Planetary Enmity, Global Community and International Law: The Case of Vitoria and the Spanish Conquista

Miguel Vatter

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Chapter 6 Planetary Enmity, Global Community and International Law: The Case of Vitoria and the Spanish Conquista

In: Carl Schmitt and Francisco de Vitoria

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Miguel Vatter

Miguel Vatter
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 111–151

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004757448_007

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Abstract

This chapter presents the conflict of interpretations in the twentieth century around Francisco de Vitoria’s reformulation of ius gentium as a function of how international law is legitimized in reference to spatialization. The focus is on the different theologico-political strategies employed to justify extending a given legal order across religious divides to cover ‘the whole world’. The chapter contests the widespread belief that Vitoria’s internationalization of law rests on a creative adaptation of Roman law categories. Consideration of twentieth-century interpretations of Vitoria’s discourse shows that the emergence of an ‘international’ law and an ‘international’ community relies on a nexus between legal order (Ordnung) and localization (Ortung) that Schmitt identified as characteristic of the Greek idea of law as nomos and associated with the geo-political notion of Grossraum. This nomos-based approach to international law is then employed to analyse the liberal conception of international order and its limits.

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Carl Schmitt and Francisco de Vitoria

The Paradox of Universalism in International Law

Series: Legal History Library, Volume: 84/31 and Studies in the History of International Law, Volume: 84/31

Cover Carl Schmitt and Francisco de Vitoria

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004757448

Publisher:: Brill | Nijhoff

Print Publication Date:: 12 Mar 2026

Subjects
- History
- International Relations
  - International Relations

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Chapter 6 Planetary Enmity, Global Community and International Law: The Case of Vitoria and the Spanish Conquista

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Citation Info

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Carl Schmitt and Francisco de Vitoria

The Paradox of Universalism in International Law

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