Hugo Grotius: Father of International Law Huig de Groot was born in Holland in 1583. He graduated from the University of Leiden at fourteen years of age and received the degree of Doctor of Law from the University of Orleans two years later. In 1609 he published his first work on international law, a treatise … Read more
Secularization of the Just War Tradition Francisco de Vitoria Vitoria studied philosophy at the College Saint-Jacques in Paris where he edited a commentary on the Secunda of Aquinas’s Summa Theological, written by one of his teachers. After receiving his doctorate Vitoria returned to his native Spain and won the “Chair of Prime,” the most important … Read more
Secularization of the Just War Tradition The process whereby Roman and Christian ideas concerning Just War evolved into international law is complex and spans many centuries. Theologians, canonists, and jurists, many of them now obscure, all contributed to the transition. In this chapter we will highlight some of the key mileposts in this process by … Read more
Stain Augustine and the Just War Tradition Still, people seek peace to the extent possible, and there to organize themselves into states and pass laws, and maintain vigilance, and even fights wars, all in an effort to deter or restrain the inevitable effects of human cupalites. Without states, there would be Hobbesian chaos. Hence Christ’s … Read more
Stain Augustine and the Just War Tradition Saint Augustine is widely recognized as the father of modern Just War theory. In this chapter we will summarize his principles of bellum justum and also the arguments he offers to support these principles. Augustine was a philosopher before his conversion, and many of the ideas he … Read more
Christianity and the Just War Tradition In the first few centuries following Christ’s Crucifixion, up until the time of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, many Christians refused military service. Some scholars have speculated that they did so primarily because of the requirement for idolatry rather than on pacifist grounds. The Roman military traditionally required that all … Read more
Just War in Antiquity The policy of recognizing prescriptions concerning the just conduct of war is not a product of “Christian charity” or even Western civilization, but is found in some form across all cultures for which we have detailed historical records. Fifth century B.C. China recognized rules that stipulated that no war should be … Read more