This conference revisits the history of the law of the sea through the lens of "claimed seas" — that is, the recurrent attempts by political authorities to assert jurisdiction, dominion, or special prerogatives over maritime spaces. Rather than presenting the early modern period as a linear triumph of mare liberum and the freedom of the seas, the lecture explores the enduring tension between claims to maritime dominion and arguments for free navigation from the late Middle Ages to the end of the eighteenth century. Drawing on examples from the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and wider oceanic worlds, it will examine how legal categories such as jurisdictio, dominium, occupation, prescription, and neutrality were mobilised in diplomatic practice and political thought. Particular attention will be paid to the interaction between doctrine and state practice, as well as to the role of smaller powers in shaping evolving conceptions of maritime order. By situating maritime debates within broader struggles over authority and inter-polity relations, the lecture invites us to reconsider how international law was historically constructed — and why tensions between open and "claimed" seas continue to resurface in modern maritime governance.

Stefano Cattelan is a postdoctoral researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel within the "Contextual Research in Law (CORE)" group and a visiting professor at the Brussels School of Governance. He holds a Master’s degree in law from the Università degli Studi di Trento (cum laude) and a Ph.D. from Aarhus Universitet (Denmark), where he also taught international law. His research focuses on the history and theory of international law, particularly regarding the law of the sea, neutrality, and maritime conflicts between the 15th and 18th centuries. His current project "In the Shadow of the Great Powers : Freedom of the Sea and Neutrality in the Long Eighteenth Century" explores how small and medium-sized powers used legal arguments to navigate oceanic spaces influenced by imperial rivalries.

06/05/2025

13:30-15:30

UCLOUVAIN SAINT-LOUIS BRUXELLES

Salle : OM30

RUE DE L'OMMEGANG, 6 1000 BRUXELLES

Contact : [email protected]

About the Louvain Lab for Law, History and Society

Registration is required via this link.