The Borbonicus, which the bill presents as being of Nahua origin, was acquired at public sale in 1826, after a probable (but not established) exit from Spanish territory in the wars of the early nineteenth century.
The Azcatitlan entered the BnF in 1898 through a donation from the widow of Eugène Goupil.
The text of the draft law proceeds, as it should be, by the law of the case: each object is designated by name and removed from public collections by express derogation from the principle of inalienability of Article L. 451-5 of the Heritage Code.
This is the path imposed by the state of French law, and the law of 9 May 2026 on the restitution of cultural property does not change anything for these two manuscripts: as they do not fall within its scope, they therefore require an ad hoc text.
This is where the current legislative system shows its limits. The 2026 law sets out criteria and a procedure, but it does not exempt you from legislating object by object as soon as the property leaves its boundaries. Restitution therefore remains dependent on a specific political decision, and not on a general legal regime applicable by operation of law.
