Grotius’ death in 1645 certainly did not pass unnoticed and much poetry was written to celebrate his life. The Dutch poet and Remonstrant Jacob Westerbaen wrote this elegy to celebrate Grotius’ life and works. He presented Grotius as a man of great virtue; “the greatest of scholars, whose mind had understood all things”. Grotius was buried in the New Church in Delft, near the grave of his enemy Stadtholder Maurice, on 3 October 1645. The monument inside the church and the statue outside, both of which would be much erected later, emphasize Grotius’ legacy as a legal scholar and one of the greatest intellectuals of his age. However, he must also be remembered as an advocate for a tolerant society, in which different groups can co-exist in freedom and peace.
Jacob Westerbaen, Graf-gedichten van […] Hugo de Groot, book, 1645 [THYSPF 4831]