This map of Leiden, or Leyden in its older spelling, was made by Pieter Bast around 1600 and shows the town as Grotius would have known it as a student. Leiden had flourished in the 16th century, especially thanks to its cloth industry. The university was founded in 1575 as – it is often said - a reward for the town’s loyalty and courage during the Spanish siege of 1573-74. However, the reasons for the foundation were mostly pragmatic: the revolting provinces needed lawyers, doctors and vicars. Grotius, who first lived on the Rapenburg and then the Hooglandse Kerkgracht, would have walked the streets on this map every day, on his way to tutorials and visiting friends. Pieter Bast (Bastius) (c.1570-1605), Lugdunum Batavorum / Leyden in Hollant, map, 1600, [COLLBN 009-11-025].

This is where Grotius’ studies at Leiden University officially started, his matriculation on 3 August 1594. Grotius’ name - in Dutch, Hugo de Groot - is halfway down the page of the matriculation register. Grotius did not sign the register himself – his name was probably written down by Cornelis de Groot, Grotius’ uncle and the university’s Chancellor at the time. Grotius’ first year would have focused on the liberal arts, with courses ranging from rhetoric to history to physics. In the second year, students picked a major and Grotius seems to have chosen Law, which included taking courses on Roman law with Gerardus Tuningius. Volumen inscriptionum 1575-1618 (p. 73), manuscript [ASF 7]

But Grotius’ interest in law did not mean that he stopped learning about other subjects. He became part of a very exclusive group of students, handpicked by the French humanist Joseph Justus Scaliger. At this stage, Scaliger was generally seen as the most learned man in Europe and his appointment has been a major coup for the young university of Leiden. Scaliger was officially exempt from teaching but chose to teach philology to a couple of the university’s most talented students. Scaliger praised Grotius’ skills in Greek and Latin composition and predicted that one day he might make a fine Town Pensionary. Willem van Swanenburg (1580-1612), Portrait of J.J. Scaliger, print [BN 1236]

Even though Leiden University was the product of war – which was still ongoing while Grotius was at Leiden University - it clearly saw itself as a haven of peace. From 1581, the university stamped its books with the university seal, which depicts the ‘Leytsche Pallas’. This is its own interpretation of Minerva, the goddess of both war and wisdom. Verses from 1575 celebrating the foundation of Leiden University, mention that the Leytsche Pallas has put down her weapons and is now studying hard to obtain wisdom. Copper binding stamp with Minerva, matrix [BA1 E 2]

This print was made by the Leiden engraver Jacob de Gheijn, who knew Grotius well. Grotius is fifteen years old in this portrait and had just returned from France, where he had accompanied Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, the Land’s Advocate of Holland and one of the most powerful men in the Dutch Republic, on a diplomatic mission. It is generally assumed that this journey marked the beginning of Grotius’ friendship with Oldenbarnevelt, who would become his main mentor. The medallion that Grotius is holding up is a gift from the French king Henri IV, who allegedly called the boy ‘the Dutch miracle’. The text above the image - ‘ruit hora’ - means ‘times flies’ and was Grotius’ personal motto. Grotius certainly was a young man in a hurry - at this stage, he had already finished his studies at Leiden University. Jacob de Gheyn (1565-1629), Portrait of a young Hugo de Groot (Grotius), print, 1599 [PK-P-100.852]

Scaliger encouraged Grotius to read the work of Martianus Capella, a writer from late antiquity who argued that education should be offered in seven liberal arts: grammar, dialectic, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music. A year after Grotius left Leiden University, he published his translation of Capella’s book on education. The choice to translate this work and the preface Grotius wrote for this book are telling of his stance on liberal arts. In the preface, Grotius argues in favour of the liberal arts system, stating that only a broad, multi-disciplinary education can create good leaders. The book was published by the official university printer Christoffel Raphelengius, whose father Franciscus had taught Grotius Arabic at Leiden University. Martianus Capella, Hugo de Groot, Satyricon, in quo de nuptiis Philologiae & Mercurij libri duo, & De septem artibus liberalibus libri singulares, book, 1599 [1499 E 20]