The Chest That Carried a Legal Mind

Hugo Grotius was a Dutch prodigy who entered university at eleven, stood before kings by fifteen, and by adulthood had become one of the most consequential legal minds in history. Hired to write a narrow defense of a piracy scandal at sea, he instead argued that the ocean belonged to no nation at all, a claim that outlived the dispute that produced it. Imprisoned for his role in a bitter religious and political conflict, he escaped Loevestein Castle hidden inside a chest meant for books, and went on to write the foundational work of international law from exile. Harmonia traces the arc from a stolen Portuguese ship to the Peace of Westphalia, and asks what it means to reach further than a task requires. Transcript available at: https://harmonia.email/podcast-episode/chest-carried-legal-mind Share and read comments: https://harmonia.email/podcast-comments?field_podcast_feed_value=harmonia_s_history&from_node=418