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24-25 Grotiana (n.s.) 3 (2003-2004)

handle is hein.journals/grotia19 and id is 1 raw text is: Hugo Grotius' Correspondence with his
brother Willem de Groot,

* I. The correspondents
Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) and his brother Willem de Groot (1597-1662)
wrote to each other over a period of many years. There was a considerable
difference in age between the brothers. Hugo was fourteen years old and
already a third year law-student at the University of Leiden when Willem
was born. Besides the age gap, there was also a significant difference in rep-
utation. Hugo was a prominent scholar who became renowned for his Neo-
Latin poetry as well as his juridical studies and exegetical works, particularly
after 1621. In contrast, Willem was and remained a minor scholar.2 He dab-
bled in the same disciplines as Hugo, and even wrote a couple of juridical
studies, but he could never match his elder brother's status.
Willem matriculated in the Faculty of Arts at Leiden University on the
ioth of August I61 I, when he was fifteen. A few years later, presumably in
September 1614, he began to study law. In the summer of 1616, he returned
home to Delft, his native town, to continue his legal studies.3 On the 29th of
November 1616 he defended a 'disputatio pro gradu' in Leiden and five
i This is an extended version of a contribution published in: Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Can-
tabrigiensis. Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies (Cambridge,
30July -5 August 2000), ed. Rh. Schnur, Tempe (Arizona) 2003, pp. 385-393. I would like to
express my gratitude to Steven Surdl and Gerard Huijing for critically reading my text.
2 M. Ahsmann, 'Willem de Groot (1597-1662) en zijn studie te Leiden in het licht van
brieven van zijn broer Hugo', in: TijdschriftvoorRechtsgeschiedenis 50 (1982), pp. 371-401; R.
Huybrecht, 'Willem de Groot', in: Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland, ed. J. Charit6, II,
Amsterdam 1985 [Rijks Geschiedkundige Publicati~n], pp. 198-i99; H.J.M. Nellen, 'Hoe
Willem de Groot (1597- 1662) een carri~re in Delft misliep. Dagboeknotities van een pensio-
naris in spe', in: Lias 25 (1998), pp. 23 1-256.
3 MS. The Hague, Nationaal Archief, previously Algemeen Rijksarchief(ARA), Eerste afd.,
Collection Hugo de Groot, Aanw. 1911 XXIII, no. 32, Willem de Groot to Arnoldus Vinnius,
Delft, 13 June 1616: 'Ego absoluto nostro collegio iam plane Leida discessi, Delphis per ali-
quod tempus et Rotterodami apud fratrem moraturus donec occasio in Gallias abeundi (cont)
GROTIANA (New Series) vol. 24/25 (2003/2004) 3-24
VAN GORCUM - p.o. box 43 - 4900 AA ASSEN, THE NETHERLANDS

HJ Al.Nele

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