HUGO GROCIO: BIOGRAPHY, THOUGHTS, WORKS, CONTRIBUTIONS, QUOTES - BIOGRAPHIES - 2025

Hugo Grotius (April 1583 - August 1645) was a humanist, lawyer, jurist, diplomat and theologian of Dutch origin. He is recognized as the father of international law. His work promoted the study of this area as an independent discipline. Among his important contributions, his main work On the Law of War and Peace stands out.

Among other outstanding works, Grotius focused part of his life on literary writing. He made works such as the collection of poems called Sacra and a dramatic text called Christus Patiens. Much of his writing was made during the time of exile that he lived in France.

Portrait of Hugo Grotius

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His intellectual capacity allowed him to write from a very young age, from approximately 8 years old, at which time he made elegies in Latin. In addition, from the age of 11 he became a member of studies of the arts career at the University of Leiden. He appears as one of the most outstanding figures of the 16th and 17th centuries in the areas of philosophy, political theory and law.

He is originally from Delft, a city where his father held the position of "burgomaster", a term used to refer to the main authorities of the cities of Holland and other nearby countries.

At one point in his life he was put in jail for actively participating in the Calvinist conflicts in the region, however, he managed to escape in a chest of books.

Biography

Hugo Grotius was born in Delft, at the time of the Eighty Years' War. He was the first child of Jan de Groot and Alida van Overschie. His family was moderately prosperous and highly educated. His father was a man of studies and recognized within politics. From the beginning, Grotius' education was focused on humanism.

At the age of 11 he joined the Faculty of Arts at the University of Leiden. There he received studies with some prominent intellectuals in that region of Europe such as the humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger, who contributed notably to the development of Grotius as a philologist.

At the age of 15, in 1598, he accompanied one of the most prominent Dutch statesmen of the day, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, on a diplomatic trip to France. In this opportunity he manages to meet King Henry VI, who called it "the miracle of Holland", being impressed by the level of knowledge of the young man. This fact was narrated by Grotius himself in his work Pontifex Romanus (1598), which includes eight writings that narrate the political situation of the time.

In 1601 he was chosen as historiographer by the State of Holland, to document the Eighty Years' War, in which the United Provinces (currently the Netherlands) sought their independence from the Spanish crown.

Grotius's work spanned a period from 1559 to 1609. It was completed in 1612 and subsequently published in 1657 under the title Annals and History of the revolt in the Netherlands.

Political life

During his stay in France he obtained, or allegedly purchased, a law degree from the University of Orleans. Then he began the legal practice by linking up with important clients such as Johan van Oldenbarnevelt himself, the Dutch East India Company (VOC), and Prince Maurice of Nassau.

The impression he made on the prince led him to choose him in 1607 for the post of Attorney General of the Netherlands, Zealand and West Frisia. After this appointment, he closed his personal signature. His new position allowed him to obtain a comfortable salary to capitalize on. During this time he also married Maria van Reigersberg, with whom he had seven children.

In 1613 he began to occupy the position as Pensioner of Rotterdam, a position equivalent to that of mayor. In years to come, Grotius, who belonged to the Remonstrants, a group of Protestants, was involved in a movement against the Gomarists, defenders of Calvinism who were also led by Prince Maurice.

For this reason, in 1618, through military power, Mauricio gave the order to arrest or execute several remonstrant leaders and members. Among them Oldenbarnevelt was executed for treason and Grotius was sentenced to life in prison. It was then in 1621, encouraged by his wife, that Grotius escaped from jail inside a chest of books and arrived in France under the patronage of King Louis XVIII.

Time in exile

During the time of exile, Grotius wrote in 1625 his most famous text, On the Law of War and Peace. He also focused his work with respect to the laws in minimizing bloodshed during wars, moved both by the armed conflicts in his country, and by the nascent Thirty Years War, a conflict that generated more than 8 million fatalities.

The Thirty Years' War. War conflict that took place in Central Europe

Hendrik Willem Van Loon

One of his ideas was to create a general theory of law to regulate war between two independent territories. His main references were Roman law and the philosophy of the Stoics. Hence his conception of natural law, which influenced political development and law during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

For him, natural law could be applied to all people without distinction of religion or belief.

Last years

In the year 1634 he was given the position of ambassador of Sweden in France. Axel Oxenstierna, regent of the late King of Sweden, Gustav II Adolfo, was one of the enthusiasts at the idea of ​​Grotius filling this position. In this way, he obtained a diplomatic residence in this country until the year 1645.

After a last visit to Sweden, Grotius was the victim of the shipwreck of the boat in which he was traveling, however he managed to survive. Later, he returned to make a trip in poor condition and after falling ill, he died in August of the same year 1645. His remains were taken to his hometown in Delft, Holland.

The thought of Hugo Grotius

One of the main ideals of Grotius was the development of justice between different nations. He believed that disagreements between countries could be intervened by international arbitrators or mediators. Part of the motivation was to reduce bloodshed in wars.

He was in favor of the idea of ​​natural law, which was based on the legacy of many ancient Greek philosophers. He thought that the laws of a government could only be valid if they met certain standards of justice that went hand in hand with natural law.

The natural law defended by Grotius was the basis of the rights that had to do with the power that each human being can have over himself, that is, freedom. These elements also include individual property.

The concept of injustice, on the other hand, was then linked to what went against what was natural to the society that people have established.

For example, injustice can be observed, according to the thinking of natural law, in the fact of taking from a person what belongs to him for the personal benefit of another, since this action affects what is property of a person, something that it was given by natural law.

Works and contributions

Thanks to his broad political career, Grotius was a great influencer in the area of ​​international law. Always entrenched in his religious beliefs, he was able to express his ideas in favor of a law that could belong to humans naturally, regardless of their origins or beliefs.

Throughout his life, Grotius devoted himself to writing long works such as books and other shorter texts. He also made various writings of a literary nature. The most important collection on the work of Hugo Grotius is currently in the Library of the Peace Palace in The Hague. Some of them are:

- Adamus exu l (The Exile of Adam) 1601

- De republica emendanda (On the growth of the republic), written in 1601 and published in 1984

- De Indis (On India s) 1604-05

- Christus patiens (The Passion of Christ) theater 1608

- Annales et Historiae de rebus Belgicus (Annals and History of Belgium) 1612

- De empio summarum potestatum circa sacra (On the power of sovereigns in matters of religious affairs) 1614-17

- Inleydinge tot de Hollantsche rechtsgeleertheit (Introduction to Dutch jurisprudence), published in 1631

- Apologeticus (Apologetic) 1622

- De jure belli ac pacis (On the law of war and peace) 1625

- De origine gentium Americanarum dissertatio (Dissertation on the origin of the peoples of America) 1642

- Via ad pacem ecclesiasticam (The way to religious peace) 1642

Featured quotes

Among some memorable phrases by Hugo Grotius, the following can be highlighted:

- "Freedom is the power we have over ourselves."

- "Ignorance about certain subjects is the most wonderful part of wisdom."

- “A man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city; He cannot rule a city if he cannot rule a family; He cannot rule a family until he can rule himself; and he will not be able to govern himself while his passion is tied to reason "

- "I have spent my life laboriously doing nothing."

- "The State is a perfect body for the freedom of men, united to enjoy common rights and advantages."

References

1. Onuma Y (2020). Hugo Grotius. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Recovered from britannica.com
2. Hugo Grotius. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Recovered from en.wikipedia.org
3. (2005) Hugo Grotius, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Recovered from plato.stanford.edu
4. Hugo Grotius. Online Library of Liberty. Recovered from oll.libertyfund.org
5. Powell J (2000). Natural Law and Peace: A Biography of Hugo Grotius. Recovered from libertarianism.org