Tra Grotius e Sarpi: l’assolutismo repubblicano di Theodorus “Dirck” Graswinckel (1600-66)

Abstract

Through the investigation of the life and works of Dutch jurist and politician Dirck Graswinckel (1600-66), a friend of Grotius and reader of Sarpi, the essay aims to investigate the theoretical and political category of “republican absolutism”, that is, the use of the vocabulary and sources of the absolutist tradition by non-monarchical States, beginning with Venice and the United Provinces. The essay will focus on the environments and networks of relationships that link Graswinckel, Grotius and Sarpi, and on the former’s possible reading of Della potestà de’ prencipi (Sarpi’s unfinished treatise).