Hugo Grotius, also known as Hugo de Groot or Huig de Groot, was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was transported to Gorinchem. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France.
Portrait of Hugo Grotius by Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1631
Grotius at age 16, by Jan Antonisz. van Ravesteyn, 1599
Page written in Grotius' hand from the manuscript of De Indis (circa 1604/05)
Portrait of Grotius at age 25 (Michiel Jansz. van Mierevelt, 1608)
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is a part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area and the Randstad.
A view of Delft with the Oude Kerk in the centre
The Gemeenlandshuis and the Old Church, Delft, Summer by Cornelis Springer, 1877
Egbert van der Poel: A View of Delft after the Explosion of 1654
The "new" gunpowder store "Kruithuis", built in 1660 on the water of the Delftse Schie for public safety, today in use as a clubhouse
