Grotius, maritime Intra-Asian trade and the Portuguese Estado da Índia: Problems, perspectives and insights from De iure praedae

Grotiana

Volumn 26, Issue 1, 2007, Pages 31-60

  Borschberg, Peter ^a  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE   (Singapore)

Author keywords

Asian trade; De iure praedae; Dutch East India Company; Estado da India; Hugo Grotius; Mare Liberum

Indexed keywords

EID: 62949111061     PISSN: 01673831     EISSN: 18760759     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/187607508X366463     Document Type: Article

References (83)

1. Hugo Grotius, Parallelon rerumpublicarum liber tertius: De moribus ingenioque populorum Atheniensium, Romanorum, Batavorum, ed. by Johan Meerman, 4 vols (Haarlem: Loosjes, 1801-03), see I.3.6, p. 101
2. Exactly who commissioned the work from Grotius remains uncertain. Based on Grotius's correspondence, some authors claim it was the VOC directors, while others opine that it was Oldenbarnevelt who earlier 'defended a similar case'. Concerning the latter position, see Jan den Tex, Oldenvarnevelt, 5 vols (Haarlem: Tjeenk Willink, 1960-1972), specifically IV, p. 172. Fruin wishes to see a link between the writing of De iure praedae and Grotius's earlier output as a legal counsel while the 'Sta. Catarina incident' was pending before the Admiralty Court
3. See 'Een onuitgegeven werk', in Fruin's Verspreide Geschriften, ed. by P. J. Blok, P. L. Muller and S. Muller Fzn? 11 vols (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1900-05), III, p. 391
4. Hugo Grotius, Annales et Historiae de Rebus Belgicis (Amsterdam: Blaeu, 1657)
5. published posthumously, completed around 1612, and De Antiquitate Reipublicae Batavicae (Leiden: Raphelengius, 1610)
6. For the modern critical edition of the text in English, see The Antiquity of the Batavian Republic, ann. by Petrus Scriverius, ed. and intr. by Jan H. Waszink, Bibliotheca Latinitatis Novae (Assen: Van Gorcum, 2000)
7. Borschberg, 'Grotius' Theory of Trans-Oceanic Trade Regulation: Revisiting Mare Liberum (1609)', Institute for International Law and Justice Working Paper, History and Theory of International Law Series, New York University Hauser School of Law, 14 (revised text of August 2006), esp. p. 9
8. M. J. van Ittersum, Profit and Principle: Hugo Grotius, Natural Rights Theories and the Rise of Dutch Power in the East Indies, 1595-1615 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2006), esp. pp. 486ff
9. See the annotated auction catalogue of 1864, L. J. Noordhoff, Beschrijving van het zich in Nederland bevindende en nog onbeschreven gedeelte der papieren afkomstig van Huig de Groot welke in 1864 te 's-Gravenhage zijn geveilt (Groningen: Noordhoff, 1953)
10. also Fruin, 'Een onuitgegeven werk', p. 367, 'No. 72 werd Aldus beschreven: H. Grotii opus de jure Praedae in XVI capita divisum 280 pag. - Mscr. autographe inédit. Seulment une partie du chapitre XII a été publié en 1609, sous le titre Mare Liberum'
11. Hugo Grotius, De jure praedae commentarius, ed. by H.G. Hamaker (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1868) [= IPC]
12. See esp. The editorial comment by Philip Molhuysen in Briefwisseling van Hugo Grotius, ed. by P.C. Molhuysen and others, 17 vols. (The Hague, 1928-2001) [= BW], I.148, p. 129n6 '... zoals Grotius indertijd "de Jure Praedae" "de Rebus Indicanis" noemde', that is '... just as Grotius at the time called his "De Jure Praedae" "De Rebus Indicanis".'
13. The question of the 'proper title' for De iure praedae has been raised by Tuck, especially his Philosophy and Government, 1572-1651 (Cambridge: CUP, 1993)
14. and also in The Rights of War and Peace. Political Thought and the International Order from Grotius to Kant (Oxford: OUP, 1999). See also below, note 12
15. The most commonly used English translation is De Jure Praedae Commentarius. Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty. A Translation of the Original Manuscript of 1604, tr. by G. L. Williams and W. H. Zeydel (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1950)
16. This edition contains several errors that have been corrected in Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty, ed. and intr. by Martine van Ittersum (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2006) [= Commentary]. All subsequent references in this article will be to the 2006 edition
17. Concerning the dating of De iure praedae, see the authoritative Jacob ter Meulen and P. J. J. Diermanse, Bibliographie des écrits imprimés de Hugo Grotius (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1950), p. 304
18. Borschberg, Commentarius in Theses XI. An Early Treatise on Sovereignty, the Just War and the Legitimacy of the Dutch Revolt (Bern: Lang, 1994), pp. 16-17
19. and the article by Willem J. M. van Eysinga, 'Quelques observations au sujet du Mare Liberum et du De Iure Praedae de Grotius', Grotiana, 9 (1941-42), 72-75
20. The most commonly used English translation remains Mare Liberum, The Freedom of the Seas, or, The Right which Belongs to the Dutch to Take Part in the East Indian Trade, translated by Ralph van Deman Magoffin, ed. and intr. by James Brown Scott (New York: OUP, 1916)
21. See also The Free Sea, tr. by Richard Hakluyt; ed. and intr. by David Armitage (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004) which is far superior to the translation of Magoffin. The initial dating of De iure praedae was set by Robert Fruin as approximately October 1604-1605. The date of completion was revised back to about the autumn of 1606 as a result of supplementary evidence published in 1928. In a letter to Heidelberg-based councilllor Georg Michael Lingelsheim, Grotius announces that he has 'finished' his work on the Indies affairs, but casts doubt over whether to publish the whole book or only the parts pertaining to the law of prize and booty
22. Borschberg, 'Grotius' Theory of Trans-Oceanic Trade Regulation', pp. 8ff., 47ff
23. Fruin, 'Een onuitgegeven werk', pp. 443-445
24. 'An unpublished work of Hugo Grotius. Translated from an essay in Dutch (1868),' contained in Bibliotheca Visseriana, 5, Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1925, pp. 3ff
25. In the present article I will be citing from 'Een onuitgegeven werk', the Dutch-language version printed in Fruin's Verspreide Geschriften. See also Van Ittersum, Profit and Principle, p. 4
26. Peter Borschberg, 'The Seizure of the Sta. Catarina off Singapore: Dutch Freebooting, the Portuguese Empire and Intra-Asian Trade at the Dawn of the Seventeenth Century', European Encounters and Clashes in the South China Sea, ed. by Rui Manuel Loureiro (Macao: Instituto Cultural de Macau, 2004
27. Special Issue of Revista de Cultura / Review of Culture, International Edition, 11 (2004)), 11-25. This article is available on-line from the Instituto Cultural de Macao at the following website: www.icm.gov.mo
28. See also Borschberg, 'The Seizure of the Sta. Catarina Revisited: The Portuguese Empire in Asia, VOC Politics and the Origins of the Dutch-Johor Alliance (c.1602-1616)', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 33 (2002), 31-62
29. Martine van Ittersum, 'Hugo Grotius in Context: Van Heemskerk's Capture of the Santa Catarina and its Justification in De Jure Praedae (1604-1606)', Asian Journal of Social Science, 31 (2003), 511-548
30. The claim is found both in De iure praedae as well as in the Annales et historiae. See also Henk Nellen, Hugo de Groot. Een leven in strijd om de vrede, 1583-1648, (Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Balans, 2007), p. 82
31. Borschberg, 'Hugo Grotius, East India Trade and the King of Johor', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 30 (1999), 226
32. Charles Ralph Boxer, Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550-1770. Fact and Fancy in the History of Macao (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1948), p. 50
33. Dirk van der Cruysse, Louis XIV et le Siam (Paris: Fayard, 1991), pp. 57-60
34. See for example Richard Tuck in The Cambridge History of Political Thought 1450-1700, ed. by J. H. Burns and M. A. Goldie (Cambridge: CUP, 1991), p. 504
35. Ittersum, Profit and Principle, pp. 113f., 118-119, pp. 167ff
36. Alexandrowicz, Introduction, p. 65
37. See also Borschberg, 'Grotius' Theory of Trans-Oceanic Trade Regulation', p. 5
38. Commentary, p. xv
39. Arendt ten Grootenhuys served on the board of directors of the 'Old East India Company' (Oude O. I. C.) together with Pieter Plancius. See: Jan Parmentier, Karel Davids and John Everaert, Peper, Plancius en Porselein. De reis van het schip Swarte Leeuw naar Atjeh en Bantam (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 2003), p. 80, note 9
40. Published in the Bijdragen en Mededelingen van het Historisch Genootschap, 79 (1965), 415-540
41. Borschberg, The Santa Catarina Incident of 1603, p. 14
42. Parmentier, Davids and Everaert, Peper, Plancius en Porselein, pp. 58-59
43. Coolhaas, Een bron, pp. 528-529
44. Borschberg, Grotius, East India Trade, p. 231
45. For a comprehensive account of Plancius' life and works, see J. Keuning, Petrus Plancius: theoloog en geograaf 1552-1622 (Amsterdam: Van Kampen, 1946)
46. The list of books confiscated from Grotius's library in 1618 can be found in Philip C. Molhuysen, 'De bibliotheek van Hugo de Groot in 1618', Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen n.r. 6 (1943), 45-63
47. For the modern critical text version, see Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, Itinerario. Voyage ofte Schipvaert van Jan Huygen van Linschoten naer Oost ofte Portugaels Indien, 1579-1592, and Reys-geschrift vande navigatiënder Portugaloysers, ed. by Hans Kern, (vols 1-3) and J. C. M. Warnsinck (vols 4-5) (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1939)
48. It appears under the heading 'Sommario di Tutti li Regni, Città, e Popoli Orientali', in Ramusio's Viaggi, vol. 1 (Venice, 1550), fols. 349-63
49. Concerning Ramusio's addition of the Suma Oriental to his Viaggi, see especially Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa: Rui Manuel Loureiro, O Manuscrito de Lisboa da "Soma Horiemtall" de Tome Pires (unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Lisbon, 1994), p. 31
50. See also his 'O Sudeste Asiático na Suma Oriental de Tome Pires', Revista de Cultura 4 (2003), 107-123 (109-110), together with Ramusio's testimony of how difficult it was to obtain even an imperfect or corrupted copy of the manuscript while he was in Lisbon
51. Tomé Pires, The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires. An Account of the East from the Red Sea to Japan. Written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515, ed. by Armando Cortesão, 2 vols (London: Hakluyt Society, 1944). Facsimile editions of this important work are also available from AES Publishers in Delhi, 1990
52. For modern text-critical aspects of Pires' Suma, see Rui Manuel Loureiro, O Manuscrito de Lisboa da 'Suma Oriental' de Tomé Pires (Contribuição para uma Edição Crítica) (Macao: Instituto Português do Oriente, 1996), (especially the introduction)
53. 'A malograda embaixada de Tomé Pires a Pequim', Portugal e a China - Conferências no II Curso Livre de História das Relações entre Portugal e a China (Séculos XVI-XIX), ed. by Jorge M. dos Santos Alves (Lisbon: Fundação Oriente, 1999), pp. 39-55
54. 'O Sudeste Asiático na Suma Oriental de Tome Pires', pp. 107-123
55. On the primordial significance of Pires as a source on the nature of trade in the pre-colonial period and the early Luso-Asian trading regime, see: Marie-Antoinette Petronella Meilink-Roelofsz, Asian Trade and European Influence in the Indonesian Archipelago between 1500 and about 1630 (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1962), p. 1
56. Rui Manuel Loureiro, 'Sixteenth Century Iberian Accounts of Indonesia. A Preliminary Survey', Indonesia-Portugal Five Hundred Years of Historical Relationship, ed. by Ivo Carneiro de Sousa and R. Z. Leirissa (Lagos: CEPESA, 2001), p. 23
57. See Rui Manuel Loureiro, O Manuscrito de Lisboa, pp. 33-43
58. See the Seer cort verhael vande destructie van d'Indien vergeradert deurden Bischop Don Fray Bartholome de las Casas (s.l.: 1578)
59. See Den Spieghel Vande Spaensche Tyrannie beeldelijken afgemaelt, leest breederen in-hout door het schrijven van den E. Bisschop van Chiapa in nieu Spaengien, ghenaemt Don Fray Bartolome de las Casas, van S. Dominicus Orden, aen den grootmaechtigen Coninck van Spaengien Philips de tweede (Amsterdam: Cornelis Claesz, 1609)
60. For a comprehensive selection of his works, see Diego de Covarrubias y Leyva, Opera Omnia quae hactenus extant, 2 vols (Frankfurt/M.: Ex Officina Nicolai Bassaei, Impensis Sigismundi Feierabend, 1573)
61. Francisco de Vitoria, Relectiones Theologicae XII (Lyon: Iacobus Boyerius, 1557)
62. Hans Thieme, 'Natürliches Privatrecht Spätscholastik', Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Germanistische Abteilung, 70 (1953), 235-236, 262-266
63. Unlike the Spaniards, the Portuguese generally dropped their religious biases in order to maximize trading profits and preserve peace with neighboring Asian overlords. For a synopsis of the specifically Southeast Asian context see the very useful article by John Villiers, 'Doing Business with the Infidel: Merchants, Missionaries and Monarchs in Sixteenth Century Southeast Asia', in Maritime Asia. Profit Maximisation, Ethics and Trade Structure, c. 1300-1800, ed. by Karl A. Sprengard and R. Ptak (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1994)
64. Concerning Vitoria's ius communicandi in general, see Karl-Heinz Ziegler, 'Völkerrechtliche Aspekte der Eroberung Lateinamerikas', Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte, 23 (2001), pp. 9, 20ff
65. and more extensively in Isabel Trullo Pérez, Francisco de Vitoria: il diritto alla comunicazione e i confini della socialità umana (Turin: Giappichelli, 1997)
66. See also Borschberg, Grotius, East India Trade (1999), p. 239
67. For a short general background and overview of the papal donations in favour of Portugal in the fifteenth century, see also: John M. Hobson, The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation (Cambridge: CUP, 2004), pp. 135-137
68. For English translations of these key documents, see: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, ed. by Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson, 55 vols (Cleveland: Clark, 1903-1909)
69. See also Jan Somers, De VOC als volkenrechtelijke actor (Deventer: Gouda Quint, 2001), pp. 30-34 for a useful summary of Portugal's legal claims in the East Indies
70. Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands, I, pp. 136-138, for the bull of Leo X dated 3 November, 1504 which repeats and extends the Apostolic grants of the fifteenth century
71. Borschberg, 'Grotius' Theory of Trans-Oceanic Trade Regulation', p. 27. The question may legitimately arise as to whether the Roman Inquisitor Sylvester Mazzolini de Prierio, whose Summa Sylvestrinae is cited in De iure praedae, should also be included among the 'Dominicans' generally speaking. A closer scrutiny of the dictionary-like Summa and of Grotius's references thereunto shows that he only looked up select key terms and expressions important to the argument of De iure praedae
72. E. N. van Kleffens, 'Over zes briefen uit het bezit van Hugo de Groot', Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, afd. letterkunde, n.r., 23 (1960), 447-491
73. See generally Borschberg, 'Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch Plans to Construct a Fort in the Straits of Singapore, ca. 1584-1625', Archipel, 65 (2003), 55-88
74. 'Remapping the Straits of Singapore. New Insights from Old Sources?' in Iberians in the Singapore-Melaka Area and Adjacent Regions (16th to 18th Century) (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; Lisbon: Fundação Oriente, 2004), pp. 93-130
75. See Borschberg, 'The Seizure of the Santo António at Patani. VOC Freebooting, the Estado da India and Peninsular Politics, 1602-1609', Journal of the Siam Society, 90 (2002), 59-72
76. See also Borschberg, 'Luso-Johor-Dutch Relations in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, ca. 1620-1623', in Rivalry and Conflict, European Traders and Asian Trading Networks, 16th and 17th century, ed. by Ernst van Veen and Leonard Blussé (Leiden: Centre for Non-Western Studies (CNWS), 2005
77. See P. J. A. N. van Rietbergen, De eerste Landvoogd Pieter Both (1568-1615). Governeur-Generaal van Nederlandsch Indië (1609-1614), 2 vols (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1987), I, pp. 134 note 3; II, pp. 196-211. There are two pieces of admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge addressed to Grotius. The first is dated 12 November, 1608, the second dated 16 January 1609
78. Emmanuel van Meteren, Memoriën der Belgische Ofte Nederlantsche Historie van onsen tijden (Delft: Jacob Cornelisz Veenecool, 1599)
79. Printed Source containing the autograph underlinings, marginalia, and comments by Hugo Grotius, Lund: University Library, Bibl. Grotiana 13. See also: Folke Dovring, 'Une partie de l'héritage littéraire de Grotius retrouvée en Suède', Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akademie van Wetenschappen, afd. letterkunde, n.r., 12 (1949), 237-250
80. Concerning the history of this first edition of van Meteren and the controversy that erupted over it, together with the notes found in Grotius's copy preserved at the Unviersity of Lund, see Cornelia M. Ridderikhoff, 'Een aristocratische geschiedenis van de Opstand: Grotius' Annales et Historiae de rebus Belgicis', De zeventiende eeuw, 10 (1994), pp. 278-279
81. One of the most authoritative accounts of how the Estado da India worked can be found in the many treaties signed between the Estado da India and Asian princes as well as in the exposé of António Vasconcelos de Saldanha, Iustum Imperium. Dos tratados como fundamento do império dos Portugueses no Oriente (Macao: Instituto Português do Oriente and Fundação Oriente, 1997)
82. For the collection of Luso-Asian treaties, see Julio Firminio Judice Biker: Collecção de tratados e concertos de pazes que o Estado da Índia Portugeza fez com os reis e senhores com quem teve relações nas partes da Ásia e Africa Oriente, desde o princípio da conquista até ao fin do século XVIII, 10 vols (Lisbon: Imprensa Nacional, 1881-1887)
83. On this question, see also Van Ittersum, Profit and Principle, p. 27: 'It cannot be emphasized enough that the manuscript's dogmatica de jure Praedae were written last, not first. The evidence is admittedly circumstantial, but nonetheless convincing.'