The Illustrious Hugo Grotius of the Law of Warre and Peace

The first English translation of De Jure Belli et Pacis Libre Tres (by Clement Barksdale). In this momentous work Grotius describes situations in which war is a valid tool of law enforcement and outlines principles for the use of force. Though based on Christian natural law, Grotius advances the novel argument that his system would still be valid if it lacked a divine basis. In this regard he points to the future by moving international law in a secular direction. This 1655 edition is the first English translation of De Jure Belli et Pacis Libre Tres (1625). Barksdale's edition "is perceived to be part of a larger movement in England aimed partly at setting out an ideological alternative to reformation proposals under discussion and to clarifying the relations between civil and ecclesiastical authority in England" (Butler, xii). "Barksdale became a veritable "Grotian" factory, the full measure of which has never been appreciated." --WILLIAM E. BUTLER, xii HUGO GROTIUS [1583-1645], a pre-eminent contributor to international legal doctrine, was an influential Dutch jurist, philosopher and theologian. Grotius is also known for Mare Liberum (1609), which argues against territorial sovereignty of the seas.