Cádiz Courts: The 1812 Spanish Constitution
The Call of the Courts. During the War of Independence, two parallel governments existed: § Joseph I, who ruled under the Bayonne decree, and the institutions and senior officials who accepted the Old Regime; and § The patriotic anti-French or Spanish government. This was a true revolution, signifying the assumption of national sovereignty while implicitly accepting the legitimacy of Ferdinand VII’s monarchy. Local juntas formed first, followed by provincial juntas, and finally, in September, the Central Supreme Council was formed in Aranjuez, becoming the resistance government. Despite its revolutionary nature, the juntas comprised mostly members of the ruling classes—nobles, clergy, mayors, generals, and enlightened bourgeois—to whom the people were accustomed to obeying. In addition to directing the war, the Council undertook the task of reforming the institutions of the ancien régime. After lengthy discussions, it was concluded that only courts elected through universal suffrage could enact the necessary reforms on behalf of the country. Thus, the Central Junta convened the Cortes Generales in Cádiz and dissolved, giving way to a Regency Council. The session opened in September 1810. That same day, the Regency Council granted full authority to the Cortes, completing the revolutionary process. The Revolutionary Task of the Cádiz Courts. The Cádiz Cortes, driven by liberals, aimed to dismantle the Old Regime—its political, social, and economic foundations. Although the revolution was largely on paper, Ferdinand VII’s return overturned the liberal reforms, initiating a process toward a constitutional monarchy throughout the 19th century. The Cortes’ two major achievements were: the creation of Spain’s first Constitution and significant ordinary legislation complementing the constitutional text. These measures, under the Constitution, included dismantling the economic and social foundations of the Old Regime.
The Composition of the Courts. The composition of the Cortes varied over time. Due to the war’s limitations on travel for many elected members, they were replaced. Most members hailed from the urban middle classes: civil servants, lawyers, merchants, and professionals. There were also clergy and approximately 500 members of the aristocracy. Three main political trends emerged: i) Conservatives who defended the absolutist state (represented by the Count of Floridablanca). They opposed the convening of the Cortes and viewed the juntas as a Regency Council, rejecting their revolutionary power. ii) Centrists, mainly illustrated individuals who, unlike their French counterparts, did not support Joseph I. They followed Jovellanos’s approach, advocating a middle ground between royal absolutism and parliamentary national sovereignty. Jovellanos believed the Cortes should limit the king’s power, representing the nobility and the Church, with moderate, non-revolutionary reforms—updating and adapting traditional Spanish laws (the historical Constitution). iii) The liberal party (including Agustín Argüelles, Calvo de Rozas, and Quintana), who believed sovereignty had been transferred to the revolutionary juntas and their resulting powers. The Cortes, therefore, should represent national sovereignty and possess constituent power. Initially, liberal views dominated, especially in Cádiz, a refuge for reform advocates. Liberalism had spread to Spain from France after the French Revolution, despite censorship. The war provided an opportunity for its propagation. Cádiz’s revolutionary and patriotic atmosphere, as a cosmopolitan city and symbol of resistance, enabled the realization of liberal ideals in the 1812 Constitution. Liberals sought a free parliamentary system based on national sovereignty, opposing absolutist monarchy. As a society organized according to individual capacities, liberals defended the right of the wealthy—those with something to defend—and the most notable (or those with capacidad in liberal Spanish) to participate in political life. This preference is reflected in their ideas on restricting voting and candidacy based on a census.