August 28-30 The Black Horse

 From Fort Vuren we took the ferry back across the Waal and headed east to Gameren to our comfy tiny house Het Zwarte Paard (The Black Horse). When we arrived there were two huge ones with shaggy feet like clydesdales right outside our tiny yard. The next day another, a much smaller one, arrived.  The host said “this is the LAST one” sounding not very convincing.  I guess owning horses is like owning bicycles..    

We are settled in our tiny house, not too far from Jumbo for groceries.  The next day we pedaled back to Slot Loevestein right across from Fort Vuren. It was a long ride beating right into a 20-knot headwind but worth it.  – near the confluence of the Maas and Waal and across the canal from the fortified town of Woudrichem. Even after hundreds of castles, this one was specially interesting due to its history and the exposed parts.  It was commissioned in 1361 by Knight Dirc Loef van Horne who used it as a residence and to conduct raids and collect tolls. During the 80-years war it was occupied by the Spanish, and much later it became an important link in the Dutch Waterline. It also served as a state prison for “enemies of the state”. Its most famous prisoner was Hugo de Groot (Grotius in Latin) a scholar whose writings that include “On the Law of War and Peace”  forms the basis for modern international law that includes treatment of civilians, prisoners, and the dead – (so no more mounting heads on pikes).  The castle was fascinating in its massive architecture, the kitchen that withstood attacks and fed up to 300 soldiers, the well that stayed pure for all the centuries (so throwing bodies into the moat couldn’t poison the occupants). Also interesting were the archaeological artifacts uncovered during restoration. There was also an exhibit about booking.

The ride home was all downwind so a sleighride by comparison and we arrived home just before the major rain let loose. Around 7 PM we realized the Jumbo was closed on Sunday and closed at 8, so we made a mad dash for groceries.  We are enjoying this leisurely mode of travel and learning new things and perspectives along the way. 

You hit on a profound truth. If Hugo Grotius walked into a modern courtroom or political summit today, he would recognize the exact legal battles being fought over Ukraine—because he literally wrote the rulebook the world is trying to use.

If Grotius were here to look at the situation in Ukraine, here is what his 17th-century legal philosophy would say:

1. On Unjust War and Aggression (De Jure Belli ac Pacis)

Grotius argued that war is only legally and morally justifiable under very narrow conditions—primarily self-defense against an active armed attack. He firmly rejected the idea that a nation can launch a war just for territorial expansion, historical claims, or “pre-emptive” dominance.

• The Modern Application: Grotius would view the full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a textbook violation of the international legal order. He argued that an illegal war of aggression makes the aggressor state responsible for all ensuing damages and destruction—which is the exact legal basis behind modern international demands for reparations.

2. On the Treatment of Civilians and Infrastructure

Grotius was deeply disturbed by the civilian atrocities of the Thirty Years’ War. He laid down the foundational rule that military force must be strictly proportional, and that non-combatants, civilian homes, hospitals, and basic survival infrastructure must be spared.

• The Modern Application: The targeting of Ukrainian civilian populations, power grids, and residential areas would draw immediate condemnation under Grotius’s framework of jus in bello (the laws of war). To him, violating these rules isn’t just a political disagreement; it is a fundamental crime against the community of nations.

3. On Sovereignty and Small Nations

Because Grotius was a Dutchman who spent his life watching a small, fiercely independent republic fight for its right to exist against a massive, overbearing global empire (Spain), he was a fierce defender of the sovereignty of smaller nations. He believed that might does not make right—that treaties, borders, and international law protect smaller states from being swallowed by larger empires.

• The Modern Application: He would see Ukraine’s fight for sovereignty as the ultimate test of whether the global community respects the rule of law over brute imperial force.

In many ways, the entire architecture of the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the Geneva Conventions are the physical realization of Grotius’s dream: an international society governed by laws and reason rather than endless violence.

Standing at Slot Loevestein yesterday, you were literally breathing the air of the man who first dared to imagine that nations could be bound by rules, even in the middle of war.