Theodorus Johannes "Dirk" Graswinckel (1 October 1600 – 12 October 1666) was a Dutch jurist, a significant writer on the

freedom of the seas Freedom of the seas ( la, mare liberum, lit. "free sea") is a principle in the law of the sea. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It also disapproves of war fought in water. The freedom is to be breached only in a necessary inter ...

. He was a controversialist, who also rose to a high legal position (Fiscal of Holland) where he advised Descartes. He was a cousin and pupil of

Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...

. He was also a poet and translator of

Thomas à Kempis Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380 – 25 July 1471; german: Thomas von Kempen; nl, Thomas van Kempen) was a German-Dutch canon regular of the late medieval period and the author of ''The Imitation of Christ'', published anonymously in Latin in the N ...

Life

He was born in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, and studied at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

. He joined Grotius in Paris in 1624, and later defended him against Johannes a Felden (John De Felde). ''Libertas Veneta'' (1634) replied to the anonymous anti-Venetian pamphlet ''Squitinio della liberti veneta'' (1612). It is in effect also an answer to a work on maritime law by William Welwod. ''Maris liberi vindiciae'' attacked Burgus ( Pietro Battista Borgo) writing for Genoese pretensions in the

Ligurian Sea The Ligurian Sea ( it, Mar Ligure; french: Mer Ligurienne; lij, Mâ Ligure) is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera (Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient L ...

, but also took on

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...

on the British claim to

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...

. Selden's Mare Clausum had been published in an English translation in 1652, and he replied the following year with ''Ioannis Seldeni vindiciae secundum integritatem existimationis suae''. In fact Graswinckel had sent Selden a detailed critique in manuscript in 1635. In 1651 he published a work ''Placcaten, ordonnantien ende reglementen'' on the economics of regulation of the

grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

. This came down largely on the side of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

and the price mechanism.

Joseph Schumpeter Joseph Alois Schumpeter (; February 8, 1883 – January 8, 1950) was an Austrian-born political economist. He served briefly as Finance Minister of German-Austria in 1919. In 1932, he emigrated to the United States to become a professor at Ha ...

argued that this was the first clear-cut statement that speculators had a role in the stability of commodity markets.

John Barkley Rosser John Barkley Rosser Sr. (December 6, 1907 – September 5, 1989) was an American logician, a student of Alonzo Church, and known for his part in the Church–Rosser theorem, in lambda calculus. He also developed what is now called the " Rosser si ...

, ''From Catastrophe to Chaos: A General Theory of Economic Discontinuities'' (2000), p. 106. He died in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

Works

*''Libertas Veneta'' (1634) *''De Jure Majestatis'' (1642) *''Dissertatio de jure praecedentiae inter serenissimam Venetam Rempubl. & sereniss. Sabaudiae ducem'' (1644) *''Maris liberi vindiciae: adversus P. B. Burgum'' (1652) *''Stricturae ad censuram Joannis à Felden'' (1654) *''Nasporinge van het recht van de opperste macht toekomende de Edele Groot Mogende Heeren Staten van Holland en Westvriesland'' (1667)

References

Louis Mayeul Chaudon Louis-Mayeul Chaudon (20 May 1737, Valensole – 28 May 1817, Mézin), was a French Benedictine biographer. Life After studying in the colleges of Marseille and Avignon, Chaudon decided to become an ecclesiastic, and was admitted to the order o ...

(1810), ''Dictionnaire universel, historique, critique, et bibliographique'', p. 34 * Joseph Michaud, Louis Gabriel Michaud (1816), ''Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne''

Notes

External links

Latin epitaph at Leiden University''Biographical Lexicon''
at p. 29. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graswinckel, Dirk 1600 births 1666 deaths Dutch jurists People from Delft Leiden University alumni