Unimpeded Sailing (A Critical Edition of Johann Gröning’s <i>Navigatio Libera</i> (Extended 1698 Edition)) ||

In Navigatio libera Johann Gröning set out the rights of neutral nations to trade during the wars of the great powers during the Nine Years War (1688-1697). His text thereafter influenced neutral policy in the Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds. The original Latin text of Johann Gröning's Navigatio libera has never before been translated into any modern vernacular language. Gröning's intention was to set out the position of neutral nations (in this case the Danes and Swedes), and their right to pursue trade during the wars of the great maritime powers (particularly the English and the Dutch). It specifically sought to engage with and refute the work of Hugo Grotius while taking cognisance of the critique of Gröning's work by Samuel Pufendorf. The text serves as a bridge between 17th-century polemical discourse surrounding the 'free sea' versus 'enclosed sea' debate and later 18th-century legal literature on the rights of neutrals and the continuation of free trade in time of war The original Latin text of Johan Groening's Navigatio libera has never before been translated into any modern vernacular language. Its scope is to set out the position of neutral nations, their right to trade during the wars of the great powers and particularly to engage with and refute the work of Hugo Grotius. Groening's work was republished several times throughout the 17th -18th centuries and was used as the legal basis by which Sweden conducted trade with Britain, France and the Dutch Republic (and their spheres of influence) during the Nine Years War (1688-1697). The text thereafter reverberated across the North Sea and Baltic as well as immediately influencing neutral policy in the Mediterranean and Atlantic worlds thereafter