In 1643, near the start of the
English Civil War, Parliament set up two committees the
Sequestration Committee which confiscated the estates of the Royalists who fought against Parliament, and the
Committee for Compounding with Delinquents which allowed Royalists whose estates had been
sequestrated, to
compound for their estates — pay a fine and recover their estates — if they pledged not to take up arms against Parliament again. The size of the fine they had to pay depended on the worth of the estate and how great their support for the Royalist cause had been.