Dhondt on the Aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession and Commercial Policy

Frederik Dhondt, Research Group (CORE), Research Foundation Flanders, Department of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business law, Legal History Institute, has published 'Arrestez Et Pillez Contre Toute Sorte De Droit': Commercial Treaties, Neutrality and the Aftershocks of the Spanish Succession as CORE Working Paper Series 2015-II (Vrije Universiteit Bussel). Here is the abstract.

The Peace of Utrecht (11 April 1713) ended a century of bloodshed on the continent. Inter alia by setting new rules for trade with the Spanish Indies and redesigning the balance of Italy. Yet, five years later, a new conflict broke out. France and Britain united with the Emperor against Spain. No particular convention was reached regarding commercial matters for the duration of the conflict. The present paper analyses the complex interplay between trade policy, privateering, warfare, neutrality, corruption, consular and local jurisdiction and diplomatic intercession, based on individual cases contained in the French Maritime records (Archives Nationales, Marine, series B1), as well as Franco-British diplomatic correspondence (Archives Diplomatiques, National Archives). Its main purpose is to help understanding the disconnect between, on the one hand, cordial Franco-British relations regarding “high policy” and, on the other hand, unfettered commercial rivalry.

Download the working paper from SSRN.

Legal Theorists On the Spanish Succession

Frederik Dhondt, Research Foundation Flanders, Department of Interdisciplinary Study of Law, Private Law and Business Law, Legal History Institute, is publishing History in Legal Doctrine. Vattel and Réal De Curban on the Spanish Succession in Rechtsgeschiedenis op nieuwe wegen: Legal History, moving in new directions (D. De ruysscher, B. Deseure, K. Capelle, M. Colette, & G. Van Assche, eds.; Antwerp: Maklu, 2015). Here is the abstract.

The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713/1714) counts as a continent- and even world-spanning confrontation among the main European powers. Its long shadow hung over diplomacy for almost three decades until a new world conflagration arose in 1740. The war remains a subject of controversy in diplomatic history, and has been of paramount importance to contemporary eighteenth-century journalists, historians, philosophers and legal scholars. "La dernière guerre" counted as an anti-norm, a situation never to return to, and a permanent deterrent. Yet, as time progressed another conflicts dominated the world stage, the conflict became an object of legal writing, as it seemingly lost much of its contentiousness. Emer de Vattel (1717-1767), author of the much-acclaimed Droit des gens (Leiden: 1757) and abbot Réal de Curban (1682-1752), whose Science du Gouvernement (Paris: les libraires associés, 1764) covers the law of nations as well, took the war as an object to illustrate diverse themata of the law of nations: treaties, ius ad bellum, embassies or alliances. The aim of the present paper is to demonstrate how Vattel, writing from a specific Swiss and German perspective, took a different strand of argumentation from that of Réal de Curban, who repeated at several instances the French crown's point of view. Although both authors' use of historical material evokes strict objectivity, they continued the war in their selective use of exempla. Whereas Réal has fallen into relative oblivion, Vattel counts among the classics of International Law. Consequently, the image of the war in doctrine tends to be one-sided. Incoherences and contradictions in Vattel's work are not uncommon. The War of the Spanish Succession can serve as an example of the gulf between doctrinal tradition and practical legal argumentation, or of the instrumental use of history in two distinct elaborations of a shared natural law-framework. Classifying Vattel as a "Tier I"-author and Réal as inferior is not a neutral operation.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.