What was the Constitution of Cádiz of 1812?
The Constitution of Cádiz
La Constitución de Cádiz, «la Pepa»
19 March 1812. While French armies held most of Spain, a parliament, the Cortes, met in besieged Cádiz, with deputies from Spain and from the American colonies.
Where: Spain, The whole Spanish-speaking world, Cádiz
What happened
While French armies held most of Spain, a parliament, the Cortes, met in besieged Cádiz, with deputies from Spain and from the American colonies. On 19 March 1812, St Joseph's day, it proclaimed a constitution nicknamed La Pepa, after the saint. It declared that sovereignty belonged to the nation rather than the king, separated the powers of the state and allowed a free press, while keeping Catholicism as the only religion. When Ferdinand VII came back in 1814 he abolished it, but it returned in 1820 to 1823 and again in 1836 to 1837, and it inspired constitutions in Portugal, Italy and the Americas.
Say it
En 1812 las Cortes de Cádiz aprobaron una constitución liberal.
In 1812 the Cortes of Cádiz passed a liberal constitution.
Why it matters
Cádiz is where the Spanish-speaking world first wrote down that power comes from the nation and not from a king. Its vocabulary, 'soberanía nacional', 'ciudadano', 'liberal' in its political sense, became the shared political language of Spain and the new American republics.
Connected
- The independence of Spanish America (1808–1826)
- Madrid rises against Napoleon (2 May 1808)
- Madrid rises against Napoleon (2 May 1808)
- Independence declared at Tucumán (9 July 1816)
- The Plan de Iguala and Mexican independence (24 February – 27 September 1821)
- The Constitution of 1978 (6 December 1978)
- The Constitution of 1978 (6 December 1978)
Sources
- Constitución de 1812 — Congreso de los Diputados