Isabella II’s Regency: Spain’s Path to Liberalism (1833-1843)
The Regency of Isabella II in Spain (1833-1843)
After the death of Ferdinand VII, his daughter Isabella was proclaimed queen. As she was a minor, a regency period was established, first led by her mother, Maria Christina, and later by General Baldomero Espartero. During these years, a dual conflict emerged: first between Liberals and Carlists, and later between moderate Liberals and Progressives themselves.
Maria Christina’s Regency (1833-1840)
Maria Christina initially favored absolutism, but the First Carlist War (1833-1840) compelled her to seek support from the Liberals. They were the only ones capable of addressing the military and financial challenges and securing Isabella’s rights to the throne against those of Charles V (Don Carlos).
Initially, the crown attempted a dynastic reconciliation, promising to defend religion. For this purpose, the government appointed Cea Bermúdez as chief minister, followed by Martínez de la Rosa. Martínez de la Rosa introduced the Estatuto Real (Royal Statute), a charter granted as a concession from the crown to its subjects. The Statute regulated the convening of the Cortes, which had a consultative nature and could only discuss issues previously submitted for their consideration.
The Cortes were divided into two chambers:
- The Estamento de Próceres (House of Peers), composed of Grandees of Spain and members appointed by the crown, typically from high economic strata.
- The Estamento de Procuradores (House of Attorneys), elected by censitary vote.
The Statute’s purpose was to rally the higher economic sectors around Isabella II for gradual reforms. However, the crown’s reluctance to fully embrace these reforms led to liberal revolts, forcing a more reformist direction. The Liberals were split into two parties: Moderates and Progressives.
The regent appointed Juan Álvarez Mendizábal as prime minister, who began to dismantle the old system with the approval of the Desamortización Eclesiástica (Ecclesiastical Confiscation). This involved expropriating and nationalizing Church lands and selling them to individuals, particularly nobles and the bourgeoisie.
The regent, disagreeing with the confiscation, sided with the Moderates and replaced Mendizábal with Istúriz. This provoked the Mutiny of La Granja de San Ildefonso (Sergeants’ Mutiny of La Granja), which forced the regent to re-establish the Constitution of Cádiz. However, both Progressives and Moderates soon agreed to draft a new constitution: the Constitution of 1837.
The Constitution of 1837 had the following key characteristics:
- Bicameral Parliament (Congress of Deputies and Senate).
- Censitary male suffrage.
- Strengthening of the Crown’s power.
- Shared sovereignty between the King and the Nation (Cortes).
Espartero’s Regency (1840-1843)
At the end of the First Carlist War, the ruling Moderates sought to limit the scope of the liberal revolution through measures such as canceling the municipal law, reducing freedom of the press, and re-establishing the tithe. These measures displeased the Liberals, leading to a revolt in 1840 that again forced Maria Christina to leave Spain. General Baldomero Espartero, an idol of the Progressives and highly prestigious due to his successes in the Carlist Wars, then assumed the regency.
Espartero formed a government largely supported by the army, but he faced a series of political conflicts he could not resolve:
- The division of the Progressives into three factions:
- The ‘Esparteristas’ (supporters of Espartero)
- The ‘Legales’ (Legalists)
- The early Democrats and Republicans
- The opposition of the Moderates, who promoted several military coups aimed at restoring Maria Christina.
- In 1842, a revolt erupted in Barcelona against a free trade treaty with England, which severely harmed the Catalan textile industry. Espartero ordered the bombing of the city, leading to the withdrawal of support from Democrats and Republicans.
All these factors led to Espartero’s isolation and facilitated the success of the military coup led by General Ramón María Narváez, which sought to recognize Isabella II as queen. In 1843, the regency ended, and Isabella II ascended the throne at the age of 13.