132 Law and Morality Abroad (to ca. ad 1550)With their landholdings confi ned to a few selected points, such as Goa, Ma-
lacca, and Macao, the principal focus was on trading, chiefl y the lucrative
spice trade. Th e Portuguese claimed a monopoly over this trade, as explicitly
provided for in the papal grants. In this connection, it may be noted that
King Manuel I of Portugal was offi cially described as “Lord of Navigation
and Commerce in Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia and India.” Nor were the Por-
tuguese content with mere grand- sounding titles. Th ey energetically en-
forced their monopoly claims and, in the pro cess, sought to claim possession
of the Indian Ocean itself, at least vis-à-vis w o u l d - b e E u r o p e a n r i v a l s. Th e
goal was to establish a “maritime” empire in the truest sense of that term.
Th ere was, however, considerable room for doubting the validity of the
Portuguese claims. In Roman law, for example, there was direct authority to
the eff ect that seas are not subject to own ership. Nevertheless, the Portu-
guese made a concerted attempt to exercise actual control over Indian
Ocean trading. Th ey established a network of strategic fortifi cations, bol-
stered by a naval presence, and proceeded to operate what later parlance
would refer to as a protection racket, on a literally oceanic scale. Trading
was allowed only by purchasers of certifi cates known as cartazes, which
were essentially safe- conduct permits— accompanied by a requirement that
the holder must call at Portuguese ports during the voyage in question.
Merchants having the temerity to trade without acquiring a cartaza risked
being captured or attacked.
Some were bold enough to take that risk. Dutch merchants especially be-
came increasingly active in Indian Ocean trading, especially aft er the incor-
poration of the Netherlands East Indies Company in 1602. Th e Portuguese
responded by capturing Dutch ships whenever possible and confi scating
their cargoes. Th e Dutch reacted in kind, with the result that an undeclared
naval war raged in the Indian Ocean. Th e Portuguese naturally insisted that
the Dutch, as interlopers, had no legal right to attack or capture Portuguese
vessels in the absence of a state of war between the two countries— whereas
their own activities in that direction constituted not war, but mere law en-
forcement (i.e., enforcement of the papally conferred trading monopoly).
Th e Dutch East India Company had a redoubtable legal champion on its
side, in the person of Hugh de Groot, better known in Latin rendition as
Hugo Grotius. From a prominent family in Delft , Grotius was something
of a child prodigy, whose pursuits included classical literature and histori-