Mare Liberum

E49976

Mare Liberum is a seminal 1609 treatise by Hugo Grotius that argues for the principle of freedom of the seas in international law.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf book
treatise
work of international law
work of political philosophy
author Hugo Grotius
centralClaim all nations are free to navigate the seas
all nations are free to trade by sea
the sea cannot be appropriated by any one nation
chapterOf De Jure Praedae
commissionedBy Dutch East India Company
countryOfOrigin Dutch Republic
fieldOfWork international maritime law
political theory
genre legal treatise
political treatise
hasAuthorNationality Dutch
hasImpactOn United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
customary international law
historicalContext Age of Discovery
Dutch–Portuguese conflict over Asian trade
early modern European colonial expansion
influenced doctrine of freedom of the seas
law of the sea conventions
modern international law
influencedBy natural law theory
scholastic philosophy
keyConcept freedom of commerce
freedom of navigation
res communis
legalArgumentBasis common use of the seas
natural law
mainSubject freedom of the seas
international law
law of the sea
maritime trade
navigation rights
notableFor challenging Iberian maritime monopolies
formulating the doctrine of freedom of the seas
opposes exclusive maritime dominion by a single state
mare clausum
originalLanguage Latin
originalTitle Mare Liberum
partOf De Jure Praedae
publicationDate 1609
purpose to challenge Portuguese and Spanish claims to maritime monopoly
to justify Dutch access to Asian trade routes
titleLanguage Latin
translatedTitle The Free Sea


Please wait…