Recovering Charles I's art collection: some implications of the 1660 Act of Indemnity and Oblivion

Abstract

After 1660 Charles II attempted to recover those royal goods which had been sold off by parliament following his father's execution. The assumption has been that this was straightforward confiscation. The 1660 Act of Indemnity, however, contained a deliberate loophole protecting the rights of royal servants granted goods in lieu of arrears. A review of the legal cases arising from that act confirms that this was understood and accepted at the time. Yet many of those exempted goods are known to have re-entered the Royal Collection, raising the possibility that a significant number of them were returned voluntarily.