Freitas Versus Grotius (1959)

This chapter considers the work of Franciscus Seraphin de Freitas, a professor at the University of Valadolid, in particular his treatise entitled De Justo Imperio Lusitanorum Asiatico, and compares his influence to that of Hugo Grotius. Freitas and Grotius were participants in a case that arose from the seizure of a Portuguese vessel in the Straits of Malacca by a Dutch Admiral employed by the Dutch East India Company. Its capture was questioned by some Company members who opposed the adjudication of the prize by the Dutch Admiralty Court. Grotius defended the case and Freitas was chosen to state a case for the King of Spain who was also then the sovereign of Portugal. The chapter argues that Freitas deserves his due place among the writers of the seventeenth century who contributed to the clarification of problems relating to the legal status of the sea and to European–Asian inter-state relations.