Stefano Cattelan is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the COntextual REsearch in Law research group (CORE). His project “In the Shadow of the Great Powers: Freedom of the Sea and Neutrality in the long 18th Century” is financed by the Carlsberg Foundation (2022-23) and by the Research Foundation Flanders, FWO (2024-26).Stefano studied Law at the University of Trento (5-year Master’s Degree), graduating in 2017 Cum Laude. Between 2017 and 2020, he prepared a doctoral dissertation at Aarhus University (Department of Law), entitled "Mare Clausum in Legal Argumentation: Claiming the Seas in the Early Modern Age". In Aarhus, he also taught the Master-level course “International Law”. Between November 2020 and May 2021, Stefano worked as a Research Assistant at Aalborg University (Department of Law). So far, Stefano has centred his research on the historical development of international law in the Early Modern Age, focusing on law of the sea issues and maritime interactions between seafaring nations. He investigates state practice and doctrine jointly. Furthermore, he is keen on contemporary law of the sea and ocean policy issues, and he took part in the 2021 Rhodes Academy for Oceans Law and Policy. More broadly, Stefano’s primary interests lie at the crossroads of history, public international law, and politics, having as a fil rouge the complex relationship between humans and pelagic spaces.