The document summarizes the crisis of the Ancien Regime in Spain from 1808-1833. Key events included: - Charles IV's ineffective reign led to economic and social problems and growing tensions. - Spain became increasingly subordinate to French interests under the rule of Manuel Godoy. This led to military defeats and invasion by Napoleon. - In 1808, popular uprisings and royal abdications allowed Napoleon to take control of Spain and precipitate the collapse of the old system.

1. THE CRISIS OF THE ANCIEN REGIME
(1808-1833)

2. The crisis of the Ancien Régime became
unstoppable in Spain during Charles IV’s reign.
The coincidence of a complicated economic and
social context with the political crisis in the
government led to the collapse of the system in
the first decade of the 19th century. A lot of
problems concentrated in those years: bad
harvests, subsistence crises and bread riots,
malaria epidemics, increasing public order
problems, etc. In addition to this, all the
contradictions of the system became evident
when the permanent war situation cut the
connection with the Indies, increased the State
deficit to unsustainable limits and Spain’s
subordination to France’s interests led to the
invasion of the country and a power vacuum
which hastened the collapse of the system.
The Colossus, painting traditionally attributed to
Goya, painted between 1808-1812. This painting
can symbolize all the threats the Spanish
population faced during the crisis of the Ancien
Régime

3. CRISIS OF THE
ANCIEN RÉGIME
- CHARLES IV’S REIGN
(1788-1808)
- PENINSULAR WAR
(1808-1814)
- FERDINAND VII’s REIGN
(1813-1833)
- ABSOLUTIST SEXENIO (1814-1820)
- LIBERAL TRIENNIUM (1820-1823)
- OMINOUS DECADE (1823-1833)
- INITIAL SPANISH VICTORIES (1808)
- FRENCH CONTROL (end 1808-1812)
- ALLIED REACTION (1812-1814)
- ENLIGHTENED GOVERNMENTS (1788-
1792)
- GODOY’s GOVERNMENT (1792- 1808)

4. CHARLES IV ‘s REIGN (1788-1808)
Charles IV started ruling in 1788. His father advised him
to keep the enlightened ministers’ team who had
worked for him (Floridablanca). The first months of his
reign meant a continuation with the reforms, but
without questioning the system.
However, the French Revolution provoked a change in
the orientation of this enlightened policy. The fear of an
“infection” with the revolutionary ideas led to the
immediate closure of the Cortes and a series of
decisions to prevent France’s influence: border closure,
prohibition of importing books, prohibition to study
abroad, rigid censorship, suspension of the Pacte de
Famille with France... This reaction has been called
“Floridablanca’s panic”.
In 1792 Floridablanca was replaced by the Count of
Aranda, who tried a conciliation policy with the
Constitutional Monarchy in France. But when Louis XVI
and his family were imprisoned, conciliation seemed
impossible to maintain. Count of Aranda
Count of Floridablanca
Charles IV

5. Godoy in 1790,
painted by
Francisco Bayeu
Queen Marie Louise of Parma,
painted by Goya in 1789
In November 1792 Aranda was replaced by
Manuel Godoy, a young Corps Guard who
had become a close friend of the royal
couple (especially Charles IV’s wife, Queen
Marie Louise of Parma). Godoy had no
political experience and his rise wasn’t well
received in the court, which contributed to
the monarchy loss of prestige. Godoy was in
charge of the government in two different
periods, from 1792 to 1798 and from 1801
to 1808.
In his first period of government (1792-
1798), Godoy formed a cabinet of
enlightened ministers, like Jovellanos,
Cabarrús, Meléndez Valdés… But the main
worries of this government were focused on
foreign policy. Louis XVI and Marie
Antoinette’s execution in France in 1793
obliged Spain to declare war on France (War
of the Pyrenees or War of the Convention,
1793-1795)

6. War of the Pyrenees, the
Convention or the
Roussillon (1793-1795)
Although the Spanish army,
commanded by General Ricardos,
started the war invading the
Roussillon, the lack of supplies and
the French reaction changed the
sign of the war. The French army
invaded Spain, occupying part of
Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque
provinces and even reached
Miranda de Ebro. Godoy was
obliged to sign a separated peace
with France, the Peace of Basel
(1795): Spain recognized the French
Republic, ceded them their part of
the Island of Hispaniola in exchange
for recovering Guipúzcoa and
signed commercial agreements with
France. For this negotiation, Charles
IV rewarded Godoy with the title of
Prince of the Peace. From then on,
Spain linked its destiny to France,
the only possible ally to confront
Great Britain.
Godoy presenting Peace to Charles IV,
painting by José Aparicio
Godoy as the Prince of the Peace, painted
by Goya in 1801

7. In 1796 Spain and France signed the First
Treaty of San Ildefonso, which meant the
immediate war against Great Britain, with
very harmful consequences, because trade
with the Indies was interrupted almost
definitely, the Spanish Armada was defeated
at Cape Saint Vincent in 1797 and the
economic situation got considerably worse.
The Treasury decided to issue more vales
reales, but their constant devaluation and
the difficulty to pay the promised interests
led to an extraordinary decision: the first
confiscation of ecclesiastical properties
(properties of the expelled Jesuits, charity
institutions (hospitals, hospices, charity
houses…) in 1798, during Mariano Luis de
Urquijo’s government.
End of the Battle of Cape Saint
Vincent. Nelson receiving the
surrender of ship San José
Mariano Luis de Urquijo

8. In 1801 Godoy came back to power, got rid of
his enemies and ruled as a dictator. Problems
persisted. He got the permission from the
Church to confiscate 1/7 of their properties to
finance the war against the United Kingdom
(created in 1800). The Second Treaty of San
Ildefonso was signed in 1801 with Napoleon
Bonaparte. Spain’s submission to France’s
interests increased and led to a short war
against Portugal, an ally of the United Kingdom.
This war, known as the War of the Oranges
(due to the oranges Godoy sent to Queen Marie
Louise as a present), ended with Spain’s victory
and the signature of the Treaty of Badajoz
(1801): Portugal closed its ports to Great
Britain’s ships and the Portuguese city of
Olivenza and the Colony of Sacramento in
Uruguay became Spanish. In 1802 the Peace of
Amiens was signed with the United Kingdom:
Spain recovered Minorca, but not Trinidad, but
trade with the Indies was re-established.
British cartoon called The First Kiss in Ten Years or
the Meeting of Britannia and Citizen François, by James
Gillray about the Peace of Amiens (1802)
Branch of oranges
which gave name
to the Spanish-
Portuguese War

9. But in 1804 a new war against the United
Kingdom started. Napoleon prepared an invasion
of Great Britain and wanted to move the British
fleet away from the English Channel to the
Antilles. But the Spanish-French Armada,
commanded by Vice-Admiral Villeneuve, was
defeated by the British Navy, commanded by
Admiral Nelson, at Cape Trafalgar, near Cádiz port
(Battle of Trafalgar, 21st October 1805). This
defeat was a complete disaster for the Spanish
Armada, not for the number of ships lost, but for
the loss of most of its best officers (Churruca,
Alcalá Galiano, Gravina…).
This failure obliged Napoleon to adopt a new
strategy, the Continental Blockade, a sort of
economic warfare consisting of a large-scale
embargo against British trade (no European
country could buy or sell products to the United
Kingdom).
Battle of Trafalgar (21st October 1805)
Admiral Nelson
Vice-Admiral Villeneuve
Animations of the Battle of Trafalgar:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/animations/trafalgar/index_embed.shtml
http://www.theguardian.com/flash/0,5860,1504015,00.htm
l

10. TREATY OF FONTAINEBLEAU (OCTOBER 1807)
Portugal refused to obey Napoleon’s orders and this led to the signature of the Treaty of
Fontainebleau, on the 27th October 1808: it allowed the entrance of French troops in Spain (28,000
soldiers), who would be joined by 27,000 Spanish soldiers in order to invade Portugal. It also included
the partition of Portugal into three parts, the North for the King of Etruria, the South for Godoy and
the central part which destiny would be decided after the end of the war. The French troops started
coming into Spain immediately.
Partition of Portugal established in the Treaty of
Fontainebleau (1807)
Deployment of the French troops in 1807-1808

11. In the court, Godoy’s enemies had
grouped around Charles IV’s heir, Prince
Ferdinand. This clique promoted the
publication of pamphlets against Godoy
and Prince Ferdinand wrote a letter to
Napoleon asking for his help and a
princess of his family as a wife. This letter
and other compromising papers were
discovered by Godoy’s spies on the 30th
October 1807. Charles IV accused his son
of wanting to dethrone him, Ferdinand
betrayed all his accomplices and was
obliged to ask pardon publicly to his
parents. All the people involved were
judged at El Escorial, but were finally
acquitted. These facts were known as El
Escorial Conspiracy or Process.
Charles IV discovered the conspirers in his son’s
bedroom and ordered the guard to lock them
Priest Escóiquiz,
Prince Ferdinand’s
tutor and one of the
conspirers betrayed
by him. As
punishment, he was
sent to a monastery,
but he managed to
intervene in the
Arajuez Mutiny too.

12. ARANJUEZ MUTINY
Godoy, fearing Napoleon’s intentions, advised the king to move to Seville in order to prepare a
possible flight to America. On the 16th March 1808, when the court was in Aranjuez, a mutiny
against Godoy organized by 20 grandees of Spain and supported by the royal guard and the local
population broke out. Godoy had to hide in order not to be killed.

13. The Aranjuez Mutiny finished with
Godoy’s destitution and Charles IV’s
abdication on his son on the 19th
March. But some days later Charles
IV repented and sent a letter to
Napoleon asking for his help to
recover the throne.
People throwing stones to Godoy after his arrest,
engraving by Francisco de Paula Martí
19th March in Aranjuez
Ferdinand VII

14. Marshall Joachim Murat.
After the Abdications of
Bayonne he asked to be
appointed king of Spain,
but was finally appointed
King of Naples.
Napoleon was aware of the chaotic
situation in Spain’s government and
saw the possibility of controlling Spain.
The French troops had been taking up
positions in several cities and were also
in Madrid, commanded by General
Joachim Murat, who encouraged
Napoleon to seize the country.
Napoleon announced his intention of
going to Spain and Ferdinand VII
accepted his arbitration to solve the
problems with his father and departed
to Bayonne. Charles IV and his wife
also arrived in Bayonne on the 30th
April. The departure of the rest of the
royal family to Bayonne was the spark
that provoked the beginning of the
Peninsular War. Emperor Napoleon I in his office,
painted by Jacques Louis David

15. On the 2nd May 1808 some people who were near the
royal palace observed that some members of the
royal families went out of the royal palace escorted
by the French troops and thought that they were
being kidnapped. The people of Madrid attacked the
French soldiers and the uprising spread throughout
city. Captains Daoíz and Velarde joined the revolt and
gave weapons to the people, but they died fighting,
as did around 1,200 people. The French suffocated
the revolt and killed the prisoners on the 3rd May at
Príncipe Pío Mountain .
2nd MAY 1808
Departure of the royal family from the Royal Palace
The Charge of the Mamelukes in the Puerta del Sol The 3rd of May executions at Príncipe Pío Mountain

16. ABDICATIONS OF BAYONNE
In Bayonne, on the 5th May, Ferdinand gave the crown back to Charles IV. This one gave it to
Napoleon to decide what would be the best for Spain and signed and order appointing Murat, who
had to be obeyed, his lieutenant in Spain.
On the 19th May Napoleon called an assembly of 150 dignitaries who would have to meet in
Bayonne to discuss about Spain’s government and finally on the 6th June he appointed his brother
Joseph king of Spain (Joseph I) and the Cortes of Bayonne issued a sort of royal charter known as the
Bayonne Statute (7th July 1808), based on the French political system.
The main figures of the Abdications:
Ferdinand VII , Charles IV, Napoleon and his
brother Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph I as King of Spain
Bayonne Statute, first

17. In Spain the authorities initially accepted the
orders that had arrived from Bayonne and
cooperated with the French, but the news of
what had happened in Madrid and Bayonne
provoked a generalized revolt and the
beginning of the Spanish Peninsular War
(1808-1814). The first local and provincial
boards appeared in many cities in order to
organize the resistance against the French.
The Supreme Board of Spain and the Indies,
formed in Seville, issued the Declaration of
War to the French Emperor on the 6th June. Fight at Valdepeñas, 6th June 1808, with Juana la
Galana attacking the French with a truncheon. After
this confrontment and other uprisings in other close
villages, like Santa Cruz de Mudela and Manzanares,
the French withdrew from the province of La
Mancha to Toledo and arrived late to Bailén
BEGINNING OF THE PENINSULAR WAR
Francisco de Saavedra,
president of the Supreme
Board of Seville, which
officially declared war on
France

18. PENINSULAR WAR (1808-1814): CONTENDING SIDES
OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT
Joseph I, supported by the
Francophiles, who saw the French
occupation as an opportunity to make
the reforms Spain needed.
Joseph I tried to rule as an enlightened
reformist, but the real power lay on the
French generals. Many times Joseph I’s
wills opposed Napoleon’s orders.
PATRIOTIC FRONT
Leandro Fernández
de Moratín
Juan Meléndez Valdés
Formed by all those who wanted to expel the
French from Spain and Ferdinand VII’s comeback:
- Most of the nobles and clergy: return to
absolutism, defense of religion and traditions
- Most of the bourgeois:
• enlightened reformers, like Floridablanca or
Jovellanos: continuation of the reforms
• liberals: end with the Ancien Régime and
establish a constitutional monarchy
- Most of the population: no political ideas. They
only fought against the invaders and for their
king
Manuel José Quintana,
one of the most outstanding
liberals
Count of Floridablanca

19. The French sieged Zaragoza and suffered two
consecutive defeats in Catalonia in the Battles
of El Bruc (6th-14th June), but the most
determining event was their defeat at the
Battle of Bailén against the Spanish army,
commanded by General Castaños (19th July
1808). This defeat obliged Joseph I to retire
from Madrid to Vitoria.
The Portuguese, helped by the British also
expelled the French from Portugal, after the
Battle of Vimeiro (21st August). Napoleon had
to come into Spain with his Grande Armée
(250,000 experienced soldiers). In September
the Supreme Central Board was created in
Aranjuez and tried to coordinate the Spanish
military operations and look for allies against
the French.
1ST STAGE (1808): FIRST BATTLES AND FIRST FRENCH DEFEATS
The Surrender of Bailén, painted by Casado del Alisal,
who drew inspiration from Velázquez’s Surrender of
Breda

20. 2ND STAGE (NOVEMBER 1808- 1812): ALMOST COMPLETE FRENCH CONTROL OF SPAIN
The French army commanded by Napoleon
defeated the badly organized Spanish troops in
several battles: Espinosa de los Monteros,
Gamonal and Somosierra. Napoleon arrived in
Madrid in December 1808 and issued the
Chamartín Decrees, which meant the abolition
of the Ancien Régime, although many of these
decisions didn’t come into force due to the war
situation.
After this, Napoleon went back to France and
Joseph I came back to Madrid. The French also
conquered Zaragoza and defeated the Spanish
army in Uclés (January 1809. The only success
of France’s enemies was the British victory in
Talavera (July 1809), but after the French
victory in Ocaña (November 1809), the
Supreme Central Board had to take refuge in
Seville first and later in Cádiz. The French
controlled all the Peninsula except Cádiz. Only
the guerrilla fighters continued to resist the
French.
Napoleon’s entrance in Madrid

21. JUAN MARTÍN DÍAZ
EL EMPECINADO
FRANCISCO
ESPOZ Y MINA
Main guerrilla groups
The guerrilla fighters took advantage of
their knowledge of the ground and the
support of the local population and
constantly harassed the enemy.
The most active guerrilla groups were
commanded by Juan Martín Díaz, el
Empecinado, Espoz y Mina, the priest
Merino, Porlier.

22. The soldiers and guerrilla
fighters competed in
atrocities, reflected by
Goya in his series of
etchings War Disasters
WAR DISASTERS
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Los_desastres_de_la_guerra

23. At the beginning of 1812
Napoleon decided to
annex Catalonia to the
French Empire, with
Joseph I’s opposition. That
year the Napoleonic
Empire reached its top.

24. - In 1812 the Spanish-British army,
commanded by the Duke of Wellington,
launched an offensive from Portugal,
invaded Spain, conquered Salamanca and
Extremadura and defeated the French in
the Battles of Ciudad Rodrigo (January
1812) and Los Arapiles (July 1812). Joseph I
had to flee from Madrid again. The allied
troops occupied Madrid and later sieged
Burgos, but the French counter-attacked
and recovered Madrid.
- In 1813 the disaster of the Russian
campaign obliged the French to
progressively retire troops from Spain. The
Spanish-British launched the definitive
offensive, defeating the French in Vitoria
(June 1813), after which Joseph I definitely
left Spain, and San Marcial (August 1813)
and the conquests of San Sebastián and
Pamplona (October).
3RD STAGE: ALLIED OFFENSIVE AND FRENCH RETREAT (1812-1814)
Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington,

25. In December Napoleon signed the Treaty of
Valençay with Ferdinand VII, which allowed him to
come back to Spain, with the condition of not
persecuting the Francophiles. He came back to Spain
in March 1814. In the East of the Peninsula the
French troops retreated to River Llobregat and
stayed in Catalonia until April 1814.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE WAR
- Big demographic losses: estimates calculate
that the French lost around 200,000 soldiers
and 300,000-500,000 Spaniards died.
- Cities and fields were devastated
- production decreased
- hunger and epidemics spread and public debt
increased considerably.
- The power vacuum in Spain was the origin of
the uprisings in the Indies, which led to the loss
of the colonial empire in America.
Litography representing the signature of
the Treaty of Valençay

26. The beginning of the liberal revolution in
Spain took place during the Peninsular War.
The power vacuum created by the royal family
trip to Bayonne and the indifference of the
Spanish authorities after the French
repression of the 2nd of May revolt in Madrid
led to the creation of local and provincial
boards in many cities.
After Bailén victory, the provincial boards
demanded a unified power to coordinate the
military operations and in September 1808 the
Supreme Central Board was created in
Aranjuez, formed by 35 members (two from
every provincial board) and presided by the
Count of Floridablanca. The Supreme Central
Board assumed the executive and legislative
power in Ferdinand VII’s absence and tried to
organize resistance against the French.
LOCAL BOARDS
PROVINCIAL BOARDS
SUPREME CENTRAL BOARD
LIBERAL REVOLUTION
Count of Floridablanca, first president of the
Supreme Central Board

27. THE SUPREME CENTRAL BOARD AND THE REGENCY
The Supreme Central Board assumed the executive
and legislative power in Ferdinand VII’s absence and
tried to organize resistance against the French.
In November 1808 they had to move to Seville and
later to Cádiz and the constant defeats against the
French created a hostile environment against them,
but they made some important decisions:
- alliance with the United Kingdom in January 1809
to expel the French
- war tributes to finance the war
- they rejected to surrender in the spring of 1809.
- their most important decision was the call of
representative and extraordinary Cortes in
January 1810:
▪ 296 deputies elected by indirect census
suffrage in the third degree
▪ The colonies should also send deputies
Once they sent the rules for the elections, the
Supreme Central Board ceded power to a five
member Regency, which tried to boycott the
meeting of the Cortes, but finally had to accept them
due to the pressure of the elected deputies who
arrived in Cádiz. General Castaños, winner at Bailén and
first president of the Council of Regency
The Supreme Central Board in Cádiz, by Ramón
Rodríguez Barcaza, reflects the moment when
they rejected to surrender to the French.

28. The war situation didn’t allow
the elections in many provinces
and many deputies had to be
replaced by substitutes among
the inhabitants of the city of
Cádiz (a cosmopolitan city, due
to trade with the Indies, with
many bourgeois). The Cortes
finally met in the Island of León
(San Fernando) on the 24th
September 1810. There were
representatives of the three
estates
THE CORTES OF CÁDIZ
Island of León

29. CONSTITUTION OF 1812: first Constitution in Spanish history, included
the main principles of liberalism, but without totally breaking with the past
OTHER
LAWS
- abolition of lordships (only the jurisdictional lordships, but
the territorial lordships became private property and the old
feudal contracts became private contracts)
- suppression of the Inquisition, the guilds and the Mesta
- press law (it didn’t eliminate previous censorship)
EXTRAORDINARY
CORTES (Sept
1810 - Sept 1813)
However, the war situation made the implementation of their decisions very
difficult.
ORDINARY CORTES
(Sept 1813- May
1814)
- Formed by a majority of deputies opposed to the reforms, because the
electoral system favoured the election of many members of the clergy and
absolutists, who wanted to eliminate everything done in Cádiz.
- When the French started retiring, the Cortes moved to Madrid in January
1814 and waited for Ferdinand VII’s comeback.
CORTES
OF
CÁDIZ

30. Oath of the deputies of the Cortes of Cádiz,
by Casado del Alisal
EXTRAORDINARY CORTES (SEPT 1810- SEPT 1813)
They met in the Island of León until January
1811, when the war situation obliged them to
move to Cádiz. In the first meeting they assumed
sovereignty and the legislative power (letting
the executive power for the Regency), declared
themselves the legitimate representatives of
the nation in the king’s absence and decided to
write a Constitution.
The first debates showed the different ideas
about how to organize the country:
- the deputies who wanted to preserve
absolutism were called serviles
- those who wanted reforms to eliminate the
Ancien Régime and defended freedom of the
press were called liberals.
Diego Muñoz- Torrero
defended national sovereignty,
freedom of the press and the
abolition of the Inquisition
Agustín de Argüelles
fought for the abolition
of torture and slavery

31. CONSTITUTION OF 1812
• 384 articles, grouped in 10 titles, including the
proceeding for the elections
• Inclusion of the main principles of political
liberalism (division of powers, national
sovereignty…) without totally breaking with the
past. For example, the Catholic religion was the
only one allowed. All the other religions were
forbidden (reflection of the important number of
representatives of the clergy in the Cortes)
• Recognition of rights like freedom, equality of all
the citizens, freedom of speech, right of property
• National sovereignty (including the citizens of the
colonies) and it doesn’t belong to any person or
family. The Nation has the exclusive right of
writing the laws, which have to respect the
citizens’ rights
• Type of State: parliamentary monarchy. The king
was the head of State, but his power was limited
and submitted to the law
Proclamation of the 1812 Constitution, painting
by Salvador Viniegra. The Constitution was
promulgated on the 19th March 1812, to coincide
with the day Ferdinand VII had been proclaimed
King. That’s why the Constitution was popularly
known as “la Pepa”

32. • Division of powers:
• executive for the king, but his power was limited by
the Cortes and his actions had to be ratified by the
ministers
• legislative for the Cortes with the king: one only
chamber, elected by indirect universal male
suffrage in the 4th degree, which made the laws,
controlled the ministers and prepared the budget.
The king had right of suspensive veto for two times
and had to sanction and promulgate the laws
• judicial for independent courts of justice
• Distribution of taxes according to people’s incomes
• Compulsory primary school
• Decentralized organization of the State: provinces ruled
by governors elected by the king and provincial councils
(Diputaciones Provinciales) and municipalities elected by
the citizens
• Creation of a national army, compulsory military service
and a volunteer militia for the defense of the country
(National Militia)

33. Allegory of Ferdinand VII’s comeback to Spain
General Elío
Manifesto of the Persians
RESTORATION OF ABSOLUTISM
After the signature of the Treaty of Valençay, Ferdinand VII delayed his arrival in Madrid and didn’t
follow the route the Cortes had designed for him. In Valencia he received a group of absolutists
deputies who gave him a text (Manifesto of the Persians, signed by 69 reactionary deputies) asking
him to restore absolutism and eliminate all the Cortes had done during the war. On the 4th May 1814
Ferdinand VII issued a decree declaring all the decisions made by the Cortes null and void and
General Elío gave a coup d’ État supported by the British, which re-established absolutism. On the
13th May he arrived in Madrid and persecution and arrest of the liberals started.

34. - ABSOLUTIST SEXENIO (1814-1820)
- LIBERAL TRIENNIUM (1820-1823)
- OMINOUS DECADE (1823-1833)
Ferdinand VII was called the Desired. His reign
can be divided into three periods:

35. ABSOLUTIST SEXENIO (1814-1820)
- Almost all the old institutions of the Ancien Régime
were restored, favoured by the international
context (Congress of Vienna and Restoration).
- Complicated internal situation: country devastated
after the war, economic system destroyed, pro-
independence revolts in many American colonies
and treasury was exhausted.
- Governments unable to make the necessary
decisions to improve the situation
- The king was surrounded by a clique of his friends
who took advantage of the situation to make
personal business.
- The only remarkable decision of this period was
the tax reform designed by Minister Martín de
Garay (1817), who proposed a unique contribution,
but the complicated tax collection system made it
fail and increased the peasants’ discontent.

36. ESPOZ Y MINA,
fled to France
EL EMPECINADO,
banished to Valladolid
LACY, executed
Repression against the liberals was hard.
Many of them took up exile, others took
refuge in secret societies and conspiracies to
restore the constitutional regime soon
started. There were several attempts to
restore liberalism (pronunciamientos),
directed by members of the army or former
guerrilla fighters (set aside for the return of
the old officers’ system in the army, based on
privilege). Sometimes uprisings had civil
support as well. The most important
pronunciamientos:
- Espoz and Mina in Pamplona (1814)
- Porlier in La Coruña (1815)
- the Triangle Conspiracy (1816)
- generals Lacy and Milans del Bosch in
Catalonia and Juan Van Halen in Granada
(1817)
- Bertrán de Lis and Vidal in Valencia
(1819).
All of them failed.

37. On the 1st January 1820 Colonel Rafael
del Riego rose up in Cabezas de San
Juan (Seville) and proclaimed the
Constitution. Many soldiers who were
in Cádiz to embark to America joined
the revolt and Riego commanded them
across Andalusia for around three
months, without finding much support
among the population, but the
uprisings in other parts of the country
(Galicia, Zaragoza, Catalonia, Segovia,
Pamplona) finally led to the triumph of
the pronunciamiento. On the 7th
March 1820 Ferdinand VII, pressured
by the people, restored the 1812
Constitution and called elections
according to the system established in
Cádiz.
Colonel Riego
Ferdinand II’s decree restoring the
1812 Constitution

38. LIBERAL TRIENNIUM (1820-1823)
Three-year period during which the liberals were in
power and tried to legislate following the principles
of political liberalism. Their main enemies were the
king (who used his veto power and conspired to
come back to absolutism), most of the nobles and
the Church (opposed to the reforms that attacked
their patrimony) and many peasants (damaged by
the liberal reforms that obliged them to adapt to the
rules of a monetary and free market economy).
Division of the liberals:
o The moderates or doceañistas, like Argüelles, Martínez de la Rosa or the Count of Toreno,
who had participated in the Cortes of Cádiz, defended cooperation with the monarch and
not breaking totally with the past. They were a majority during the first two years of the
Triennium and formed the governments appointed by Ferdinand VII.
o The exaltados (exalted) or veinteañistas, like Colonel Riego, General Evaristo San Miguel,
José María Calatrava or Juan Álvarez Mendizábal, wanted reforms and believed that the king
had to be subordinated to the Cortes. Their main support came from cities, the youngest
officers of the army and the National Militia. They were in charge of the government in the
last year of the Triennium.
Martínez de la Rosa,
moderate liberal
Evaristo San Miguel,
exalted liberal

39. - Restoration of most of the Cortes of Cádiz
reforms
- New reforms to eliminate the Ancien Régime:
suppression of the jurisdictional lordships and
majorats, dissolution of monastic orders and
confiscation of their properties to sell them at
public auction to reduce the State deficit,
elimination of the Inquisition, reduction of the tithe
to 5%, creation of the National Militia, freedom of
press, abolition of guilds, reorganization of the
army, ordinance about education (divided into three
levels: primary school, which had to be free
universal, secondary school and university studies),
administrative division of the State into 52
provinces… All these reforms had the purpose of
modernizing the country and allowing the
development of free market economy. The liberal
governments also tried to recover the control over
the American colonies, offering them more
participation in the Cortes, but their attempts failed
and the independence process went on.
Caricature representing the burial of the
absolutists
Expulsion of the inquisidors from their siege

40. - Ferdinand VII tried to obstruct the government using
his veto right and appointing governments formed by
moderate liberals (Bardají, Martínez de la Rosa).
- Absolutist parties rose up in some parts of the
country (Catalonia, Navarre, the Maestrazgo
Mountains) and controlled wide areas of the country,
establishing an absolutist regency in the Seu d’Urgell
(pretexting that the king was abducted by the
liberals).
- In July 1822 there was also a failed coup d’État
organized by the monarch, with the cooperation of
the royal guard, stopped by the National Militia.
- Disagreements and confrontations between the
liberals. In 1822 Martínez de la Rosa’s government
lost the confidence of the Cortes, there were new
elections won by the exaltados and the king had to
appoint a government presided by Evaristo San
Miguel, who tried to eliminate the absolutist theat.
PROBLEMS IN THE LIBERAL TRIENNIUM
Baron of Eroles, one of
the members of the
Regency in Urgell
7th of July 1822. The National Militia
stopped the royal guard batallions in the
Plaza Mayor

41. The end of the Liberal Triennium came
from a foreign intervention. In the
Congress of Verona (October 1822), the
Holy Alliance decided to put pressure on
the Spanish liberal government to oblige
them to restore Ferdinand VII’s power.
As the liberal government rejected their
demands, they sent an army from
France, the Hundred Thousand Sons of
Saint Louis (around 92,000 soldiers),
commanded by the Duke of Angouleme.
They invaded the country in April 1823
and didn’t find much resistance.
Duke of Angouleme
Route followed by the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis
Arrival of the Duke of
Angouleme in Madrid

42. The government, the deputies and the king
(obliged to go with them) fled from Madrid
and took refuge in Seville first and in Cádiz
later. The French army sieged Cádiz and as
the government didn’t have any other options
to escape or receive help, on the 30th
September 1823 they decided to set
Ferdinand VII free under the promise of not
taking retaliation against them. But once he
joined the Duke of Angouleme he restored
absolutism and ordered the arrest and
persecution of all the liberals.
Interview between Ferdinand VII and the Duke of Angouleme
Ferdinand VII receiving the Hundred Thousand Sons of
Saint Louis in Cádiz

43. OMINOUS DECADE (1823-1833)
- Return to absolutism and extreme
repression against the liberals
- Creation of the Voluntarios Realistas,
absolutist militia in order to defend the
regime against further liberal uprisings.
- But the complicated economic situation
and the definitive loss of the American
colonies (except Cuba and Puerto Rico)
obliged the government to adopt a more
moderate and realistic policy and some
decisions were made to attract the
industrial and financial bourgeoisie of the
main cities: non- restoration of the
Inquisition, creation of the Police corps to
keep public order. But in other fields, like
education, reaction was predominant
(Calomarde Plan in education)
Voluntarios Realistas from Madrid
Francisco Tadeo Calomarde,
author of a reactionary plan of education

44. DEFINITIVE LOSS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES
The independence process had started in
1808 due to the power vacuum during the
Peninsular War accelerated and generalized
after 1814.
The Spanish governments tried to recover
the control of the colonies, sending around
45,000 soldiers there, but after their defeat
in the Battle of Ayacucho (Perú) in 1824, all
the territories except Cuba and Puerto Rico
became independent republics.
The loss of the American Empire meant a
big economic commotion for Spain.

45. ABSOLUTIST OPPOSITION
Even if reforms were so limited, an extremist party was
formed around Carlos María Isidro, Ferdinand VII’s
brother. They were called the realistas (royalists) or
apostólicos and thought that Ferdinand VII’s absolutism
was weakening and the liberal threat demanded more
serious actions against its supporters. They promoted
several uprisings and conspiracies against Ferdinand VII.
The most serious ones were:
o 1825: Marshall Bessières rose up demanding a
change in the government, the suppression of the
police and the re-establisment of the Inquisition. He
was arrested and executed.
o 1827: Revolt of the Malcontents or Agraviados
(Offended) in Catalonia: their motto was “!Viva
Carlos V, viva la Inquisición!”. They attracted many
peasants affected by the low prices of agricultural
products and the worsening of their lives and formed
an army of around 30,000 men, who were able to
control many Catalan cities and established a Board
in Manresa that proclaimed Carlos Mª Isidro king.
The revolt was finally repressed. Execution of the Malcontents in front of the
Citadel in Barcelona, 1827
Marshall Bessières

46. There were several liberal uprisings:
o 1824: Colonel Francisco Valdés in Tarifa,
supported by captain Pablo Iglesias in Almería
(Expedición de los coloraos). They failed. Valdés
fled to Tánger and Iglesias was executed
o 1826: Colonel Antonio Fernández Baztán and
his brother in Guardamar del Segura also failed.
o 1830: after the 1830 revolution in France,
several failed attempts of invasion of Spain
o 1831: General Torrijos tried to invade Andalusia
with a small group in order to start an uprising
to restore liberalism, but they were cheated,
captured and shot on a beach in Málaga.
Repression against the liberals increased after the
1830 revolution in France. Universities were closed
for two years and persecution against the liberals
led to situations like Mariana de Pineda’s
execution, for having embroidered a flag with the
motto “Libertad, igualdad, ley”.
LIBERAL OPPOSITION
Execution of General Torrijos and his Companions on the
Beach of Málaga, painted by Antonio Gisbert
Mariana Pineda and a reconstruction of the flag
she was embroidering, the cause of her
execution

47. Ferdinand VII’s four wives: Maria Antonia
of Naples, Maria Isabel of Braganza, Maria
Josefa Amalia of Saxony and Maria Christina
of Bourbon-Two Sicilies
SUCCESSION PROBLEM
Ferdinand VII had got married four times, but as he
didn’t have children from his first three marriages,
when he married his young niece Maria Christina of
Naples- Two Sicilies, he decided to clarify succession
and in March 1830 issued the Pragmatic Sanction
the Cortes had approved in 1789. This law allowed
women to reign in Spain, as had been traditional in
Castile from the Middle Ages. In October 1830 their
first daughter, Isabella, was born and became the
heiress to the throne. But this was not accepted by
the apostólicos, who supported Carlos Mª Isidro.
Pragmatic Sanction
eliminating the Bourbons’
Salic Law, finally issued in 1830
Carlos Mª Isidro

48. In September 1832 Ferdinand VII fell ill and
Carlos Mª Isidro’s supporters put pressure on
the king and convinced him to annul the
Pragmatic Sanction and designate Carlos as
heir. But when Ferdinand VII recovered, he
annulled the decree and made some liberalizing
decisions (an amnesty that allowed the return
of 10,000 exiled, the replacement of extremist
officers in the army for other loyal officers).
Carlos Mª Isidro left Spain, went to Portugal
and didn’t swear allegiance to Isabella as
heiress, he rejected to come back and do it,
claiming to be the legitimate heir to the throne.
When Ferdinand VII died in September 1833,
his testament appointed Maria Christina Regent
and Governess during Isabella II’s minority. This
meant the beginning of the First Carlist War
(1833-1840).
Ferdinand VII’s illness, painted by Federico de Madrazo
in 1833
Cartoon about the First Carlist War