Hugo Grotius as Christian Thinker of His Time

In his article, the author deals with the personality of Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), important legal thinker of the early modern period, who is appreciated primarily as the creator of rationalist natural law theory. Less known about him is, however, that he was also a deeply believing Christian who devoted part of his life's work to religious issues and the relationship between the state and the Church. In this context, the first part of the text focuses on his life, which was significantly influenced by political and even religious conflicts in his native Netherlands resulting in life imprisonment sentence for Grotius. After his escape, he completed his most important life work, in which he deals with natural and international law in the context of his treatise on the law of war. At the very end of the article, the author focuses on religious writings by Grotius (as well as his views on the relationship between the state and the Church), in which he sought - even during the difficult conflict of the Thirty Years' War - faith tolerance and the restoration of Christian unity.