=Hugo Grotius= (b. Delft, Apr. 10, 1583; d. Rostock, Aug. 28, 1645). Scholar; jurist; statesman; good family; precocious; prodigious learning in many branches; at fifteen with special embassy to France; at twenty historiographer to the United Provinces; at twenty-five advocate-general of the fisc of Holland and Zealand; married next year Mary van Riegesberg, a worthy help-meet; at thirty pensionary of city of Rotterdam; same year one of deputation to England to settle maritime disputes. Grotius took active part in religious disputes, on which account in 1619 he was sentenced to imprisonment for life and confiscation of his property. Two years later, through cleverness of his wife, he escaped to Paris. Here days of adversity and study. In 1625 "De Jure Belli ac Pacis" published; brought no profit but immediate and lasting fame. Disappointed in his hope to return to permanent residence in Holland; is appointed Swedish ambassador at French Court, 1635-1645. Declines further service in 1645. Retires, honored in all lands; shipwrecked; died at Rostock, Aug. 28, 1645.[40]
Grotius's "De Jure Belli ac Pacis" (1625). An attempt to bring into a systematic treatment those principles which have since become known as international law. Touches upon many other subjects; rich in quotations; broad philosophical basis gives it permanent value. Conditions in Europe at time of appearance of work gave it immediate and powerful influence in determining course of modern political history. Upon the foundation laid by Grotius the modern science has been largely built. Of course, many of the principles expounded by Grotius are no longer applicable, and many new principles, as the doctrine of neutrality, have gained recognition.
=Zouch= (=1590-1660=), the successor of Gentilis, as professor of Roman Law at Oxford, while a follower of Grotius in matter and method, deserves mention for his distinction between _jus gentium_ and that law to which he gives the name _jus inter gentes_, in the French translation called _Droit entre les Gens_, later _Droit International_, and in the English, Law of Nations, and since the latter part of the eighteenth century when Bentham led the way, International Law.