Cádiz Courts and the 1812 Constitution: A Foundation for Modern Spain
On May 2, 1808, the remaining members of the royal family, who still resided in the palace, were preparing to depart for Bayonne. It was believed that Napoleon had kidnapped Ferdinand VII, as rumors spread among the population of Madrid. A crowd gathered at the palace to prevent their departure and rose spontaneously against the French presence. The revolt was brutally suppressed by troops led by General Murat, but its example spread throughout the country, and a popular resistance movement slowed the advance of imperial troops.
The population rose against the French invasion, and Armament and Defense Boards emerged before the power vacuum created by the abdication of Bayonne. Meetings were first local, then provincial. These assumed sovereignty, declared war on Napoleon, and sought the support of Great Britain.
In September 1808, the boards sent representatives to Aranjuez, taking advantage of the temporary withdrawal of the French after their defeat at Bailén, to form a Central Supreme Council. This council would coordinate the fight and lead the country. The Board recognized Ferdinand VII as the legitimate king of Spain and assumed authority until his return. Before the French advance, the Board fled to Seville and then to Cádiz (1810), the only city that, aided by the British, resisted the French siege.
The Central Supreme Council had shown itself incapable of conducting the war and decided to dissolve in January 1810. However, before dissolving, it initiated a process of convening courts. While the Courts gathered, a regency composed of five members was established. A “consultation with the country” was organized through the Provincial Boards or councils to carry on reforms. Despite the difficulty in collecting responses and the heterogeneity of respondents, the idea prevailed that the disastrous actions of the governments of Carlos IV had caused the ruin of Spain. Therefore, safeguards were called for against the monarch’s absolute power.
The process of electing deputies to the Cortes and their meeting in Cádiz was difficult given the state of war. The liberal atmosphere of the city influenced many of the elected to have sympathy for these ideas. The courts were opened in September 1810, and the liberal sector achieved its first victory by forcing the formation of a single chamber, compared to the traditional representation of the estates. At its first meeting, the principle of national sovereignty was approved. This recognized that power rests in all citizens, represented in the Cortes.
The constitution was enacted on March 19, 1812. It was a long text of 384 articles, and its processing was affected by the vicissitudes of war and the differences between absolutists and liberals.
Key Features of the 1812 Constitution
The Constitution contains a bill of rights for citizens:
- Freedom of thought and opinion
- Equality of Spaniards before the law
- The right of petition
- Civil liberty
- Property rights
- Recognition of all legitimate rights of individuals in the Spanish nation
The nation was defined as the set of all citizens of both hemispheres. The state structure corresponded to a limited monarchy, based on the division of powers and not on divine right. The legislature, the unicameral Cortes, represented the national will and had extensive powers: making laws, approving budgets, and international treaties. The mandate of the deputies lasted two years, and they were inviolable in the exercise of their functions. Suffrage was universal, male, and indirect.
The monarch was the head of the executive branch and intervened in the drafting of laws, having a suspensive veto for two years. The monarch’s decisions had to be endorsed by ministers, who were subject to criminal liability. The basic principles of the rule of law were established: unique codes in civil, criminal, and commercial matters, and procedural guarantees.
Other Reforms and Legacy
Other articles of the Constitution addressed tax reform and the Treasury, the creation of a national army, military service, and the introduction of compulsory, public, and binding primary education. Also, the territory was divided into provinces, the formation of municipalities with elected officials was established, and the National Militia was created. The Constitution embodied a commitment between the sectors of the liberal bourgeoisie and the absolutists, declaring the Catholic confessional state.
In addition to the Constitution, the Cádiz Parliament passed a series of laws and decrees designed to eliminate the Old Regime and order the state as a liberal one. It decreed the elimination of primogeniture and the confiscation of communal lands. It voted to abolish the Inquisition, establish freedom of the press (although regarding religion, it remained under the control of the Church), freedom to work, annulment of the unions, and the unification of the market.
The Cádiz legislators took advantage of the revolutionary situation created by the war to develop a legislative framework much more advanced than would have been possible in a normal situation. The war situation prevented the effective implementation of what was established. At the end of the war, the return of Ferdinand VII frustrated the liberal experience and led to the return of absolutism.