159-626: The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy (Spanish: Constitución Política de la Monarquía Española ), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz (Spanish: Constitución de Cádiz ) and as La Pepa , was the first Constitution of Spain and one of the earliest codified constitutions in world history. The Constitution was ratified on 19 March 1812 by the Cortes of Cádiz , the first Spanish legislature that included delegates from
318-653: A Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu (Japan) by sailing west. Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach the Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. In the Capitulations of Santa Fe , dated on 17 April 1492, Christopher Columbus obtained from the Catholic Monarchs his appointment as viceroy and governor in the lands already discovered and that he might discover thenceforth; thereby, it
477-423: A 20,000-strong Tlaxcalan army. Three days later, a 50,000-strong Otomi -Tlaxcalan force was defeated by Spanish arquebusier and cannon fire, and a Castilian cavalry charge. Thousands of Tlaxcalans joined the invaders against their Aztec rulers. Cortés's forces sacked the city of Cholula , massacring 6,000 inhabitants, and later entered Emperor Moctezuma II 's capital, Tenochtitlan , on 8 November. Velázquez sent
636-789: A Spanish protectorate following a series of treaties in 1488, 1491, 1493, and 1495. With the Christian reconquest completed in the Iberian peninsula, Spain began trying to take territory in Muslim North Africa. It had conquered Melilla in 1497, and further expansionism policy in North Africa was developed during the regency of Ferdinand the Catholic in Castile, stimulated by Cardinal Cisneros . Several towns and outposts in
795-559: A different venue. Columbus's second voyage in 1493 had a large contingent of settlers and goods to accomplish that. On Hispaniola, the city of Santo Domingo was founded in 1496 by Christopher Columbus's brother Bartholomew Columbus and became a stone-built, permanent city. Non-Castilians, such as Catalans and Aragonese , were often prohibited from migrating to the New World. Following the settlement of Hispaniola, Europeans began searching elsewhere to begin new settlements, since there
954-513: A distinction between nationality and citizenship (that is, those with the right to vote). The Constitution gave Spanish citizenship to natives of the territories that had belonged to the Spanish monarchy in both hemispheres. The Constitution of 1812 included Indigenous peoples of the Americas to Spanish citizenship, but the acquisition of citizenship for any casta of Afro-American peoples of
1113-604: A five-person Regency, charged with convening the Cortes. The Regency drew up a list of American-born Spaniards already present in Spain. By the time the delegates were to be chosen, some of Spain's American territories had successfully established their own juntas. These did not recognize the authority of either the central junta or the regency and so did not send representatives although many other regions in America did. The Regency made
1272-598: A force led by Pánfilo de Narváez to punish the insubordinate Cortés for his unauthorized invasion of Mexico, but they were defeated at the Battle of Cempoala on 29 May 1520. Narváez was wounded and captured and 17 of his troops were killed; the rest joined Cortés. Meanwhile, Pedro de Alvarado triggered an Aztec uprising following the massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan , during which 400 Aztec nobles and 2,000 onlookers were killed. The Castilians were driven out of
1431-596: A government with a firm claim to legitimacy. The Junta first met on 25 September 1808 in Aranjuez and later in Seville , before retreating to Cádiz. Cádiz was the most secure place for the Cortes to take place, since it was a fortified port. Retreating before the advancing French and an outbreak of yellow fever , the Supreme Central Junta moved to Isla de León, where it could be supplied and defended with
1590-492: A latitude south of Cape Bojador , a compromise was worked out and incorporated in the Treaty of Tordesillas , dated on 7 June 1494, in which the world was split into two dividing Spanish and Portuguese claims. These actions gave Spain exclusive rights to establish colonies in all of the New World from north to south (later with the exception of Brazil, which Portuguese commander Pedro Álvares Cabral encountered in 1500), as well as
1749-408: A majority in the future Cortes. The majority of representatives from peninsular Spain opposed those proposals as they wished to limit the weight of non- peninsulares . According to the best estimates of the time, continental Spain had an estimated population of between 10 and 11 million, and the overseas provinces had a combined population of around 15 to 16 million. The Cortes ultimately approved
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#17327725655741908-771: A model for liberal constitutions of several Mediterranean and Latin American nations. It served as the model for the Norwegian Constitution of 1814, the Portuguese Constitution of 1822 and the Mexican one of 1824 , and was implemented with minor modifications in various Italian states by the Carbonari during their revolt of 1820 and 1821. The Plan de Iguala in Mexico in 1821 was a reaction to
2067-623: A mutiny of army officers in Andalusia demanding the implementation of the Constitution. The movement found support among the northern cities and provinces of Spain, and by 7 March the king had restored the Constitution. Over the next two years, the other European monarchies became alarmed at the liberals' success and at the Congress of Verona in 1822 approved the intervention of royalist French forces in Spain to support Ferdinand VII. After
2226-656: A number of revolts across the Spanish Habsburg's domains, including their Spanish kingdoms. During the Habsburg rule, the Spanish Empire significantly expanded its territories in the Americas, beginning with the conquest of the Aztec Empire ; these conquests were achieved not by the Spanish army, but by small groups of adventurers—artisans, traders, gentry, and peasants—who operated independently under
2385-488: A parliamentary body could legislate in the absence of a king. The liberals carried on the reformist philosophy of Carlos III and added to it many of the ideas of the French Revolution . They wanted equality before the law, a centralized government, an efficient civil service , a reform of the tax system , the replacement of feudal privileges by freedom of contract and the recognition of property rights . As
2544-703: A rebellion and the promulgation of a new system of government under the Constitution. Abascal was able to control the electoral process and control of the press (article 371) despite the provisions of the Constitution mandating its freedom. The constitution was not promulgated in Quito until 18 July 1813. When Ferdinand VII was restored in March 1814 by the Allied Powers, it is not clear whether he immediately made up his mind as to whether to accept or reject this new charter of Spanish government. He first promised to uphold
2703-892: A result of the marriage politics of the Catholic Monarchs (in Spanish, Reyes Católicos ), their Habsburg grandson Charles inherited the Castilian empire in the Americas and the possessions of the Crown of Aragon in the Mediterranean (including all of south Italy ), lands in Germany, the Low Countries , Franche-Comté , and Austria , starting the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs. The Austrian hereditary Habsburg domains were transferred to Ferdinand ,
2862-654: A surprise attack in Cajamarca that resulted in the massacre of thousands of Incas. This conquest facilitated the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1542, allowing Spain to exert control over territories in western South America, comprising present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and parts of Chile and Argentina. In the subsequent years, Spanish explorers and conquistadors ventured into northern South America, where they established settlements in present-day Venezuela and Colombia. Philip II of Spain (r. 1556–98) oversaw
3021-673: A surviving heir, probably the Crown of Aragon would have been split from Castile, which was inherited by Charles, Ferdinand and Isabella's grandson. Ferdinand joined the League of Cambrai against Venice in 1508. In 1511, he became part of the Holy League against France, seeing a chance at taking both Milan —to which he held a dynastic claim—and Navarre . In 1516, France agreed to a truce that left Milan in its control and recognized Spanish control of Upper Navarre , which had effectively been
3180-453: A unitary state with equal laws across the Spanish Empire. The principal aim of the new constitution was the prevention of arbitrary and corrupt royal rule; it provided for a limited monarchy that governed through ministers subject to parliamentary control. It established that the unicameral legislature would meet annually in the capital. The constitution maintained that suffrage was not to be determined by property qualifications, and it favoured
3339-435: The arbitristas . The natural resource abundance provoked a decline in entrepreneurship as profits from resource extraction are less risky. The wealthy preferred to invest their fortunes in public debt ( juros ). The Habsburg dynasty spent the Castilian and American riches in wars across Europe on behalf of Habsburg interests, and declared moratoriums (bankruptcies) on their debt payments several times. These burdens led to
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#17327725655743498-614: The Antiguo Régimen , the taxes from Spain's overseas possessions went directly to the royal treasury. Under the Constitution of 1812, it would go to the state administrative apparatus. The impact of the 1812 Constitution on the emerging states of Spanish America was quite direct. Miguel Ramos Arizpe of Mexico, Joaquín Fernández de Leiva of Chile, Vicente Morales Duárez of Peru and José Mejía Lequerica of Ecuador , among other significant figures in founding Spanish American republics, were active participants at Cádiz. One provision of
3657-484: The Battle of Trocadero liberated Ferdinand from control by the Cortes in August 1823, he turned on the liberals and constitutionalists with fury. After Ferdinand's death in 1833, the Constitution was in force again briefly in 1836 and 1837, while the Constitution of 1837 was being drafted. Since 1812, Spain has had a total of seven constitutions; the current one has been in force since 1978. The Cortes of Cádiz produced
3816-753: The Cape Verde islands (1476), conquering the city of Ceuta in the Tingitan Peninsula in 1476 (but retaken by the Portuguese), and even attacked the Azores islands, being defeated at Praia . The turning point of the war came in 1478, however, when a Castilian fleet sent by King Ferdinand to conquer Gran Canaria lost men and ships to the Portuguese who expelled the attack, and a large Castilian armada—full of gold—was entirely captured in
3975-624: The Council of the Indies and Casa de Contratación , the two highest bodies in metropolitan Spain for the government of the empire in the New World, as well as royal government in the Indies. Portugal obtained several papal bulls that acknowledged Portuguese control over the discovered territories, but Castile also obtained from the Pope the safeguard of its rights to the Canary Islands with
4134-850: The Honduras Company (1714), a Caracas company; the Guipuzcoana Company (1728), and the most successful ones, the Havana Company (1740) and the Barcelona Trading Company (1755). In 1717–18, the structures for governing the Indies, the Consejo de Indias and the Casa de Contratación , which governed investments in the cumbersome Spanish treasure fleets , were transferred from Seville to Cádiz , where foreign merchant houses had easier access to
4293-602: The House of Trastámara . Their dynastic alliance was important for a number of reasons, ruling jointly over a number of kingdoms and other territories, mostly in the western Mediterranean region, under their respective legal and administrative status. They successfully pursued expansion in Iberia in the Christian conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Granada , completed in 1492, for which Valencia-born Pope Alexander VI gave them
4452-518: The Italian Wars beginning in 1494. Following Spanish victories at the Battles of Cerignola and Garigliano in 1503, France recognized Ferdinand's sovereignty over Naples through a treaty. After the death of Queen Isabella in 1504, and her exclusion of Ferdinand from a further role in Castile, Ferdinand married Germaine de Foix in 1505, cementing an alliance with France. Had that couple had
4611-815: The Kingdom of Naples , the Kingdom of Sicily , the Kingdom of Sardinia , and the Duchy of Milan through the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559. Italy became the core of Spain's power. By the mid-17th century, Spain's global empire burdened its economic, administrative, and military resources. Over the preceding century, Spanish troops had fought in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, suffering heavy casualties. Despite its vast holdings, Spain's military lacked essential modernization and heavily relied on foreign suppliers. Nevertheless, Spain possessed abundant bullion from
4770-577: The Napoleonic Wars and the abdication of the monarch Ferdinand VII and his father Charles IV . It met as one body, and its members represented the entire Spanish Empire , that is, not only Spain but also Spanish America and the Philippines . The Cortes of Cádiz was seen then, and by historians today, as a major step towards liberalism and democracy in the history of Spain and Spanish America. The liberal Cortes drafted and ratified
4929-678: The Philippine Islands , and Guam in the Mariana Islands following the Spanish–American War . With the marriage of the heirs apparent to their respective thrones Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile created a personal union that most scholars view as the foundation of the Spanish monarchy. The union of the Crowns of Castile and Aragon joined the economic and military power of Iberia under one dynasty,
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5088-636: The Portuguese Empire , it ushered in the European Age of Discovery . It achieved a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas , Africa , various islands in Asia and Oceania , as well as territory in other parts of Europe. It was one of the most powerful empires of the early modern period , becoming known as " the empire on which the sun never sets ". At its greatest extent in
5247-533: The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, he abolished the constitution on 4 May and arrested many liberal leaders on 10 May, justifying his actions as the repudiation of an unlawful constitution made by a Cortes assembled in his absence and without his consent. Thus he came back to assert the Bourbon doctrine that the sovereign authority resided in his person only. Ferdinand's absolutist rule rewarded
5406-507: The Río de la Plata , three from New Granada , and three from Venezuela , one from Santo Domingo , two from Cuba , one from Puerto Rico and two from the Philippines. Although most of the overseas representatives were Criollos , the majority wanted to extend suffrage to all indigenous, mixed-race and free black people of the Spanish Empire, which would have granted the overseas territories
5565-570: The Spanish Constitution of 1812 denied people of African ancestry political rights and representation. Its first regulation includes one of the first examples of a seasonally adjusted schedule, a practice which led to the adoption of daylight savings time a century later. A revolutionary document, the Spanish Constitution of 1812 marked the initiation of the Spanish tradition of liberalism, and when Fernando VII
5724-545: The Spanish Constitution of 1812 , which established a constitutional monarchy and eliminated many institutions that privileged some groups over others. Napoleon's armies invaded Portugal (1807) and then Spain (1808), upending the Bourbon monarchy. At the time of the invasion, Charles IV had been at serious odds with his son and heir Ferdinand VII. In March 1808, the Tumult of Aranjuez , first forced Charles IV's first minister Manuel Godoy to be sacked; and then Charles IV himself
5883-637: The Spanish Netherlands and Spanish Italy. In 1763, after the Seven Years' War , Spain ceded both East Florida and West Florida to Great Britain while gaining Louisiana from France. However, in 1783, following the American Revolutionary War , Britain ceded both Floridas back to Spain as part of the Treaty of Paris . Spain had recaptured West Florida in 1781 through military operations. Both Floridas were ceded to
6042-517: The bourgeoisie at the expense of the hereditary aristocracy both on the Peninsula and in the Americas, where it was particularly to the advantage of the Criollos since they came to dominate the ayuntamientos . In Cuzco , the local elites welcomed the opportunity to participate in governance on the ayuntamiento. They distributed copies of the Constitution, allied with the provincial deputation and
6201-407: The American and Asian territories. Most of the peninsulares , therefore, shared the absolutists' inclination towards centralized government . Another aspect of the treatment of the overseas territories in the constitution, one of the many that would prove not to be to the taste of Ferdinand VII, that by converting the territories to provinces, the king was deprived of a great economic resource. Under
6360-406: The Americas instead. Thus, the limitations imposed by the Alcáçovas treaty were overcome and a new and more balanced division of the world would be reached in the Treaty of Tordesillas between both emerging maritime powers. Seven months before the treaty of Alcaçovas, King John II of Aragon died, and his son Ferdinand II of Aragon , married to Isabella I of Castile , inherited
6519-400: The Americas was through naturalization excluding slaves . Spanish nationals were defined as all people born, naturalized or permanently residing for more than ten years in Spanish territories. Article 1 of the Constitution read: "The Spanish nation is the collectivity of the Spaniards of both hemispheres." Voting rights were granted to Spanish nationals whose ancestry originated from Spain or
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6678-477: The Americas, which played a crucial role in both sustaining its military endeavors and meeting the needs of its civilian population. During this period, Spain displayed limited military interest in its overseas colonies. The Criollo elites (colonial-born Spaniards) and mestizo and mulatto militia (of mixed Indigenous-Spanish and African-Spanish descent) provided only minimal protection, often assisted by more influential allies with vested interests in maintaining
6837-446: The Austrians at the Battle of Bitonto in 1734 during the War of the Polish Succession , and during the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739–42) thwarted British efforts to capture the strategic cities of Cartagena de Indias , Santiago de Cuba and St. Augustine by defeating a British combined army and navy force, although Spain's invasion of Georgia also failed. The British suffered 25,000 dead or wounded and lost nearly 5,000 ships during
6996-413: The Aztec capital, suffering heavy losses and losing all of their gold and guns during La Noche Triste . On 8 July 1520, at Otumba , the Castilians and their allies, without artillery or arquebusiers, repelled 100,000 Aztecs armed with obsidian-bladed clubs. In August, 500 Castilians and 40,000 Tlaxcalans conquered the hilltop town of Tepeaca , an Aztec ally. Most of the inhabitants were either branded on
7155-418: The Cadiz Constitution. Agustín de Iturbide did not like how the Spanish government was becoming more liberal; instead he wanted things to go back to the way they were. The Plan de Iguala increases the power of the Roman Catholic Church instead of decreasing it, and also called on the prince of Spain to come and rule over them. Unadopted draft constitutions: Cortes of C%C3%A1diz The Cortes of Cádiz
7314-409: The Canaries, recognized the Portuguese monopoly of fishing and navigation along the whole west African coast and Portugal's rights over the Madeira , Azores and Cape Verde islands [plus the right to conquer the Kingdom of Fez ]." The treaty delimited the spheres of influence of the two countries, establishing the principle of the Mare clausum . It was confirmed in 1481 by the Pope Sixtus IV , in
7473-402: The Constitution (article 310) provided for the creation of a local government (an ayuntamiento ) for every settlement of over 1,000 people. The provision was designed to transform the institution from one controlled by elites to representative institutions through elections. Elections were indirect, favouring the wealthy and socially prominent. The proposal came from Ramos Arizpe. That benefited
7632-400: The Cortes convened in Cádiz in 1810, there appeared to be two possibilities for Spain's political future if the French could be driven out. The first, represented especially by Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos , was the restoration of the absolutist Antiguo Régimen ("Old Regime"); the second was to adopt some sort of written constitution. The Cortes did not have revolutionary intentions, since
7791-442: The Cortes promulgated the proposition that it, rather than the king, was the national sovereign since it represented the people. Then, the national assembly divided the government into legislative, executive and judiciary branches. Given the contingencies of war that resulted from the forced displacement of Fernando VII , the regency announced that it would act as the executive until his restoration. The national assembly restructured
7950-405: The Cortes was considerable, since he had founded a review in London called El Español (1810–1814), which was backed by the British Foreign Office and distributed by British firms with trade in Spanish America. It became highly influential in Spanish America. The aim of the publication was to "assist the Cortes frame a moderate constitution, and, more important, to effect reconciliation between
8109-489: The Cortes was located in Cádiz, the most important port for trade with the Americas, meant that the powerful merchant guild ( consulado ) of Cádiz influenced discussions in the Cortes. The consulado attempted to maintain their trade advantages. The Americans wanted freer trade, but the Cortes's location gave the large merchant houses power. In Cádiz, pressures grew to send Spanish troops to quell rebellions in Spanish America, which alarmed Great Britain, now Cádiz's ally against
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#17327725655748268-415: The Cortes: that sovereignty resides in the nation , the legitimacy of Ferdinand VII as king of Spain, and the inviolability of the deputies. With this, the first steps towards a political revolution were taken, since prior to the Napoleonic intervention, Spain had been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the Bourbons and their Hapsburg predecessors. Although the Cortes was not unanimous in its liberalism,
8427-413: The Crown of Castile in the Americas) and proclaimed the extinction of the system of kingdoms and provinces of Spain and the Indies. The majority of the Criollo people of Spanish America rejected the pretensions of the Spaniards and assumed the sovereignty of the former American kingdoms of the Crown of Castile , over which the King of Spain had been sovereign. Spain's American colonies took advantage of
8586-515: The Earth—laid the foundation for Spain's Pacific empire and for Spanish control over the East Indies . The influx of gold and silver from the mines in Zacatecas and Guanajuato in Mexico and Potosí in Bolivia enriched the Spanish crown and financed military endeavors and territorial expansion. Another crucial element of the empire's expansion was the financial support provided by Genoese bankers, who financed royal expeditions and military campaigns. In 1700, Philip V became king of Spain after
8745-401: The Emperor's brother, whereas Spain and the remaining possessions were inherited by Charles's son, Philip II of Spain , at the abdication of the former in 1556. The Habsburgs pursued several goals: "I learnt a proverb here", said a French traveler in 1603: "Everything is dear in Spain except silver". The problems caused by inflation were discussed by scholars at the School of Salamanca and
8904-457: The French in the Peninsular War . Britain ordinarily would have been for the opening up of trade in Spanish America, but during the Peninsular conflict, it wanted as many troops as possible in Spain to defeat the French. Britain rejected pressure to support Spain's attempt to repress rebellion in Spanish America. Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos , who had served as Charles IV's minister of justice but had been sidelined by Manuel Godoy , argued for
9063-448: The French invasion and occupation of the peninsula, local ruling bodies or juntas appeared as the underground opposition to the French-imposed government. They were established by army commanders, guerrilla leaders or local civilian groups. Convinced that unity was needed to co-ordinate efforts against the French and to deal with British aid, several provincial juntas, in Murcia , Valencia , Seville and Castile and León , called for
9222-402: The French-style Bayonne Constitution and called for a Cortes with 172 members, of which 62 were to be from Spanish America. There was to be a Council of State with a section for The Indies, the name Spain persisted in using to designate Spanish American and the Philippines, which would be under the control of American-born and Philippine-born Spaniards. Despite these formal attempts to legitimize
9381-421: The Indies trade. Cádiz became the one port for all Indies trading (see flota system ). Individual sailings at regular intervals were slow to displace the traditional armed convoys, but by the 1760s there were regular ships plying the Atlantic from Cádiz to Havana and Puerto Rico , and at longer intervals to the Río de la Plata , where an additional viceroyalty was created in 1776. The contraband trade that
9540-505: The Internal Government of Provinces and of the Pueblos (articles 309–323) lays out governance at the provincial and local level. Chapter VII Of the Financial Contributions (articles 338–355) dealt with taxation. Chapter VIII Of the National Military Force (articles 356–365) specified how the military would operate. Chapter IX Of Public Education (articles 366–371) called for uniform public education from primary schools through university, as well as freedom of expression (article 371). Chapter X Of
9699-410: The Moors in 1462. The Christian rivals Castile and Portugal came to formal agreements over the division of new territories in the Treaty of Alcaçovas (1479), as well as securing the crown of Castile for Isabella whose accession was challenged militarily by Portugal. Following the voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and first major settlement in the New World in 1493, Portugal and Castile divided
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#17327725655749858-447: The Muslims. Following Portugal's earlier completion of the reconquest and its establishment of settled boundaries, it began to seek overseas expansion, first to the port of Ceuta (1415) and then by colonizing the Atlantic islands of Madeira (1418) and the Azores (1427–1452); it also began voyages down the west coast of Africa in the fifteenth century. Its rival Castile laid claim to the Canary Islands (1402) and retook territory from
10017-446: The Napoleonic invasion of Spain in 1808, Ferdinand VII ruled as an absolute monarch. Napoleon forced Ferdinand's abdication as well as the renunciation of his father Charles IV 's rights, and then placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne of Spain. Seeking to create legitimacy for Joseph I of Spain, Napoleon called the Cortes, whose delegates he had selected, to proclaim Joseph as the legitimate monarch. The Cortes then approved
10176-412: The North African coast were conquered and occupied by Castile between 1505 and 1510: Mers El Kébir , Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera , Oran , Bougie , Tripoli , and Peñón of Algiers . On the Atlantic coast, Spain took possession of the outpost of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña (1476) with support from the Canary Islands , and it was retained until 1525 with the consent of the Treaty of Cintra (1509). As
10335-408: The Observance of the Constitution and the Way to Proceed to Amend it (articles 366–384). The constitution had no bill of rights , which had been the case of the Constitution of the United States when it was first ratified. Rights and obligations of citizens were embedded in individual articles of the Spanish Constitution. Male suffrage , which was not determined by property qualifications, favoured
10494-407: The Philippines to stay loyal to the empire. A new Cortes was called with delegates from Spain and the overseas components of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The Spanish organized an interim Spanish government, the Supreme Central Junta and called for a Cortes to convene with representatives from all the Spanish provinces throughout the worldwide empire, in order to establish
10653-437: The Portuguese power, but also to take possession of this lucrative commerce. The Crown officially organized this trade with Guinea: every caravel had to secure a government license and to pay a tax on one-fifth of their profits (a receiver of the customs of Guinea was established in Seville in 1475—the ancestor of the future and famous Casa de Contratación ). Castilian fleets fought in the Atlantic Ocean, temporarily occupying
10812-565: The Spanish America, participated. The composition of the Cortes of Cádiz was diverse, with about one-third clerical, one-sixth nobles and the remainder from the " third estate ", the middle class. Historians of Mexico have investigated many aspects of New Spain's representation at the Cortes. Among the most prominent delegates at the Cortes were José María Couto , who served as vice president in April 1813; José María Gutiérrez de Terán , who served as secretary, vice president, and president at various points; and Miguel Ramos Arizpe . The fact that
10971-469: The Spanish Americas, exploring and describing it for the first time from a modern scientific point of view between 1799 and 1804. In his work Political essay on the kingdom of New Spain containing researches relative to the geography of Mexico he says that the Amerindians of New Spain were wealthier than any Russian or German peasant in Europe. According to Humboldt, despite the fact that Indian farmers were poor, under Spanish rule they were free and slavery
11130-516: The Spanish had reached Tlatelolco's center, raising their new flag atop the city's twin towers. Having exhausted their gunpowder, they attempted a catapult breach but failed. On 3 August, 12,000 more civilians were killed in another city section. Alvarado's destruction of the aqueducts forced the Aztecs to drink from the lake, causing disease and thousands of deaths. Another major assault occurred on 12 August, during which many thousands of non-combatants were massacred in their shelters. The following day,
11289-416: The Spanish overseas empire in the Americas and the Philippines. The settlement gave spoils to those who had backed a Habsburg for the Spanish monarchy, ceding European territory of the Spanish Netherlands , Naples , Milan , and Sardinia to Austria ; Sicily and parts of Milan to the Duchy of Savoy , and Gibraltar and Menorca to the Kingdom of Great Britain . The treaty also granted British merchants
11448-667: The Spanish-speaking world." This document is variously called the Bayonne Statute and the Bayonne Constitution . It abolished privileges fueros , the inquisition , and preserved the Cortes. Catholicism was kept as the sole religion. It is said that all but a few pro-French Spaniards rejected this document. From the first days of the Peninsular War , which erupted in Spain; in resistance to
11607-599: The Supreme Central Junta saw itself simply as a continuation of the legitimate government of Spain in the absence of a monarch considered legitimate. The opening session of the new Cortes was held on 24 September 1810 in the building now known as the Real Teatro de las Cortes . The opening ceremonies included a civic procession, a mass , and a call by the president of the Regency, Pedro Quevedo y Quintana,
11766-594: The United States in 1819 as part of the Adams-Onís Treaty . Louisiana was ceded back to France in 1801 in the Treaty of Aranjuez . The Bourbon monarchy implemented reforms like the Nueva Planta decrees , which centralized power and abolished regional privileges. Economic policies promoted trade with the colonies, enhancing Spanish influence in the Americas. Socially, tensions emerged between
11925-658: The balance of power and safeguarding the Spanish Empire from falling into enemy hands. With the 1700 death of the childless Charles II of Spain , the crown of Spain was contested in the War of the Spanish Succession . Under the Treaties of Utrecht (11 April 1713) ending the war, the French prince of the House of Bourbon , Philippe of Anjou, grandchild of Louis XIV of France, became King Philip V of Spain . He retained
12084-471: The beginning of Catalan participation in the Spanish slave trade , and the rapidly growing textile industry of Catalonia which by the mid-1780s saw the first signs of industrialization. This saw the emergence of a small, politically active commercial class in Barcelona . This isolated pocket of advanced economic development stood in stark contrast to the relative backwardness of most of the country. Most of
12243-461: The bishop of Ourense , for those present to fulfill their task loyally and efficiently. Still, the very act of resistance to the French involved a certain degree of deviation from the doctrine of royal sovereignty: if sovereignty resided entirely in the monarch, then Charles and Ferdinand's abdications in favor of Napoleon would have made Joseph Bonaparte the legitimate ruler of Spain. The representatives who gathered at Cádiz were far more liberal than
12402-491: The bulls Romani Pontifex dated 6 November 1436 and Dominatur Dominus dated 30 April 1437. The conquest of the Canary Islands , inhabited by Guanche people, began in 1402 during the reign of Henry III of Castile , by Norman nobleman Jean de Béthencourt under a feudal agreement with the crown. The conquest was completed with the campaigns of the armies of the Crown of Castile between 1478 and 1496, when
12561-438: The capital Guadalajara was the site of ongoing fighting. Among the most debated questions during the drafting of the constitution was the status of the native and mixed-race populations in Spain's possessions around the world. Most of the overseas provinces were represented, especially the most populous regions. Both the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Viceroyalty of Peru had deputies present, as did Central America ,
12720-416: The cathedral chapter, all dominated by creoles, to oppose peninsular-born bureaucrats. The Constitution also brought in a certain measure of federalism through the back door, both on the peninsula and overseas: elected bodies at the local and provincial level might not always be in lockstep with the central government. The Constitution was signed in March 1812, but it was not promulgated immediately throughout
12879-408: The causeway at Tlacopan by the armies of Alvarado and Cristóbal de Olid . While fighting on the causeway, the Spanish and their allies came under attack from both sides by Aztecs firing arrows from canoes. Thirteen Spanish brigantines sank 300 out of 400 enemy war canoes sent against them. The Aztecs tried to damage the Spanish vessels by hiding spears beneath the shallow water. The attackers breached
13038-549: The city and engaged in fighting with the Aztec defenders in the streets. The Aztecs defeated the Spanish-Tlaxcalan forces at the Battle of Colhuacatonco on 30 June 1521. Following this Aztec victory, 53 Spanish prisoners were paraded to the tops of Tlatelolco 's highest pyramids and publicly sacrificed . In late July, the attackers resumed their assaults, resulting in the massacre of 800 Aztec civilians. By 29 July,
13197-504: The city fell and Cuauhtémoc was captured. At least 100,000 Aztecs died during the siege, while 100 Spaniards and up to 30,000 of their Indigenous allies were killed or died from disease. The fall of Tenochtitlan marked the beginning of Spanish colonial rule in Mexico, leading to the establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1535. In 1532, Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire by capturing its leader Atahualpa during
13356-479: The city, were in the majority and representatives of the Church and nobility constituted a minority. Liberals wanted equality before the law, a centralized government, an efficient modern civil service, a reform of the tax system, the replacement of feudal privileges by freedom of contract , and the recognition of the property owner's right to use his property as he saw fit. Three basic principles were soon ratified by
13515-657: The colonies. The move was unpopular among liberal officers assigned to the American wars. By the second half of 1826 only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under the Spanish flag in the Americas, with the Philippines and Guam also under Spanish rule in Asia. Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire , sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy , was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with
13674-541: The colonization of the Philippines, which began in 1565 with the arrival of Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi , making him ruler of one of the first true globe-spanning empires. His victory in the War of the Portuguese Succession led to the annexation of Portugal in 1580, effectively integrating its overseas empire—encompassing coastal Brazil and African and Indian coastal enclaves—into Spain's domain. Philip II also reaffirmed Spanish control over
13833-481: The constitution, but was repeatedly met in numerous towns by crowds who welcomed him as an absolute monarch, often smashing the markers that had renamed their central plazas as Plaza of the Constitution. Sixty-nine deputies of the Cortes signed the so-called Manifiesto de los Persas ("Manifesto of the Persians") encouraging him to restore absolutism. Within a matter of weeks, encouraged by conservatives and backed by
13992-456: The convocation of a general Cortes. Jovellanos sought precedents in Spanish history for earlier forms of constitutionalism and found them in the Visigoths. Jovellanos rejected the notion that the Cortes could fundamentally change "the essence of our ancient constitution," and was concerned that sweeping changes would open Spain to the dangers of democracy and despotism. However, he did argue for
14151-481: The crown's encomienda system. Defying the opposition of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar , the governor of Hispaniola, Hernán Cortés organized an expedition of 550 conquistadors and sailed for the coast of Mexico in March 1519. The Castilians defeated a 10,000-strong Chontal Mayan army at Potonchán on 24 March and emerged triumphant against a larger force of 40,000 Mayans three days later. On 2 September, 360 Castilians and 2,300 Totonac Indigenous allies defeated
14310-418: The death of Charles II , the last Habsburg monarch of Spain, who died without an heir. His ascension triggered the War of the Spanish Succession , as various European powers contested his claim to the throne. The conflict concluded with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, allowing Philip, the first Bourbon king of Spain, to retain the throne but resulting in territorial losses for Spain: Gibraltar , Menorca ,
14469-461: The decision to have the Americans elect representatives from their regions to attend the Cortes. Since part of Spanish America was in open revolt, this question of representatives from those regions was fraught. It was argued that the process was illegal, but the Regency decided it was better to have some American representation than none at all. The Regency set electoral procedures for delegates and
14628-550: The decisive Battle of Guinea . The Treaty of Alcáçovas (4 September 1479), while assuring the Castilian throne to the Catholic Monarchs, reflected the Castilian naval and colonial defeat: "War with Castile broke out waged savagely in the Gulf [of Guinea] until the Castilian fleet of thirty-five sail was defeated there in 1478. As a result of this naval victory, at the Treaty of Alcáçovas in 1479 Castile, while retaining her rights in
14787-567: The demands of American-born Spaniards. When King Ferdinand VII returned to power in 1814, he dissolved the Cortes and abrogated the constitution, re-establishing absolute monarchy . The constitution was reinstated during the Trienio Liberal (1820–1823) and again in 1836–1837 while the Progressives prepared the Constitution of 1837 . It was an important model for later constitutions in Spain and Spanish America. However, during
14946-677: The detriment of interests in the colonies, undermined creole elites' loyalty to the crown. When French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded the Iberian peninsula in 1808, Napoleon ousted the Spanish Bourbon monarchy, placing his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne. There was a crisis of legitimacy of crown rule in Spanish America, leading to the Spanish American wars of independence (1808–1826). The Spanish Bourbons' broadest intentions were to reorganize
15105-490: The easternmost parts of Asia. The Treaty of Tordesillas was confirmed by Pope Julius II in the bull Ea quae pro bono pacis on 24 January 1506. The Treaty of Tordesillas and the treaty of Cintra (18 September 1509) established the limits of the Kingdom of Fez for Portugal, and the Castilian expansion was allowed outside these limits, beginning with the conquest of Melilla in 1497. Other European powers did not see
15264-462: The elite of Spain taken as a whole, and they produced a document far more liberal than might have been produced in Spain were it not for the war. Few of the most conservative voices were at Cádiz, and there was no effective communication with King Ferdinand, who was a virtual prisoner in France. In the Cortes of 1810–1812, liberal deputies, who had the implicit support of the British who were protecting
15423-489: The empire. In New Spain, Viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas allowed the Constitution to be published on 19 September 1812. In Peru, the other major viceroyalty, Viceroy José Fernando Abascal had the Constitution published on 1 October 1812. Venegas had to deal immediately upon taking up his post as viceroy the massive uprising of Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla that had broken out days earlier. The inexperienced Venegas scrambled to handle two major simultaneous crises of power:
15582-416: The entire nation and its possessions, including Spanish America and the Philippines . "It defined Spanish and Spanish American liberalism for the early 19th century." With the notable exception of proclaiming Roman Catholicism as the official and sole legal religion in Spain, the constitution was one of the most liberal of its time: it affirmed national sovereignty , separation of powers , freedom of
15741-486: The exclusive right to sell slaves in Spanish America for thirty years, the asiento de negros , as well as licensed voyages to ports in Spanish colonial dominions and openings. Spain's economic and demographic recovery had begun slowly in the last decades of the Habsburg reign, as was evident from the growth of its trading convoys and the much more rapid growth of illicit trade during the period. (This growth
15900-403: The expanding empire became an administrative issue. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella began the professionalization of the apparatus of government in Spain, which led to a demand for men of letters ( letrados ) who were university graduates ( licenciados ), of Salamanca , Valladolid , Complutense and Alcalá . These lawyer-bureaucrats staffed the various councils of state, eventually including
16059-613: The face with the letter "G" (for guerra, the Spanish word for "war") and enslaved by the Spanish, or sacrificed and eaten by the Tlaxcalans. Cortés returned to Tenochtitlan in 1521 with a new invasion force and laid siege to the Aztec capital in May, which was suffering from a smallpox epidemic that killed thousands. The new emperor, Cuauhtémoc , defended Tenochtitlan with 100,000 warriors armed with slings, bows, and obsidian clubs . The first military encounter occurred after an advance along
16218-458: The first written Spanish constitution, promulgated in Cádiz on 19 March 1812, and is regarded as the founding document of liberalism in Spain. It is one of the first examples of classical liberalism or conservative liberalism worldwide. It came to be called the "sacred code" of the branch of liberalism that rejected a part of the French Revolution . During the early nineteenth century it served as
16377-488: The formation of a central body. After a series of negotiations that included the discredited Council of Castile , a Supreme Central Junta met in Aranjuez on 25 September 1808. Serving as surrogate for the absent royal government, it called for representatives from local provinces and overseas territories to meet in an "Extraordinary and General Cortes of the Spanish Nation." It was so called because it would be both
16536-461: The government while prosecuting a war in Spain and maintaining control overseas. Once deliberations started, the delegates split into liberal and conservative factions. Conservative Spaniards saw the Cortes at Cádiz as, at best, an interim solution until "the Desired One", as Fernando VII was called by his supporters, could be restored to the throne. Most monarchists , however, did not admit that
16695-546: The help of the Spanish and British navies, and abolished itself, leaving a regency to rule until the Cortes could convene. The Cortes of Cádiz crafted and adopted the Constitution while besieged by French troops, first on Isla de León (now San Fernando ), then an island separated from the mainland by a shallow waterway on the Atlantic side of the Bay of Cádiz , and within the small, strategically located city of Cádiz itself When
16854-525: The improvements were in and around some major coastal cities and the major islands such as Cuba, with its tobacco plantations , and a renewed growth of precious metals mining in South America. Agricultural productivity remained low despite efforts to introduce new techniques to what was for the most part an uninterested, exploited peasant and laboring groups. Governments were inconsistent in their policies. Though there were substantial improvements by
17013-450: The independence of the executive, the judiciary, and the legislature, but also argued for a bicameral legislature that would have an upper house reserved for the aristocracy. He advocated voting rights based on "qualities of property, rank, and education," to limit democracy. Seville-born Joseph Blanco White had aided Jovellanos in his research into the precedents for Spanish constitutionalism. But his influence on Spanish America's view of
17172-556: The institutions of empire to better administer it for the benefit of Spain and the crown. It sought to increase revenues and to assert greater crown control, including over the Catholic Church. Centralization of power (beginning with the Nueva Planta decrees against the realms of the Crown of Aragon ) was to be for the benefit of the crown and the metropole and for the defense of its empire against foreign incursions. From
17331-436: The insurgent juntas in America and Spain." He was deeply sympathetic to the Americans, publishing letters from Mexican elite Fray Servando Teresa de Mier and Buenos Aires creole patriot, Mariano Moreno , who had called for the opening of trade that would destroy the Spanish monopoly. Blanco White's El Español was denounced by one delegate to the Cortes as "an enemy of his country worse than Napoleon." In its first session,
17490-499: The integrity of the closed Spanish mercantile system and established thriving sugar colonies. At the beginning of his reign, the first Spanish Bourbon, King Philip V, reorganized the government to strengthen the executive power of the monarch as was done in France, in place of the deliberative, Polysynodial System of Councils. Philip's government set up a ministry of the Navy and the Indies (1714) and established commercial companies,
17649-432: The interim, in 1815, a fresh wave of military conflict unfolded as Ferdinand VII dispatched Royalist troops to reclaim control of the Americas. This era is commonly labeled as the restoration or the re-conquest. Reflections on these terms, however, delve into differences between the two. All in all, being pondered whether this period should be viewed as a restoration of Spanish authority or a re-conquest of territories. Until
17808-510: The islands of Gran Canaria (1478–1483), La Palma (1492–1493), and Tenerife (1494–1496) were subjugated. By 1504, more than 90 percent of the indigenous Canarians had been killed or enslaved. The Portuguese tried in vain to keep secret their discovery of the Gold Coast (1471) in the Gulf of Guinea , but the news quickly caused a huge gold rush. Chronicler Pulgar wrote that the fame of
17967-469: The islands of the Spanish Caribbean , Florida , Chile , Upper Peru and the Philippines . The total number of representatives was 303, of which 37 were born in overseas territories although several of them were temporary substitute deputies [ suplentes ] elected by American refugees in the city of Cádiz: seven from New Spain, two from Central America, five from Peru, two from Chile, three from
18126-526: The lands adjoining it for the Spanish Crown. The Catholic Monarchs had developed a strategy of marriages for their children to isolate their rival, France. The Spanish princesses married the heirs of Portugal, England and the House of Habsburg . Following the same strategy, the Catholic Monarchs decided to support the Aragonese house of the Kingdom of Naples against Charles VIII of France in
18285-561: The late 1700s and early 1800s, the Spanish Empire covered over 13 million square kilometres (5 million square miles), making it one of the largest empires in history. Beginning with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus and continuing for over three centuries, the Spanish Empire would expand across the Caribbean Islands , half of South America , most of Central America and much of North America . The Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation —the first circumnavigation of
18444-427: The late 18th century, Spain was still an economic backwater. Under the mercantile trading arrangements it had difficulty in providing the goods being demanded by the strongly growing markets of its empire, and providing adequate outlets for the return trade. From an opposing point of view according to the "backwardness" mentioned above the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt traveled extensively throughout
18603-541: The legislative body for the empire and the body that would write a constitution for it. By the beginning of 1810, the forces under the Junta's command had suffered serious military reverses at the battles of Ocaña and Alba de Tormes. The French inflicted large losses on the Spanish, took control of southern Spain and forced the government to retreat to Cádiz, its last available redoubt on Spanish soil. The Supreme Central Junta dissolved itself on 29 January 1810 and set up
18762-416: The liberals were the majority, they were able to transform the assembly from an interim government to a constitutional convention . The product of the Cortes' deliberations reflected the liberals' dominance. The Spanish Constitution of 1812 came to be the "sacred code" of liberalism , and during the 19th century, it served as a model for liberal constitutions of Latin nations. The national assembly created
18921-635: The mainland was Santa María la Antigua del Darién in Castilla de Oro (now Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Panama and Colombia ), settled by Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1510. In 1513, Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama , and led the first European expedition to see the Pacific Ocean from the West coast of the New World. In an action with enduring historical import, Balboa claimed the Pacific Ocean and all
19080-597: The new Constitution significantly reduced the power of the crown, and the Catholic Church (although Catholicism remained the state religion ). As the principal aim of the new constitution was the prevention of arbitrary and corrupt royal rule, it provided for a limited monarchy, which governed through ministers subject to parliamentary control. It laid out the structure of the three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The constitution has 384 articles in 10 major chapters or (Títulos). Chapter I
19239-494: The number of seats from each region. There were to be 30 representatives from Spanish America: 15 from northern Spanish America plus the Philippines (which was under the administrative jurisdiction of New Spain ). New Spain was allocated 7 suplentes : Guatemala, 2; Cuba, 2; the Philippines, 2; Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico, 1; Spanish South America got 15: Peru, 5; Santa Fé, 3; Buenos Aires, 3; Venezuela, 2; and Chile, 2. Those eligible to serve were to be at least 25 years old and from
19398-555: The papal bull Æterni regis (dated on 21 June 1481). However, this experience would prove to be profitable for future Spanish overseas expansion, because as the Spaniards were excluded from the lands discovered or to be discovered from the Canaries southward —and consequently from the road to India around Africa —they sponsored the voyage of Columbus towards the west (1492) in search of Asia to trade in its spices , encountering
19557-557: The peninsula and overseas grappled with the new political reality, for them it created a crisis of legitimacy of rule. Many places in Spain created juntas to rule in the place of the legitimate monarch. A Supreme Central Junta was created to coordinate the multiplicity of juntas. Napoleon opened a new way for the Spanish Empire to be constituted. His vision acknowledged the aspirations of Spanish colonies for greater equality and autonomy. Spaniards rejecting Napoleon's rule meant they needed to offer political inducements for Spanish America and
19716-459: The place they would represent. Not made explicit was that only males were eligible to serve. When the Cortes convened for the first time on 24 September 1810, 104 deputies were present, 30 representing overseas territories (interim delegates who were living in Spain at the time of the French invasion). Only one of the 36 American deputies arrived in time for the opening session, Ramón Power y Giralt . Eventually, about 300 deputies, including 63 from
19875-433: The position of the commercial class in the new parliament since there was no special provision for the Catholic Church or the nobility . The constitution set up a rational and efficient centralised administrative system, based on newly formed provinces and municipalities, rather than following historic boundaries. The repeal of traditional property restrictions gave the liberals the freer economy that they wanted. However,
20034-405: The position of the commercial class in the new parliament since there was no special provision for the Church or the nobility. Repeal of traditional property restrictions gave liberals the freer economy that they wanted. There was no provision for literacy of voters until 1830, which allowed men in the popular groups access to suffrage. The constitution set up a centralized administrative system for
20193-455: The postwar chaos to proclaim their independence. Most established republican governments. The fact that the Constitution was considered too liberal by the conservative elements in the colonies only precipitated their decision to join the effort for independence from Spain. When Ferdinand was restored to the throne in Madrid , he expended wealth and manpower in a vain effort to reassert control over
20352-406: The press , free enterprise , abolished corporate privileges ( fueros ), and established a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system . It was one of the first constitutions that allowed universal male suffrage , with some exceptions, through a complex indirect electoral system . It extended political rights for representation to Spanish America and the Philippines, a significant step for
20511-496: The rule of Joseph Bonaparte by gaining consent of the Cortes, it was rejected by Spaniards on the peninsula and Spanish America and the Philippines. It had great importance, since it "set off a process that led to the collapse of the Spanish empire. The Napoleonic regime in Madrid forced two issues: the relative freedom of the colonies to pursue their own affairs, and the rights to representation in imperial assemblies." As Spaniards in
20670-447: The ruling elite and the rising bourgeoisie, as well as divisions between peninsular Spaniards and Creoles in the Americas. These factors ultimately set the stage for the independence movements that began in the early 19th century, leading to the gradual disintegration of Spanish colonial authority. By the mid-1820s, Spain had lost its territories in Mexico, Central America, and South America. By 1900, it had also lost Cuba , Puerto Rico ,
20829-403: The rural Bajío faced rising land prices, falling wages. Eviction of many from their lands resulted. With a Bourbon monarchy came a repertory of Bourbon mercantilist ideas based on a centralized state, put into effect in the Americas slowly at first but with increasing momentum during the century. Shipping grew rapidly from the mid-1740s until the Seven Years' War (1756–63), reflecting in part
20988-628: The same amount of bread as any European city, with 363 kilograms of bread per person per year in comparison to the 377 kilograms consumed in Paris. Caracas consumed seven times more meat per person than in Paris. Von Humboldt also said that the average income in that period was four times the European income and also that the cities of New Spain were richer than many European cities. Bourbon institutional reforms under Philip V bore fruit militarily when Spanish forces easily retook Naples and Sicily from
21147-422: The same time, the Constitution recognized the civil rights of free blacks and mulatos but explicitly denied them automatic citizenship. Furthermore, they were not to be counted for the purposes of establishing the number of representatives a given province was to send to the Cortes. That had the effect of removing an estimated six million people from the rolls in the overseas territories. In part, that arrangement
21306-557: The success of the Bourbons in bringing illicit trade under control. With the loosening of trade controls after the Seven Years' War, shipping trade within the empire once again began to expand, reaching an extraordinary rate of growth in the 1780s. The end of Cádiz's monopoly of trade with the American colonies brought about very important changes, particularly a rebirth of Spanish manufactures. Most notable of those changes were both
21465-488: The territories of the Spanish Empire. That had the effect of changing the legal status of the people not only in Peninsular Spain but also in Spanish possessions overseas. In the latter case, not only people of Spanish ancestry but also indigenous peoples as well were transformed from the subjects of an absolute monarch to the citizens of a nation rooted in the doctrine of national, rather than royal, sovereignty. At
21624-468: The throne of Spain to his older brother Joseph Napoleon , who was crowned in July 1808. Napoleon thought that a reformist regime would be welcomed by the Spanish people, but they chose loyalty to Ferdinand VII. In order to further shore up French dominance and implement structural changes, Napoleon brought together as many aristocrats as possible to Bayonne, where they ratified "the first written constitution of
21783-440: The thrones of the Crown of Aragon . The two became known as the Catholic Monarchs , with their marriage a personal union that created a relationship between the Crown of Aragon and Castile, each with their own administrations, but ruled jointly by the two monarchs. Ferdinand and Isabella defeated the last Muslim king out of Granada in 1492 after a ten-year war . The Catholic Monarchs then negotiated with Christopher Columbus ,
21942-551: The title of the Catholic Monarchs . Ferdinand of Aragon was particularly concerned with expansion in France and Italy, as well as conquests in North Africa. With the Ottoman Turks controlling the choke points of the overland trade from Asia and the Middle East, both Spain and Portugal sought alternative routes. The Kingdom of Portugal had an advantage over the Crown of Castile , having earlier retaken territory from
22101-488: The traditional holders of power— prelates , nobles and those who held office before 1808—but not liberals, who wished to see a constitutional monarchy in Spain, or many who led the war effort against the French but had not been part of the pre-war government. This discontent resulted in several unsuccessful attempts to restore the Constitution in the five years after Ferdinand's restoration. Finally on 1 January 1820 Rafael del Riego , Antonio Quiroga and other officers initiated
22260-535: The treasures of Guinea "spread around the ports of Andalusia in such way that everybody tried to go there". Worthless trinkets, Moorish textiles, and above all, shells from the Canary and Cape Verde islands were exchanged for gold, slaves, ivory and Guinea pepper. The War of the Castilian Succession (1475–79) provided the Catholic Monarchs with the opportunity not only to attack the main source of
22419-477: The treaty between Castile and Portugal as binding on themselves. Francis I of France observed "The sun shines for me as for others and I should very much like to see the clause in Adam's will that excludes me from a share of the world." Spanish settlement in the New World was based on a pattern of a large, permanent settlements with the entire complex of institutions and material life to replicate Castilian life in
22578-862: The viewpoint of Spain, the structures of colonial rule under the Habsburgs were no longer functioning to the benefit of Spain, with much wealth being retained in Spanish America and going to other European powers. The presence of other European powers in the Caribbean, with the English in Barbados (1627), St Kitts (1623–25), and Jamaica (1655); the Dutch in Curaçao , and the French in Saint Domingue (Haiti) (1697), Martinique , and Guadeloupe had broken
22737-709: The war. In 1742, the War of Jenkins' Ear merged with the larger War of the Austrian Succession , and King George's War in North America. The British, also occupied with France, were unable to capture Spanish convoys, and Spanish privateers captured British merchant shipping along the Triangle Trade routes and attacked the coast of North Carolina , levying tribute on the inhabitants. In Europe, Spain had been trying to divest Maria Theresa of
22896-464: The whole empire, in both Iberia and overseas components, based on newly-reformed and uniform provincial governments and municipalities, rather than maintaining some form of the varied historical local governmental structures. The first provincial government created under the Constitution was in the province of Guadalajara con Molina. Its deputation first met in the village of Anguita in April 1813, since
23055-613: The world by the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which gave Portugal Africa and Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to Spain. The voyage of Columbus, a Genoese mariner, obtained the support of Isabella of Castile, sailing west in 1492, seeking a route to the Indies. Columbus unexpectedly encountered the New World , populated by peoples he named "Indians". Subsequent voyages and full-scale settlements of Spaniards followed, with gold beginning to flow into Castile's coffers. Managing
23214-701: Was Of the Spanish Nation and Spaniards (articles 1–9). Chapter II (articles 12–26) was Of the Spanish Territory, Religion, Government and Rights of Citizenship. Chapter III (articles 27–167) dealt with the Cortes, the legislative branch of government. Chapter IV Of the King (articles 168–241) defined the powers of and the restrictions on the monarchy. Chapter V Of the Tribunals, and Administration of Civil and Criminal Justice (articles 242–308) concerned how laws would be administered by specific courts. Chapter VI Of
23373-474: Was a century of prosperity for the overseas Spanish Empire as trade within grew steadily, particularly in the second half of the century, under the Bourbon reforms. Spain's victory in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias against a British expedition in the Caribbean port of Cartagena de Indias helped Spain secure its dominance of its possessions in the Americas until the 19th century. But different regions fared differently under Bourbon rule, and even while New Spain
23532-501: Was a revival of the traditional cortes (Spanish parliament ), which as an institution had not functioned for many years, but it met as a single body, rather than divided into estates as with previous ones. The General and Extraordinary Cortes that met in the port of Cádiz starting 24 September 1810 "claimed legitimacy as the sole representative of Spanish sovereignty ", following the French invasion and occupation of Spain during
23691-464: Was a strategy by the peninsular deputies to achieve equality in the number of American and peninsular deputies in the future Cortes, but it also served the interests of conservative Criollo representatives, who wished to keep political power within a limited group of people. The peninsular deputies, for the most part, were also not inclined towards ideas of federalism promoted by many of the overseas deputies, which would have granted greater self-rule to
23850-455: Was defeated in Italy by an alliance of Britain, France, Savoy, and Austria. Following the war, the new Bourbon monarchy took a much more cautious approach to international relations, relying on a family alliance with Bourbon France, and continuing to follow a program of institutional renewal. The crown program to enact reforms that promoted administrative control and efficiency in the metropole to
24009-466: Was forced to abdicate under pressure. French armies were occupying Portugal and Spain, with some 50,000 in the capital Madrid, so that whoever was on the throne of Spain, the monarch had to contend with French troops. Napoleon saw the opportunity to bring down the dysfunctional and weak Bourbon monarchy by pitting father and son against each other further, to his own advantage. He invited Ferdinand VII to Bayonne , France, where Ferdinand thought that Napoleon
24168-488: Was going to affirm him as Spain's legitimate ruler. His father Charles and mother María Luisa were also separately called to Bayonne. After the Dos de Mayo Uprising (2 May) 1808, Napoleon forced Ferdinand to abdicate the throne in favor of his father, who had abdicated under pressure. Because Charles hated his son so much that he did not want him to be his heir, he then abdicated in favor of Napoleon himself. Napoleon turned over
24327-404: Was little apparent wealth and the numbers of indigenous were declining. Those from the less prosperous Hispaniola were eager to search for new success in a new settlement. From there Juan Ponce de León conquered Puerto Rico (1508) and Diego Velázquez took Cuba . Columbus encountered the mainland in 1498, and the Catholic Monarchs learned of his discovery in May 1499. The first settlement on
24486-578: Was non-existent, their conditions were much better than any other peasant or farmer in northern Europe . Humboldt also published a comparative analysis of bread and meat consumption in New Spain compared to other cities in Europe such as Paris. Mexico City consumed 189 pounds of meat per person per year, in comparison to 163 pounds consumed by the inhabitants of Paris, the Mexicans also consumed almost
24645-402: Was particularly prosperous, it was also marked by steep wealth inequality. Silver production boomed in New Spain during the 18th century, with output more than tripling between the start of the century and the 1750s. The economy and the population both grew, both centered around Mexico City. But while mine owners and the crown benefited from the flourishing silver economy, most of the population in
24804-550: Was restored to the throne in 1814, he refused to recognize it. He dismissed the Cortes Generales on 4 May and ruled as an absolute monarch . These events foreshadowed the long conflict between liberals and traditionalists that marked Spanish history in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Cádiz Cortes declared that the people of Spain have the sovereignty of all kingdoms of the Monarchy of Spain (including those of
24963-412: Was slower than the growth of illicit trade by northern rivals in the empire's markets.) However, this recovery was not then translated into institutional improvement, rather the "proximate solutions to permanent problems." This legacy of neglect was reflected in the early years of Bourbon rule in which the military was ill-advisedly pitched into battle in the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–20). Spain
25122-403: Was the first document to establish an administrative organization in the Indies. Columbus' discoveries began the Spanish colonization of the Americas . Spain's claim to these lands was solidified by the Inter caetera papal bull dated 4 May 1493, and Dudum siquidem on 26 September 1493. Since the Portuguese wanted to keep the line of demarcation of Alcaçovas running east and west along
25281-457: Was the lifeblood of the Habsburg empire declined in proportion to registered shipping (a shipping registry having been established in 1735). Two upheavals registered unease within Spanish America and at the same time demonstrated the renewed resiliency of the reformed system: the Tupac Amaru uprising in Peru in 1780 and the rebellion of the comuneros of New Granada , both in part reactions to tighter, more efficient control. The 18th century
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