Mare Liberum

Mare Liberum

The title page of the copy of Grotius' Mare Liberum in the Peace Palace Library
Author	Hugo Grotius
Original title	Mare Liberum, sive de jure quod Batavis competit ad Indicana commercia dissertatio
Translator	Richard Hakluyt
Country	Dutch Republic
Language	Latin
Subject	Law of the sea
Genre	Law
Publisher	Lodewijk Elzevir
Publication date	1609
Published in English	2004
OCLC	21552312

Mare Liberum (or The Freedom of the Seas) is a book in Latin on international law written by the Dutch jurist and philosopher Hugo Grotius, first published in 1609. In The Free Sea, Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade. The disputation was directed towards the Portuguese Mare clausum policy and their claim of monopoly on the East Indian Trade.