Mare Liberum

Book excerpt: "Mare Liberum" is a book (originally written in Latin) on international law written by the Dutch jurist and philosopher Hugo Grotius. In Mare Liberum, Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade. The disputation was directed towards the Portuguese Mare Clausum policy and their claim of monopoly on the East Indian Trade. Grotius wrote the treatise while counsel to the Dutch East India Company over the seizure of the Portuguese carrack "Santa Catarina".Hugo Grotius (10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law. He was also a philosopher, theologian, Christian apologist, playwright, and poet.