Richard le Poer Trench, Earl of Clancarty

The Earl of Clancarty thought of the Principle of Freedom of Navigation as a European principle. The Earl of Clancarty became internationally known for resolving various border disputes at the Congress of Vienna for Holland, the German Federation and several Italian states. While in Vienna, he was Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. King William I of the Netherlands awarded him with the hereditary title of Marquess of Heusden for his services. Besides these activities, Clancarty also argued that the Principle of Freedom of Navigation should be regarded as a European principle. He wrote that it was only just that the signatories of the Treaty of Paris ‘should have the power of fostering and protecting its own offspring from being destroyed by the mistaken cupidity of others’. Clancarty understood the protection of the Principle of Freedom of Navigation as a task for the four major European Powers and, interestingly, also for France, rather than as a matter exclusively reserved for the riparian states.