Talk:Hugo Grotius/Archive 1

Latest comment: 8 years ago by MaxEnt in topic Bad sentence
Archive 1

"Weathered"

"He washed up on the shore of Rostock, ill and weathered." What does this mean? Exhausted?

--JamesWim 11:26, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

I was going for something like "weakened by exposure to poor conditions," but I agree that's somewhat obscure. Perhaps something like "weather-beaten" is better. I'll be bold and opt for the latter term. Other ideas? Sarvodaya 19:03, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

King Gustavus Adophus

Can anyone else confirm the assertion that I've found, that King Gustavus Adolphus kept a copy of 'The Rights of War and Peace' in his saddle bag during his campaigns in the 30 years war? --Showa58taro (talk) 01:32, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Last words

Heu vitam perdidi operose nihil agendo! = Oh, I wasted my life laboriously doing nothing. Note 119 in http://www.lonang.com/exlibris/misc/1699-dgn.htm — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.54.84.76 (talkcontribs) 11:06, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

Defensio capitis quinti Maris Liberi oppugnati a Gulielmo Welwodo

The translation provided is not possible. The title, as it stands, has to mean "Defence of Chapter Five of the Mare liberum, attacked by William Welwod" Pamour (talk) 11:45, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

England or John Selden?

England... claimed "That the Dominion of the British Sea, or That Which Incompasseth the Isle of Great Britain, is, and Ever Hath Been, a Part or Appendant of the Empire of that Island"

The citation points to "Mare Clausum" by John Selden. If so, is the quoted phrase an official statement of England or the person opinion of John Selden?

Top.Squark (talk) 12:33, 22 May 2010 (UTC)

Latin names

Why is it that everyone (or most of the figures) named in this article have Latin-esque names? Was this a Dutch trend in the 17th C or is it just the style of the article?130.159.17.137 (talk) 11:00, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Influences

A ref listed some of the influences on his church government thought - didn't seem enough to warrant mention in the article, but thought I would place them here:Jo. Brenz (Brentius), Althusius, Arnisaeus, Keckermann, Musculus, Bucer, Paraeus, Rudolf Gwalther, Hamelmann, Polanus, Melanchthon. Wowaconia (talk) 02:04, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

Chinese?

On The Truth of the Christian Religion: "Hugely popular, the book was translated from Latin into English, Arabic, Persian and Chinese by Edward Pococke". Pococke did not know chinese. How is it possible he translate this book into it? --147.162.48.13 (talk) 13:31, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Lead

The lead here is far too long (and frankly rather boring). Wikipedia is not a legal textbook. See WP:LEAD. If it is not significantly shortened in a week or so I will return and do it myself. There is absolutely no need to mention the American Association of Whatevers in the lead for example. Johnbod (talk) 15:19, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Agree it is too long. Disagree with lengthening it further by adding details which are biographic but not suitable for a lede such as: "A teenage intellectual prodigy, for his involvement in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic he was imprisoned and then escaped hidden appropriately in a chest of books. He wrote most of his major works in exile in France." This with a buttressing citation would be useful in the "early life" section just below the lede. But it is not lede material. Would suggest in a constructive way that Johnbod who has so helpfully cited WP:LEAD might like to glance again at what it says.ElijahBosley (talk ☞) 16:08, 16 April 2015 (UTC)
I suggest you read it again - just the first bit would do. To suggest that it is trivial that the leading Dutch intellectual of the Golden Age had to spend the last half of his life in exile is just mind-boggling, and shows no awareness of what encyclopedic coverage looks like. Just cut/move a few hundred words (or more) of the legal stuff. The lead MUST summarize the whole article - it is not the place for an essay on the subject's significance. Johnbod (talk) 16:13, 16 April 2015 (UTC)

Mare liberum

In itself, mare liberum just means [the] free sea, no more, no less. The translation given is - probably - a legal embellishment. Sorte Slyngel (talk) 21:02, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Bad sentence

On grammatical grounds, I dislike the following sentence intensely:

A teenage intellectual prodigy, for his involvement in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic, he was imprisoned and then escaped hidden appropriately in a chest of books.

Is it trying to say the following?:

He was imprisoned for his involvement [as a teenage intellectual prodigy] in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic, and then escaped hidden appropriately in a chest of books.

The first version is perhaps smoother, but also glib and evasive. Can someone come up with a happy medium? (one also being truthful, which I can't say for certain about my proposed rewrite) Just the word "appropriately" in the original is quasi-grammatical (it doesn't modify the local head "hidden", but harkens all the way back to "intellectual prodigy"). The cute sentiment expressed is hardly worth so many semantic pimples. — MaxEnt 05:55, 18 April 2016 (UTC)