Mare Liberum, Hugo Grotius.

Text edition by Robert Feenstra, with an introduction by Jeroen Vervliet, the director of the Peace Palace Library.

Language: English

In Mare Liberum, or ‘The free sea’, Hugo Grotius argues that the sea is international territory, and every country has the right to use it for seafaring trade. This treatise, published in 1609, soon became very influential and is still seen as one of the founding texts of international law. The quadricentenary of Mare Liberum in 2009 provided the opportunity to publish a revised edition of the text along with a new English translation. The text is preceded by introductions on the textual history, historical context, and legal argument used in Mare Liberum.