The Regency of Isabel II (1833-1843): Spain’s Tumultuous Era
Isabel II (1833-1843): The Regency
1. Regency of Maria Cristina (1833-1840)
This period coincided with the First Carlist War. Following the death of her husband, Ferdinand VII, and with her daughter, Elizabeth (the future Isabella II), being a minor (three years old), Maria Cristina of Naples assumed the Regency. She was supported by the Liberals, despite her own absolutist leanings.
Cea Bermudez, head of government after Ferdinand VII’s death, continued a policy of enlightened reformism. His main measure was the provincial division (49 provinces), implemented by Minister Javier de Burgos at the end of 1833. This aimed to centralize and unify a territory previously structured around seigneurial, ecclesiastical, and royal jurisdictions. However, the measure was insufficient for the Liberals, and Maria Cristina was forced to appoint Martinez de la Rosa, a moderate liberal, as Prime Minister. His main objectives were to transition to liberalism and quell the Carlist insurrection.
In 1834, he promulgated the Royal Charter, a document granted by the Regents that introduced the following reforms:
- Establishment of a bicameral Cortes, consisting of a House of Peers (composed of grandees of Spain, archbishops, and others appointed by the Regent for life) and the Chamber of Attorneys (elected through a restricted census system, where only men over 30 years old with an income above 12,000 reales per year could vote, representing about 16,000 people).
- Limitation of the Cortes’ functions to mainly advising the Crown. Any law, in addition to the approval of the Chambers, needed the King’s consent (veto). The monarch retained the power to summon and suspend Parliament at will.
Martinez de la Rosa’s reforms led to discontent from both the right wing, who considered them excessive, and the left wing, who deemed them insufficient. This, coupled with the Carlist War and the cholera epidemic, explains the division between moderate and radical (or progressive) liberals and the unrest that occurred in the country, including the burning of convents, murders of priests accused of absolutism, and the burning of factories like Bonaplata in Barcelona (one of the first manifestations of the labor movement).
In the summer of 1835, protests arose in major cities, demanding the convocation of Constituent Cortes, freedom of the press, expansion of the urban militia, ecclesiastical confiscation, and secularization of the regular clergy. In this situation, the Regent appointed Juan Alvarez Mendizabal, a progressive liberal, as Prime Minister. He initiated a series of reforms, the most famous being the confiscation of church property to finance the war effort (reducing the debt by 40%). He also reorganized the army, created provincial councils, abolished the Inquisition, guilds, proofs of nobility, the Mesta, and introduced an electoral law that extended the right to vote.
However, the riots did not cease. In 1836, a group of junior officers revolted in La Granja, forcing the Regent to suspend the Royal Charter and restore the 1812 Constitution. The Regent then appointed Jose Maria Calatrava as head of government, who appointed Mendizabal as finance minister to continue his work dismantling the remnants of the Old Regime. Elections were called for the Constituent Cortes, which were held in late 1836. During the discussion of the new constitutional text, the two tendencies of liberalism, moderate and progressive, clashed.
In 1837, a progressive Constitution was adopted, establishing a liberal constitutional monarchy with the following main features:
- Legislative power vested in the Cortes and the King.
- Extensive powers for the King, including legislative initiative, unlimited veto, appointment of senators and members of the government (who should come from the largest party in the Cortes, implying double confidence).
- Bicameral Parliament: Members of Congress elected by direct suffrage based on a census, increasing the number of voters to 260,000. Members of the Senate appointed by the King from among those elected by the voters.
- Incorporation of a Bill of Rights, the militia, and the jury.
- No declaration of a denominational state, but recognition that the Catholic religion is professed by the Spanish, and the Administration agrees to maintain the cult and clergy.
The new Parliament enacted several laws, including the dissolution of the feudal regime (entailing the abolition of ecclesiastical tithes), the continuation of the seizure, the election of mayors and councilors by residents, and municipal control of the National Militia.
2. The Regency of General Espartero (1840-1843)
The victory of the moderates in the 1838 elections was followed by several short-lived governments. In 1840, the moderate government sought to curb reforms by proposing the return of property to the clergy, the restoration of the tithe, the limitation of the National Militia, and a new Municipal Law. The latter, which provided for the appointment of mayors by the Administration, triggered revolutionary uprisings in progressive cities and towns. General Espartero embraced the demands of the uprisings and forced Maria Cristina to relinquish the regency. He was then appointed Regent after a brief interim period.
Espartero’s regency marked the beginning of a practice common in Spain until 1875: the control of political power by the military. His authoritarian style of government led to the harsh suppression of moderate uprisings led by Urbizondo, Diego de Leon, and Montes de Oca, causing discontent among progressives who felt marginalized.
In 1842, after signing a free trade agreement with Britain, Barcelona revolted. The agreement harmed the textile industry, the manufacturing bourgeoisie, and workers. The crackdown was excessive, including the bombing of the city. Espartero’s actions cost him significant support, leading to an alliance against him between moderates and progressives. In the summer of 1843, they staged a military coup that forced Espartero out of the regency, paving the way for General Narvaez to take control of the country.