Theodorus Johannes "Dirk" Graswinckel (1 October 1600 – 12 October 1666) was a Dutch jurist, a significant writer on the
freedom of the seas. 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. He was also a poet and translator of
Thomas à Kempis.
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. 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
William Welwod (1578–1622) was a Scottish jurist who was the first to formulate the laws of the sea in an insular Germanic language.
He was a professor of civil law at the University of St Andrews until 1611, when he resigned his chair and m ...
.
''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 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 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 (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