In his Historia Gotthorum (1655), Hugo Grotius set up a Swedish ‘Gothic myth’, a powerful historiographical construct aimed at increasing Swedish prestige by identifying the ancient Swedish as the forebears of the late antique Goths, Vandals and Lombards. Entering into dialogue with fellow historiographers was vital to this venture. The ‘Prolegomena’ to Historia Gotthorum are accordingly marked by an extensive polemical dimension. A critical discourse analysis of both explicit and hidden polemics in this text reveals a clever combination of scholarly argumentation on the basis of historical evidence and strategic image-building to convince the reader. Furthermore, Grotius regularly drew on the works of contemporary colleagues for his historical evidence. The present article sheds light on the various argumentation strategies deployed in the ‘Prolegomena’ to Historia Gotthorum and the role of early modern historiographical texts as treasure troves of historical knowledge. This not only offers further insight into Grotius’s historiographical practice, but also provides an excellent example of how early modern historical writers interacted with the texts of their immediate colleagues.

中文翻译：

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雨果格劳秀斯与他的同事对话

在他的 Historia Gotthorum（1655 年）中，Hugo Grotius 建立了一个瑞典“哥特神话”，这是一个强大的史学结构，旨在通过将古瑞典人确定为晚期古代哥特人、汪达尔人和伦巴第人的祖先来提高瑞典的声望。与其他历史学家进行对话对这次冒险至关重要。Historia Gotthorum 的“Prolegomena”因此具有广泛的论战维度。对本文中显性和隐性论战的批判性话语分析揭示了基于历史证据的学术论证和战略形象构建的巧妙结合，以说服读者。此外，格劳秀斯经常借鉴当代同事的作品作为他的历史证据。本文阐明了《哥特历史史》的“序言”中部署的各种论证策略，以及早期现代史学文本作为历史知识宝库的作用。这不仅提供了对格劳秀斯的史学实践的进一步洞察，而且还提供了一个很好的例子，说明早期现代历史作家如何与其直接同事的文本互动。