Hugo Grotius

Henk Nellen (1949) is staff member of the Huygens Institute (The Hague) and teaches Early Modern History of Ideas at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has co-edited the last five volumes of Hugo Grotius’ correspondence, bringing this almost century-long undertaking to completion in 2001.

• Preface ... xiiiList of Illustrations ... xviNotes on the Illustrations ... xx1 INTRODUCTION ... 1Hugo de Groot: A World-Famous Scholar ... 1A Biography ... 2Some Main Lines: A Troubled Triangular Relationship ... 7Terminology ... 132 CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH (1583-99) ... 14Ancestry ... 14Grotius’ Earliest Childhood ... 24Grotius as a Student ... 33The French Journey (1598) ... 443 ON THE WAY TO ADULTHOOD (1599-1607) ... 53Scholarly Activities, Relations with Johan van Oldenbarnevelt ... 53Leiden Friends: Heinsius, Meursius and Baudius ... 61Grotius and Simon Stevin ... 67‘De republica emendanda’ ... 71Advocate in The Hague; Relations with Johannes Wtenbogaert ... 73The Bankruptcy of Jan de Groot ... 82Family Life ... 884 ADVOCATE-FISCAL (1607-13) ... 91De iure praedae as a Step towards the Advocate-Fiscalship ... 91Grotius as Advocate-Fiscal ... 94Maria van Reigersberch ... 97Peace or Truce? ... 102Mare liberum and De antiquitate ... 106Administrative Duties ... 112Relationship with the Stadholder Maurice ... 116A Poem for Hendrik Delmanhorst ... 118Leiden Friends: Scaliger, Baudius and Heinsius ... 1205 A BUDDING POLITICIAN (1609-13) ... 124The Troubles of the Truce Years ... 124The Death of Jacobus Arminius ... 127Johannes Wtenbogaert ... 133Conradus Vorstius ... 136Meletius ... 137Leiden Friends: Petrus Bertius and Petrus Cunaeus ... 143Political Complications (1611–13) ... 147The English Journey (1613) ... 149Discussions with the King and Other Great Men at the English Court ... 155Return ... 1626 PENSIONARY OF ROTTERDAM (1613-16) ... 165The Pensionary’s Office as a Turning Point ... 165The Appointment ... 167Rotterdam ... 168Family Life ... 170Ordinum pietas ... 171The Aftermath ... 177Three Letters from 1614 ... 191Political Career ... 1997 AN INTELLECTUAL IN A TIME OF REVOLUTION (1616-18) ... 209Political and Scholarly Activities ... 209Adolphus Venator, A Hunter for the Truth ... 216Hubbub in The Hague ... 220Troublesome Missions: Oudewater and After ... 222De satisfactione ... 232De imperio circa sacra ... 239English Connections ... 244French Policy ... 249The Approach of the National Synod ... 251The Denouement ... 2558 TRIAL AND IMPRISONMENT (1618-21) ... 264The Road to Arrest ... 264Arrest and Imprisonment ... 268The Trial ... 272Loevestein ... 293A Brother’s Services ... 298The Escape ... 3029 EXILE (1621-25) ... 313Paris, A Refuge in a Turbulent World ... 313Family Life ... 315Grotius and the French Political Authorities ... 323Developments in French Calvinism ... 330Remonstrants in Exile ... 332Disquisitio an pelagiana sint ... 335Verantwoordingh ... 340Grotius and Charenton ... 353Introduction to the Learned World of Paris. The Cabinet Dupuy ... 355The ‘fratres tergemini’ ... 363De iure belli ac pacis ... 36710 EXILE (1625-31) ... 380The Change of Power in 1625 ... 380Financial Uncertainties ... 387Negotiations ... 392Maria and Nicolaes van Reigersberch as Grotius’ Advocates ... 398Exile in Practice. Grotius’ View of France ... 403Contacts with French Arminians ... 409A Troubled Relationship: Grotius and Daniel Heinsius ... 412A New Friendship: Grotius and Claude Saumaise ... 416An Old Friend: Johannes Wtenbogaert ... 418De veritate and other Scholarly Publications ... 422Plans for Return ... 43711 INTERMEZZO IN HOLLAND (1631-32) ... 443Unexpected Return ... 443Amsterdam’s Hospitality ... 45212 PASSING THROUGH HAMBURG: HESITATIONS AND UNCERTAINTIES (1632-34) ... 463Hamburg: A Harbour of Refuge ... 463Negotiations with Sweden ... 471The Journey to Paris ... 477Sophompaneas ... 47813 FRICTION BETWEEN OFFICE, SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION: THE FIRST YEARS OF THE PARIS EMBASSY (1635-40) ... 486Entree ... 486Family Life ... 488Grotius and John Selden ... 494Learned Contacts ... 499Philology: The Study of Antiquity in All Its Aspects ... 502Grotius, Heinsius and Saumaise ... 506The Question of Interest ... 514Grotius and the Church of Charenton ... 517Grotius and His Domestic Chaplain Brandan Daetri ... 524Grotius and Socinianism ... 529Nicolaes van Reigersberch in Debate with André Rivet ... 53614 TOWARDS A FINAL BREACH WITH HOLLAND (1635-40) ... 541The Diplomatic Task ... 541The General Political Situation ... 544Grotius’ Diplomatic Reporting ... 548Grotius’ Relations with French Political Leaders ... 551Grotius, William Laud and John Scudamore ... 556Grotius and Peter Abel Schmalz ... 559A Spoiled Relationship: Grotius and the Republic ... 563Willem de Groot, Aspirant Pensionary ... 571Reigersberch, Grotius and Petter Spiring Silvercrona ... 580Once Again: The Relationship with Holland ... 586Activities as a Publicist ... 58715 DIPLOMACY AND EXEGESIS: THE PARIS EMBASSY (1640-44) ... 592A New Address 592The Cinq-Mars Affair and the Contacts with the Cabinet Dupuy 598Grotius and the ‘Réunion des Eglises’ 602De Antichristo 608Printers in France and Holland 618Grotius’ Exegesis 629The Path to Rome 643Grotius’ Position in the Learned World: A Homeless Intellectual 65716 A DISAPPOINTED DIPLOMAT (1640-43) ... 661Politics and Protocol ... 661Hazards of the Embassy ... 669The Swedish-Danish War ... 675Controversy with Johan de Laet ... 683A Brittle Friendship: Grotius and Claude Saumaise ... 690A Long-drawn-out Controversy: Grotius and André Rivet ... 699Contacts with the Vossii and Wtenbogaert ... 710Final Verdict on the Paris Years ... 714Departure from Paris ... 716A Grass Widow ... 71817 SWEDISH JOURNEY AND DEATH (1645) ... 720Journey to the Republic ... 720Grotius in Sweden ... 722Departure from Sweden and Death at Rostock ... 72518 ABUSE AND HONOUR ... 737Posthumous Controversies ... 737Grotius’ Influence in Later Centuries ... 75019 EPILOGUE ... 759BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 765Manuscripts ... 765Printed Sources, Reference Works, Abbreviations ... 765Secondary Literature ... 776Index of Personal Names and Works Written by Grotius ... 807Illustration Section (colour)

AWARDSThe Dutch version of this biography, Hugo de Groot, een leven in strijd om de vrede (Amsterdam: 2007) was awarded two literary prizes: the ‘Litteraire Witte Prijs’ by Sociëteit de Witte (The Hague) in 2008 and the ‘Henriëtte de Beaufort Prijs’ by the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (Leiden) in 2010.‘As a comprehensive study of the extensive life records of one of the major figures of late humanist intellectual, political and religious culture, it sets a daunting benchmark. […] this book […] can already be ranked alongside the best studies of the seventeenth-century republic of letters, and selections from it would serve as an outstanding introduction to late humanism for advanced undergraduates or graduate students.’Nicholas Hardy (Trinity College), in: Journal of early modern history 20 (2016), pp 497-499.‘this book is the standard that any future studies of Grotius must consult’Keith D. Stanglin (Austin Graduate School of Theology), in: Church History and Religious Culture 96 (2016), pp. 208-209.‘Nellen gives us a comprehensive and detailed biography of this complex and important figure. Originally published in Dutch, this English translation makes Grotius’s ideas and writings accessible and explicable to a wider audience. In particular, Nellen superbly explains the substance of the religious disputes that absorbed Protestants across Europe in the seventeenth century and elucidates their political dimensions both in the Netherlands and internationally. […] Anyone researching Grotius, Grotian ideas, and the early history of the Netherlands will find this an immensely useful work. Readers in other fields, principally the history of seventeenth-century religious conflicts in Europe and early modern political theory, will also find this a valuable source of information.’Deborah Baumgold (University of Oregon), in: Renaissance Quarterly 69, No.1 (2016), pp. 315-316.