Spanish Constitution of 1812

The Cadiz charter, liberalism sweeping inscription against absolutism.

Overview

Known as La Pepa, promulgated March 19, 1812 at Cadiz while most of Spain lay under Napoleonic occupation, the Cadiz Constitution established national sovereignty, a constitutional monarchy, and male suffrage, and abolished seigneurial privileges and the Inquisition. It became the banner of liberal constitutionalism across Europe and Latin America, influencing Portugal, Naples, and the new American republics. Fernando VII revoked it on returning in 1814, and it swung in and out of force through the nineteenth century. It was famously translated and discussed among Russian officers, feeding constitutionalist currents there.