This declaration, issued by Charles II at Breda in the Netherlands on 4 April 1660, sealed his return to the English throne. Instigated by the king’s correspondence with General Monck, whose army had taken control of Britain, it asserts Charles’s right to rule and calls for a peaceful restoration. The Declaration was read in Parliament on 1 May, and, together with Charles’s promises of religious toleration, a general pardon and his agreement to fund the army’s pay arrears, it convinced Parliament to vote unanimously for his return to the throne.

Cat. 15