Van, De republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden als grote mogendheid: buitenlandse politiek en oorlogvoering in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw en in het bijzonder tijdens de Oostenrijkse Successieoorlog (1740-1748) (Amsterdam: Bataafsche Leeuw, 2002).

Ormrod, David, and Gijs Rommelse (eds.), War, Trade and the State: Anglo-Dutch Conflict 1652–89 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press 2020).

Pares, Richard, Colonial Blockade and Neutral Rights, 1739–1763 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1938).

Rodger, Nicholas A. M., The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815 (London: Allen Lane, 2004).

Id., ‘The Law and Language of Private Naval Warfare’, The Mariner’s Mirror, 100(1) (2014), 5-16

Schnakenbourg, Éric (ed.), Neutres et neutralité dans l’espace atlantique durant le long XVIIIe siècle (1700–1820): une approche globale (Bécherel: Editions Les Perséides, 2015).

Id., Entre la guerre et la paix: Neutralité et relations internationales, XVIIe–XVIIIe Siècles (Rennes: Presses universitaires, 2013).

Id., ‘A Challenge to State Authority: Controlling French Privateers’ Violence towards Neutrals in the late 17th and 18th Century’, Forum Navale, 70 (2013), 16-39.

Id., ‘La géographie des diplomates: la mondialisation de la diplomatie à l’époque moderne’, Revue d’histoire moderne & contemporaine, 67(1) (2020), 139-62.

Id., ‘Neutral cover and globalised commerce in the wars of the 18th century’, Magallanica. Revista de Historia moderna, 5(10) (2019), 57-77.

Id., La quasi-guerre. Le conflit entre la France et les États-Unis. 1796-1800 (Paris: Tallandier, 2024).

Schopfer, Sidney, Le principe juridique de la neutralité et son évolution dans l’histoire du droit de la guerre (Lausanne: Libraire F. Rouge, 1894).

Stapelbroek, Koen (ed.), Trade and War: The Neutrality of Commerce in the Inter-State System (Helsinki: Collegium for Advanced Studies 2011).

Steiger, Heinhard, ‘Neutralität’, in Otto Brunner, Werner Conze and Reinhard Koselleck (eds.), Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Historisches Lexikon zur politisch-sozialen Sprache in Deutschland (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1987), vol. IV, 315-370.

Talini, Giulio, ‘Giovanni Maria Lampredi and the neutrality of small states in eighteenth-century Europe’, Intellectual History Review, 33(2) (2021), 227-48.

Vec, Miloš, ‘Neutralität’, in Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (Berlin: Schmidt, 2016), 1892-1896.

Wani, Kentaro, Neutrality in International Law. From the Sixteenth Century to 1945 (London/New York: Routledge, 2017).

Symposium: Les mondes de la neutralité prémoderne (1400-1800) : institutions, normes et pratiques

Organisateurs: dr. Stefano Cattelan & Prof. dr. Frederik Dhondt - Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Centre de recherches CORE

Soutenu par le Projet de recherche fondamental G016122N (2024-2026, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique - Flandre)

Lieu: Salle Nottebohm, Bibliothèque patrimoniale Hendrik Conscience
Hendrik Conscienceplein 4, 2000 Anvers (Belgique)

Date: 8-9 mai 2025

Argumentaire: Pour assurer leur sécurité dans un monde dominé par des grandes puissances en compétition, les États ont le choix entre une alliance ou une position neutre. Si nous considérons que le monde est régi par la force brute, la neutralité (le choix de ne pas participer à un conflit entre deux ou plusieurs autres entités) ne serait qu'une condition factuelle, dépendant du gré des grands acteurs. Aujourd'hui encore, la guerre en Ukraine et les tensions géopolitiques entre la Chine et les États-Unis posent des défis aux pays tiers et à leur positionnement, démontrant la vitalité persistante du concept de neutralité au 21e siècle. Cela se répercute également sur les ressortissants des États tiers et sur d'autres acteurs non étatiques. L'articulation de l'ensemble des droits et des devoirs associés à la neutralité a un long pedigree dans l'histoire du droit. L'utilisation rhétorique d'arguments juridiques est liée à la protection du territoire et de la population, mais aussi à l'interdépendance qui favorise le commerce, en particulier en mer, reliant les marchés, les espaces et les peuples. Le droit et le pouvoir ne sont jamais déconnectés dans les questions liées à la neutralité, une influence mutuelle et réciproque des deux est généralement présente.

Ce symposium vise à apporter de nouvelles perspectives à l’étude de la longue durée du concept de neutralité, en se concentrant sur sa dimension "pré-moderne" au sens large (vers 1400-1800). En effet, le droit de la neutralité a commencé à émerger au début de l'époque moderne à travers les pratiques et les croyances du système étatique européen, mais aussi à partir de ses interactions avec des systèmes normatifs et culturels non européens. Des angles d'approche différents mais complémentaires peuvent être utilisés pour comprendre ce phénomène: par exemple, l'histoire diplomatique, l'histoire des relations internationales, l'histoire politique, l'histoire économique et l'histoire du droit. Tout au long de l'histoire, les politiques ainsi que les acteurs privés ont interprété la neutralité de manière flexible et divergente, proposant parfois une approche proactive-affirmative ou une approche plus passive. 

Bénéficiant de perspectives disciplinaires multiples, le symposium prend en considération à la fois la théorie et la pratique de la neutralité, faisant progresser notre connaissance de la conceptualisation souvent contestée des régimes juridiques en mer comme sur terre. Une telle conceptualisation dépend de l'interaction entre les situations de paix et de guerre, divergeant à travers différentes coordonnées temporelles et spatiales. Les contributions des participants mettront également en lumière le décalage récurrent entre les approches juridico-dogmatiques et les usages pratiques des connaissances, ainsi que leur production intellectuelle et bureaucratique. Le symposium participe ainsi à un tournant plus large vers la pratique étatique dans l'histoire du droit international, un domaine de recherche interdisciplinaire en plein essor.

Conférenciers principaux: Prof. Silvia Marzagalli, Université Côte d’Azur & Prof. Éric Schnakenbourg, Nantes Université.

Lieu: Le symposium se tiendra à la Bibliothèque patrimoniale Hendrik Conscience (Anvers) les 8 et 9 mai 2025. L'événement se déroulera à échelle relativement réduite (max. 30 participants) afin de privilégier des discussions intenses et approfondies. L'organisation est disposée à prendre en considération des demandes de financement pour le voyage et l'hébergement émanant de chercheurs ne disposant pas d'un droit d'inscription propre ou de moyens pour leur projet, ou provenant du Sud global, en fonction des moyens disponibles. Les travaux se tiendront dans le bâtiment historique de la Hendrik Conscience Heritage Library dans le centre-ville d'Anvers, à proximité de la gare centrale de la ville et facilement accessible en train depuis l'aéroport de Bruxelles-Zaventem.

Thématiques: Nous invitons les participants à présenter des communications de vingt minutes portant sur les nombreuses facettes de la neutralité prémoderne. Les thèmes suggérés sont, entre autres, les suivants: 

• Les aspects liés à la neutralité maritime (axe 1), par exemple la guerre de course, la contrebande, le blocus et les stratégies développées par les acteurs privés (par exemple les marchands, mais aussi les banquiers) ou les autorités urbaines pour aligner leurs intérêts sur l'interprétation la plus favorable de la politique de l'État.

• Les aspects liés à la neutralité sur terre (axe 2), par exemple le passage inoffensif, la neutralisation et les stratégies développées par les acteurs privés, les autorités urbaines ou les courtiers en pouvoirs seigneuriaux pour obtenir le résultat le plus favorable de leurs interactions avec les belligérants et les normes et actions de la politique de neutralité.

• La conceptualisation de la neutralité dans la doctrine juridique et la pensée politique et économique.

• La pratique de la neutralité: les aspects militaires et diplomatiques, mais aussi la jurisprudence, les prize papers et les archives d'entreprises privées.

• La neutralité des puissances de taille petite ou moyenne, en tant qu'élément d'équilibre dans le système étatique européen ou extra-européen.

Envoi des candidatures: Les propositions de communication, comprenant un résumé de 250 mots et une brève biographie de 100 mots, doivent être envoyées à stefano.cattelan@vub.be avant le 1er octobre 2024.  Les versions préliminaires des documents doivent être envoyées aux organisateurs avant le 15 mars 2025 pour permettre leur diffusion parmi les participants. 

Publication: Les contributions à la conférence (en anglais ou en français) seront soumises à la revue Clio@Themis pour publication. Elles feront l’objet d’une évaluation en double aveugle dans le cadre du dossier du numéro 31|2026, selon le calendrier suivant :

• Remise des articles au 1er décembre 2025.

• Première évaluation des articles lors du comité de janvier 2026.

• Remise des articles corrigés au 1er mai 2026.

• Seconde évaluation des articles lors du comité de juin 2026.

• Remise définitive des articles au 15 septembre 2026.

• Parution en novembre 2026.

Renseignements: dr. Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), email: stefano.cattelan@vub.be.

Bibliographie indicative: 

Akashi, Kinji, Cornelius Van Bynkershoek: His Role in the History of International Law (Boston: Kluwer Law International, 1998).

Alatri, Paolo, Le relazioni internazionali in Europa nella prima metà del XVIII secolo (Napoli: IISF, 1990).

Alimento, Antonella (ed.), War, Trade and Neutrality: Europe and the Mediterranean in the Seventeenth and Eighteen Centuries (Milano: Franco Angeli, 2011).

Id., and Stapelbroek, Koen (eds.), The Politics of Commercial Treaties in the Eighteenth Century (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017). 

Baugh, Daniel A., The Global Seven Years War, 1754–1763: Britain and France in a Great Power Contest (Harlow and New York: Longman, 2011).

Bazzoli, Maurizio, Il piccolo Stato nell’età moderna. Studi su un concetto della politica internazionale tra XVI e XVIII secolo (Milano: Jaca Book, 1990).

Benton, Lauren, A Search for Sovereignty. Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400-1900 (Cambridge: University Press, 2010).

Blyte Raviola, Alice, L’Europa dei piccoli stati. Dalla prima età moderna al declino dell’antico regime (Roma: Carocci, 2008).

Bromley, John S, Corsairs and Navies: 1660–1760 (London: Hambledon Press, 1987).

Cahen, Raphael, Dhondt, Frederik and Fiocchi Malaspina, Elisabetta, ‘L’essor récent de l’histoire du droit international’, Clio@Thémis, 18 (2020) 1-7.

Calafat, Guillaume, Une mer jalousée: contribution à l’histoire de la souveraineté (Méditerranée, XVIIe siècle) (Paris: Seuil, 2019).

Cattelan, Stefano, ‘Maritime warfare in Old Regime Europe, 1660-1776’ in The Cambridge History of International Law, vol. VI/2: International Law in Ancien Regime Europe (ed. Lesaffer, Randall) (Cambridge: University Press, forthcoming).

Id. and Kubben, Raymond, ‘Warfare on land in Old Regime Europe, 1660-1776’, in The Cambridge History of International Law, vol. VI/2: International Law in Ancien Regime Europe (ed. Lesaffer, Randall) (Cambridge: University Press, forthcoming).

Id., ‘In the Shadow of the Great Powers: Freedom of the Sea and Neutrality in the Long Eighteenth Century’, research note in Grotiana, 44(1) (2023) 145-53.

Id., ‘Challenging Empires: Pirates, Privateers and the Europeanisation of Ocean Spaces (c. 1500–1650)’, in Giuseppina de Giudici, Dante Fedele and Elisabetta Fiocchi Malaspina (eds.), Soggettività contestate e diritto internazionale in età moderna (Rome: Historia et ius, 2023), 125-51.

Chanet, Jean-François and Windler, Christian (dir.), Les ressources des faibles. Neutralités, sauvegardes, accommodements en temps de guerre (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècles) (Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2010).

Clark, George N., The Dutch Alliance and the War against French Trade, 1688–1697 (Manchester: University Press, 1923).

Crouzet, François, La guerre économique franco-anglaise au XVIIIe siècle (Paris: Fayard, 2008).

Dadson, Trevor J. and Elliott, John H., Britain, Spain and the Treaty of Utrecht, 1713-2013 (London: MHRA-Maney, 2014).

Davies, J. D., James, Alan and Rommelse, Gijs (eds.), Ideologies of Western Naval Power, c. 1500–1815 (New York: Routledge, 2020).

Dhondt, Frederik, ‘“Arrestez et pillez contre toute sorte de droit”: Trade and the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718-1720)’, Legatio: The Journal for Renaissance and Early Modern Diplomatic Studies 1 (2017), 98-130. 

Id., ‘Delenda est haec Carthago. The Ostend Company as a Problem of European Great Power Politics (1722-1727)’, Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire, 93 (2015), 397-437.

Id., ‘Looking Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: Diplomatic Praxis and Legal Culture in the History of Public International Law’, Rechtskultur 2 (2013), 31-42.

Id., ‘The Historiography of International Law on the European Continent’, in: Lesaffer and Peters (eds.), The Historiography of International Law, 244-272.

Dollot, René, Les origines de la neutralité de la Belgique et le système de la Barrière (1609-1830) (Paris: Félix Alcan, 1902).

Félicité, Indravati, Négocier pour exister: les villes et duchés du nord de l'Empire face à la France 1650-1730 (Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2016).

Fulton, Thomas W., The Sovereignty of the Sea (London-Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons, 1911).

Gotthard, Axel. Der liebe und werthe Fried: Kriegskonzepte und Neutralitätsvorstellungen in der Frühen Neuzeit (Köln: Böhlau, 2014). 

Grewe, Wilhelm G., The Epochs of International Law (Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 2000)

Harding, Richard, Seapower and Naval Warfare, 1650–1830 (London: Routledge, 2002). 

Jessup, Philip C. and Deák, Francis, Neutrality: its History, Economics and Law: The Origins Vol. 1 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1935).

Kleen, Richard, Lois et usages de la neutralité d’après le droit international conventionnel et coutumier des états civilisés (Paris: Chevalier-Maresq, 1898). 

Kulsrud, Carl J., Maritime Neutrality to 1780: A History of the Main Principles Governing Neutrality and Belligerency to 1780 (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1936).

Lesaffer, Randall and Peters, Anne (eds.), The Historiography of International Law, vol. I of The Cambridge History of International Law (Cambridge: University Press, 2024).

Marzagalli, Silvia, Les consuls en Méditerranée, agents d’information, XVIe-XXe siècle (Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2015).

Mattéi, Jean-Mathieu, Histoire du droit de la guerre (1700–1819) (Aix-en-Provence: Presses universitaires d’Aix-Marseille 2006).

Morozzi, Ubaldo, Endangered Neutrality. Tuscany, England and the Plowman Case (1696–1704) (London: Springer, 2024).

Müller, Leos, Neutrality in World History (New York: Routledge 2019).

Id., ‘Sweden’s Early-Modern Neutrality: Neutral Vessels, Prize Cases and Diplomatic Actors in London in the Late Eighteenth Century’, Journal of Early Modern History, 23(5) (2019), 475–90.

Naguib Leerberg, Nora, The Legal Politics of Neutrality in the Age of Privateering. Martin Hübner’s Law of Neutrality and Prize (Oslo: Dreyersforlag, 2015).

Neff, Stephen C., The Rights and Duties of Neutrals: A General History (Manchester: University Press 2000).

Id., War and the Law of Nations. A General History (Cambridge: University Press 2005).

Id., Justice among Nations. A History of International Law (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014).

Nimwegen, Olaf Van, De republiek der Verenigde Nederlanden als grote mogendheid: buitenlandse politiek en oorlogvoering in de eerste helft van de achttiende eeuw en in het bijzonder tijdens de Oostenrijkse Successieoorlog (1740-1748) (Amsterdam: Bataafsche Leeuw, 2002).

Ormrod, David, and Gijs Rommelse (eds.), War, Trade and the State: Anglo-Dutch Conflict 1652–89 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press 2020).

Pares, Richard, Colonial Blockade and Neutral Rights, 1739–1763 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1938).

Rodger, Nicholas A. M., The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815 (London: Allen Lane, 2004).

Id., ‘The Law and Language of Private Naval Warfare’, The Mariner’s Mirror, 100(1) (2014), 5-16

Schnakenbourg, Éric (ed.), Neutres et neutralité dans l’espace atlantique durant le long XVIIIe siècle (1700–1820): une approche globale (Bécherel: Editions Les Perséides, 2015).

Id., Entre la guerre et la paix: Neutralité et relations internationales, XVIIe–XVIIIe Siècles (Rennes: Presses universitaires, 2013).

Id., ‘A Challenge to State Authority: Controlling French Privateers’ Violence towards Neutrals in the late 17th and 18th Century’, Forum Navale, 70 (2013), 16-39.

Id., ‘La géographie des diplomates: la mondialisation de la diplomatie à l’époque moderne’, Revue d’histoire moderne & contemporaine, 67(1) (2020), 139-62.

Id., ‘Neutral cover and globalised commerce in the wars of the 18th century’, Magallanica. Revista de Historia moderna, 5(10) (2019), 57-77.

Id., La quasi-guerre. Le conflit entre la France et les États-Unis. 1796-1800 (Paris: Tallandier, 2024).

Schopfer, Sidney, Le principe juridique de la neutralité et son évolution dans l’histoire du droit de la guerre (Lausanne: Libraire F. Rouge, 1894).

Stapelbroek, Koen (ed.), Trade and War: The Neutrality of Commerce in the Inter-State System (Helsinki: Collegium for Advanced Studies 2011).

Steiger, Heinhard, ‘Neutralität’, in Otto Brunner, Werner Conze and Reinhard Koselleck (eds.), Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe. Historisches Lexikon zur politisch-sozialen Sprache in Deutschland (Stuttgart: Steiner, 1987), vol. IV, 315-370.

Talini, Giulio, ‘Giovanni Maria Lampredi and the neutrality of small states in eighteenth-century Europe’, Intellectual History Review, 33(2) (2021), 227-48.

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Wani, Kentaro, Neutrality in International Law. From the Sixteenth Century to 1945 (London/New York: Routledge, 2017).