(image source: Brill)
The Carnegie Translation of Grotius: Influencing Public Opinion (William E. Butler)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010001
Abstract:
There have been several English translations of the Grotius classic On the Law of War and Peace (1625) inspired either by the intellectual impact of his ideas and/or by the perceived relevance of this work to crises in international relations at particular moments in human experience. Of the half dozen or so English versions of this work, none was more targeted to the public at large than the 1925 (1928) translation commissioned, financed, and produced by the Carnegie Foundation in New York and Washington D. C. under the direction of James Brown Scott, who retained Professor Francis Kelsey and his team for this undertaking. Based on archival research at Georgetown University, Columbia University, Cambridge University, Oxford University, and the University of Michigan with particular reference to the surviving records of George Finch (Secretary of the American Society of International Law and to James Brown Scott), of the Carnegie Foundation (on deposit at Columbia University), of Francis Kelsey (University of Michigan), of William Whewell (Trinity College, Cambridge University); and of John Morrice (The Bodleian Library, Oxford University), this article traces the origins of the Carnegie Grotius translation, the initial problems encountered in securing a translator, the principles of translation, the printing history (with particular attention to achieving the goal of mass distribution of the volumes), and the subsequent steps undertaken to ensure that the Grotius translation reached maximum readership. Although the Grotius translation was part of a series, exceptional measures were explored to ensure that this text – the ‘jewel’ of the series – received maximum attention. The principles of translation are addressed in the context of the virtues and disadvantages of literary as opposed to literal translation and the extent to which distortions may arise in an effort to adapt Grotius to the modern world, to make Grotius read as though he had composed his work in English rather than Latin. The printing history of the Carnegie translation includes not merely its initial appearance, but several reprintings undertaken by various publishers in the second half of the twentieth century.
Adventures in Governance: Grotius Societies and the International Order (Mark Somos & Matthew Cleary)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010004
Abstract:
This article reviews the twentieth-century history of four Grotius societies and places them in the joint contexts of legal studies on “governance”, whereby international law is shaped through soft power generated by substate or parastatal actors, and historical studies on “internationalism”, which trace the building blocks of the current international order back to popular grass-root movements and to elites’ intellectual opportunism. Based on archival work, the article shows that the British, Dutch, German, and Indian-Australian Grotius societies fit well into these joint contexts, and underline the entrepreneurial instrumentalisation of Grotius as a figure head for pacifists, lawyers, and prominent political and religious figures alike.
Ius Naturale, War as Punishment, and Grotius’s Justification of Dutch Colonial Imperialism (Jiangmei Liu)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010006
Abstract:
The resurgence of interest in war as punishment calls for a critical reexamination of Hugo Grotius’s theory of punitive war. Bridging intellectual history and colonial studies, this article engages two key debates: the philosophical foundations of Grotius’s conception of punishment as one just cause for war, and its entanglement with Dutch colonial violence. On the philosophical side, although existing scholarship has identified Grotius’s innovation in conceptualizing punishment as a subjective right within a secular natural law framework, important conceptual ambiguities persist. This article addresses three foundational questions: first, how Grotius’s distinctive conception of human nature as self-preservation and sociability enables a novel reconceptualization of punishment as a subjective right, given the growing doubts about its subjectivity; second, whether and to what extent this theory can be considered secular, given its undeniable theological roots; and third, how the shift from divine to human enforcement of natural law—through the right to punish—reshapes its status as universally obligatory law within a genealogical trajectory. On the historical-political side, through close textual and contextual analysis of De iure praedae commentarius and De iure belli ac pacis, the article further demonstrates how Grotius’s evolving account of punitive war may be closely linked to the justification of Dutch colonial expansion. It concludes by reflecting on Grotius’s complex legacy and the dangers posed by contemporary efforts in reviving the idea of war as punishment.
The Contested Claims of Convention Refugees: Grotius to the Rescue (Andreas Follesdal)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010008
Abstract:
The 1951 UN Refugee Convention protects a very small set of individuals, namely those who are persecuted by state authorities due to their race, religion or membership of a particular social group. Critics charge that this definition is unduly narrow. Arguments inspired by Grotius on the one hand help explain the special claims of such Convention refugees, and hence fill a gap in recent “state system legitimacy” defenses of the Refugee Convention. The Convention compensates for a normative “construction flaw” of the system of sovereign nation states. Other inhabitants of the Earth and their governments contribute to injury to Convention refugees by leaving them no state free place to go. States’ immunity also allows them to perpetrate such particularly wicked ab-uses of state power, in violation of the rule of law. On the other hand, Grotius’s arguments also help us justify a broader interpretation of which “particular social groups” to include among the Convention refugees, beyond those whose international human rights are violated.
Latius Patere Caritatis Quam Iuris Regulas (ibp iii.13.4.1) Is De Iure Belli ac Pacis a Law Book? (Alain Wijffels)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010010
Abstract:
De iure belli ac pacis pursued and renovated at the same time the medieval tradition of jurisprudence as a science of the art of good governance, specifically in the field of international governance. Grotius used the potential and devices of neo-classical studies in order to strengthen the jurist’s expertise in various forms of non-legal normativity, and to channel these into his own jurisprudential discourse. Virtues considered as duties were integrated in that discourse, but at different levels of Grotius’s multi-layered concept of law. Charity could thus be envisaged as a natural norm, both pre-Christian and universal, but also, according to enhanced standards, as a law of the Gospel, and hence as specifically Christian divine law.
Per gravissimas procellas in hanc felicitatem temporum: Livian and Tacitean Style Changes in Grotius’s De antiquitate reipublicae Batavicae (Seppe De Craemere)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010007
Abstract:
In ‘De antiquitate reipublicae Batavicae’ Hugo Grotius writes a history of the constitution of the province of Holland. He claims that it has always been an aristocratic republic, like it is in his own time. In this article, I argue that Grotius writes in a style reminiscent of Livy in the first chapters on the early history, then changes to a style more like that of Tacitus in the chapters on the Burgundian and Habsburg rulers, and back to a Livian style in the last chapter. The key to the meaning of these style changes is given in the first sentence of the book, a quotation from Tacitus’s Annals. This motto not only refers to the discussion in Tacitus on the difference between writing history in a republic and in a monarchy, it also alludes to Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’. In this way, Grotius stresses the need to limit the power of a ruler.
Christianity, Natural Law, and Magistracy: De Iure Belli and the Sermon on the Mount (Sarah Mortimer) [OPEN ACCESS]
DOI 10.1163/18760759-4601001
Abstract:
One of the central themes of De iure belli ac pacis (ibp) is the relationship between natural law and the law of Christ. Grotius’s position here was shaped in important ways by his project of Biblical annotation, especially his work on Matthew 5 (the Sermon on the Mount) where Jesus discusses punishment and resistance. Though published only in 1641, Grotius’s annotations circulated in the early 1620s as part of a wider debate on the legitimacy of magistracy, and – as Grotius was aware – they were used to defend very different positions. This article indicates the wider contours of that debate among the exiled Remonstrant community and argues that we should see ibp as, at least in part, a contribution to it. The legacy of that debate would shape later writing and the article ends with a ‘post-Grotian’ Remonstrant account of the relationship between natural law and Christianity.
Grotius on Natural Slavery (Gustaad van Nifterik) [OPEN ACCESS]
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010015
Abstract:
Grotius’s references to the Aristotelian idea of natural slavery seem incompatible with the idea that is at the heart of his legal argument about slavery, the idea that slavery is contra naturam. This article attempts to connect these seemingly incompatible ideas and examine them in relation to the three types of slavery that appear in Grotius’s work: voluntary slavery, penal slavery, and war slavery. It turns out that the two ideas do not really support each other on a theoretical level. In practice, however, this may well be the case.
The Coastal Seas in International Law: Contextualising Grotius’s De Iure Belli ac Pacis (Stefano Cattelan & Louis Sicking)
DOI 10.1163/18760759-46010013
Abstract:
This article reconsiders Hugo Grotius’ contribution to the law of the sea by shifting the focus from Mare liberum (1609) to the more nuanced arguments of De iure belli ac pacis (1625). While often portrayed as the chief advocate of the freedom of the seas, his later work reveals a more complex position: without abandoning the principle of free navigation on the high seas, he acknowledged that coastal states might, under specific conditions, assert exclusive rights over adjacent waters. Situating Grotius within a longue durée framework, the article traces the evolution of coastal jurisdiction from medieval practices in the Low Countries and beyond, through early modern diplomatic disputes over fishing rights and neutral waters. In particular, Grotius outlined the distinction between maritime dominium and imperium, hinting at the fact that exclusive rights at sea derived from either physical proximity to the coast or effective control. The discussion then extends to Cornelius van Bynkershoek’s De dominio maris dissertatio (1702), which developed the so-called cannon-shot rule as pragmatic compromise between maritime sovereignty and the freedom of the seas. By contextualising Grotius’ contribution, the article underscores the negotiated and dynamic character of the law of the sea. It also shows how historical debates on coastal jurisdiction continue to resonate today.
Book reviews
- The Cambridge History of International Law, Volume 1, edited by Randall Lesaffer and Anne Peters (David Kennedy)
- The Working Papers of Hugo Grotius. Transmission, Dispersal, and Loss, 1604–1864, written by Martine Julia van Ittersum (Marco Barducci)
- The Cambridge Companion to Pufendorf, edited by Knud Haakonssen and Ian Hunter (Heikki Haara)
Read more here.
