Spanish Constitution of 1812: A Milestone for Liberalism

Posted on Feb 8, 2025 in History

The Supreme Central Board and the Path to the Constitution

The Supreme Central Board was established in Aranjuez. Arising from the need to coordinate the functions of many local and provincial boards, the board was considered the central depository of all power in the King’s absence. Formed by prominent advocates of reform, it dissolved and appointed a regency of five members, beginning the election process to summon Parliament in Cadiz. These modern courts were the first since the King summoned the previous ones.

Cadiz: A Liberal Stronghold

Free from French rule, Cadiz was a commercial center with a significant liberal middle class. Members personally adopted their positions in every discussion and vote. There were three ideological currents:

  • Absolutists: Defenders of the old regime, a minority.
  • Jovellanists: Supporters of the Enlightenment who did not accept the abdication of Bayonne and advocated for reforms.
  • Liberals: Influenced by the ideology of the French Revolution, supporters of freedom and the Constitution, and the new national sovereignty.

Objectives of the Courts

The objectives were:

  1. Building a new political system with the drafting of a constitution.
  2. The end of the laws of the old regime.

The first decree signified a rupture with the old regime: national sovereignty, recognition of Ferdinand VII, the invalidity of the Abdications, and the separation of powers.

The Spanish Constitution of 1812

The approval of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 was the most important decision for its short and long-term consequences. It intended the transformation of the Courts and Spanish socio-economic political life through a major liberal revolution. It is itself the first to consider power, perhaps not all, but limited. It represents a combination of the traditional with the revolutionary, what was Spanish with the French.

Key Features of the Constitution

  • First Spanish Constitution: Adopted on March 19, 1812, with a liberal ideology.
  • Term: 1812 to 1814, and then from 1820-23 and 1836-7.
  • Principles of Political Organization: National Sovereignty and constitutional hereditary monarchy.
  • Head of State: The King is the chief executive and acts in the legislative branch through initiative, sanctions, and veto. The State Council is a consultative body to replace the royal powers among odious cliques.
  • Relationship: Separation of powers: legislative (Parliament), executive (king), and judicial (independent courts).
  • Legislative Branch: Unicameral Parliament, which constitutes the core body of the new regime with wide powers and control over the executive.
  • Government: Comprising 7 secretaries of office (ministers) appointed and separated by the king. They endorse all the king’s orders and have a responsibility before the Courts.
  • Suffrage: A complicated combination of indirect universal suffrage and election in 4 grades.
  • Fundamental Rights Statement: Freedom of thought, inviolability of the home, protection of private property, equality of individuals before the law, and religious freedom.
  • Religious Question: No religious freedom.
  • Other: National Militia, the foundations for public education, provincial division in charge of the Provincial Councils, with locally elected councils, issues of wealth, and so on.

Legislative Provisions

  1. Freedom Statement.
  2. Abolition of Noble Privileges (August 1811): Abolition of the jurisdictional rights of lords to appoint judges. They were compensated with the recognition of private ownership of their lands and their leases. Noble rights became property rights, still maintaining the “mayorazgo.” Its application raised many lawsuits, but the courts almost always failed in favor of the lords.
  3. Development of disentailment measures.
  4. Suppression of the vote or tax of Santiago.
  5. Freedom of hiring and citizenship in the field.
  6. Freedom of trade and tax harmonization: establishing the Department of the Treasury.
  7. Suppression of guilds.
  8. Suppression of the Inquisition.
  9. Suppression of torture.
  10. Suppression of the Mesta.
  11. Suppression of the test of nobility and purity of blood.

Conclusions

Although the Constitution was in force for just two years, it has great historical significance because the hope of compliance became an ideal of the 19th century. The Constitution of 1812 would be the symbol of Spanish liberalism par excellence, representing a panacea for national problems. It was a great milestone, a breakthrough for the modernization of policy in Spain. It is a pity that all the work was abolished by Ferdinand VII upon his return to Spain in 1814.