Research interests
Hugo Grotius, History of International Law, Natural Law in the Early Modern Period, Empire and Globalization, European Overseas Expansion 1500-2000, Materiality of Texts and Archaeology of Archives
 

Projects
Grotius' role as 'Global Information Master'
 

Selected bibliography concerning Natural law

• Books

Profit and Principle: Hugo Grotius, Natural Rights Theories and the Rise of Dutch Power in the East Indies, 1595-1615, Brill Intellectual History Series (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2006)

(ed.) Hugo Grotius, Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty, trans. Gwladys L. Williams, ed. Martine Julia van Ittersum, Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2006)
 

• Articles

‘Debating Natural Law in the Banda Islands: A Case Study in Anglo-Dutch Imperial Competition in the East Indies, 1609-1621’, History of European Ideas 42, issue 4 (2016), 459-501

'The Long Goodbye: Hugo Grotius and the Justification of Dutch Expansion Overseas (1604-1645)', History of European Ideas 36 (2010) pp. 386-411

‘The Wise Man is never merely a Private Citizen: The Roman Stoa in Hugo Grotius’ De Jure Praedae (1604-1608)’, History of European Ideas 36 (2010) pp. 1-18

‘Dating the Manuscript of De Jure Praedae (1604-1608): What Watermarks, Foliation and Quire Divisions Can Tell Us About Hugo Grotius’ Development as a Natural Rights and Natural Law Theorist’, History of European Ideas 35 (2009) pp. 125-193

‘Mare Liberum in the West Indies? Hugo Grotius and the Case of the Swimming Lion, a Dutch Pirate in the Caribbean at the Turn of the Seventeenth Century’, Itinerario 31/3 (2007) pp. 59-94

‘Mare Liberum versus The Propriety of the Seas? The Debate between Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) and William Welwood (1552-1624) and Its Impact on Anglo-Scotto-Dutch Fishery Disputes in the Second Decade of the Seventeenth Century’, Edinburgh Law Review X (May 2006) pp. 239-276

‘Hugo Grotius in Context: Van Heemskerck’s Capture of the Santa Catarina and Its Justification in De Jure Praedae (1604-1606)’, Asian Journal of Social Science 31 (2003) pp. 511-548

• Essay Chapter and Source Editions

‘Global constitutionalism in the early modern period: the role of empires, treaties and natural law’ in: Handbook on Global Constitutionalism, ed. Anthony F. Lang and Antje Wiener (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017) pp. 47-59.

‘Hugo Grotius (1583–1645): The Making of a Founding Father of International Law’ in: Handbook of the Theory of International Law, ed. Anne Orford and Florian Hoffmann (OUP, 2016) pp. 83-100.

‘The Working Methods of Hugo Grotius: Which Sources Did He Use and How Did He Use Them in His Early Writings on Natural Law Theory?’ in: Reassessing Legal Humanism and its Claims: Petere Fontes? ed.  Paul J. du Plessis and John W. Cairns, Edinburgh Studies in Law XV (Edinburgh University Press, 2016) pp. 154-193

“Kein Weiser is ein Privattmann.  Die Römische Stoa in Hugo Grotius’ De Jure Praedae (1604-1608)” in: Kosmopolitanismus: Zur Geschichte und Zukunft eines umstrittenen Ideals ed. Matthias Luzt-Bachmann, Andreas Niederberger and Philipp Schink (Weilerswist, Germany: Velbrück Wissenschaft, 2010) pp. 59-100

“Preparing Mare Liberum for the Press: Hugo Grotius’ Rewriting of Chapter 12 of De Jure Praedae in November-December 1608” in: Property, Piracy and Punishment: Hugo Grotius on War and Booty in De Jure Praedae –Concepts and Contexts ed. Hans W. Blom (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2009) pp. 246-280

Hugo Grotius, Commentary on the Law of Prize and Booty, trans. Gwladys L. Williams, ed. Martine Julia van Ittersum, Natural Law and Enlightenment Classics (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2006)