Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Spanish Constitution of 1812
Summary
The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy (Constitución Política de la Monarquía Española), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz (Constitución de Cádiz) and as La Pepa, was the first Constitution of Spain and one of the earliest codified constitutions in world history. The Constitution was ratified on 19 March 1812 by the Cortes of Cádiz, the first Spanish legislature that included delegates from the entire nation, including Spanish America and the Philippines. "It defined Spanish and Spanish American liberalism for the early 19th century."
With the notable exception of proclaiming Roman Catholicism as the official and sole legal religion in Spain, the constitution was one of the most liberal of its time: it affirmed national sovereignty, separation of powers, freedom of the press, free enterprise, abolished corporate privileges (fueros), and established a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. It was one of the first constitutions that allowed universal male suffrage, with some exceptions, through a complex indirect electoral system. It extended political rights for representation to Spanish America and the Philippines, a significant step for the demands of American-born Spaniards.
When King Ferdinand VII returned to power in 1814, he dissolved the Cortes and abrogated the constitution, re-establishing absolute monarchy. The constitution was reinstated during the Trienio Liberal (1820–1823) and again in 1836–1837 while the Progressives prepared the Constitution of 1837. It was an important model for later constitutions in Spain and Spanish America.
Until the Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808, Ferdinand VII ruled as an absolute monarch. Napoleon forced Ferdinand's abdication as well as the renunciation of his father Charles IV's rights, and then placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Spain.
Seeking to create legitimacy for Joseph I of Spain, Napoleon called the Cortes, whose delegates he had selected, to proclaim Joseph as the legitimate monarch.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.