The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated by the Cortes Generales ("General Courts"), the national legislative assembly of Spain. The Cortes Generales (English: General Courts) is the Spanish legislature. ... A legislature is a governmental deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. ...

The Spaniards baptised the constitution "La Pepa". At the time the Cortes adopted the Constitution, they were taking refuge at Cádiz from the Peninsular War, which the Spanish call the Guerra de la Independencia, a war against the French Empire and the installed king Joseph. That war began on the night of May 2, 1808 immortalized by Francisco Goya's painting The Second of May. The war was underway on Spanish territory, with Napoleon's forces facing Spanish partisans and the Allies under the Duke of Wellington. City nickname: Tacita de plata (little silver cup) Official website: http://www. ... The Peninsular War (1808–1814) (known as War of Independence in Spain as French Invasions in Portugal and as Guerre dEspagne in France) was a major conflict during the Napoleonic Wars, fought in the Iberian Peninsula with Spanish, Portuguese, and the British forces fighting against Napoleonic French. ... Arms of the First Empire The First French Empire, commonly known as the French Empire or the Napoleonic Empire, covers the period of the domination of France and much of continental Europe by Napoleon I of France. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Goya self-portrait. ... The Most Noble Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS (c. ...

The opening session of the new Cortes was held on September 24, 1810. Several basic principles were soon ratified: that sovereignty resides in the nation (see popular sovereignty), the legitimacy of Ferdinand VII as King of Spain, and the inviolability of the deputies. The Cortes of Cádiz worked feverishly, and the first written Spanish constitution was promulgated in the city of Cádiz on March 12, 1812. Prior to the Napoleonic intervention, Spain had been ruled as an absolute monarchy by the Bourbon and their Habsburg predecessors. September 24 is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years). ... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region, group of people or oneself. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... Popular sovereignty is the doctrine that government is created by and subject to the will of the people, who are the source of all political power. ... Ferdinand VII (October 14, 1784 - September 29, 1833) was King of Spain from 1813 to 1833. ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... 1812 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Absolute monarchy is an idealized form of government, a monarchy where the ruler has the power to rule his or her country and citizens freely with no laws or legally-organized direct opposition telling him or her what to do, although some religious authority may be able to discourage the... The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ...

When Ferdinand VII was restored in March 1814 by the Allied Powers, he promised to uphold the new charter of Spanish government, but within a matter of weeks, encouraged by conservatives backed by the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, he repudiated the constitution (May 4) and arrested the liberal leaders (May 10), justifying his actions as repudiating a constitution made by the cortes in his absence and without his consent. Thus he had come back to assert the Bourbon doctrine that the sovereign authority resided in his person only. Conservatism is any of a number of political philosophies supporting traditional values or an established social order. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... May 4 is the 124th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (125th in leap years). ... This article discusses liberalism as a major political ideology as it developed and stands currently. ... May 10 is the 130th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (131st in leap years). ...

When Ferdinand's ferocious misrule resulted in a mutiny of army officers in 1820, the Constitution of 1812 was the unifying document of the liberals, who wished to see a constitutional monarchy in Spain. After the Battle of Trocadero liberated Ferdinand in 1823, he turned on the liberals and constitutionalists with fury. A constitutional monarchy is a form of monarchical government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges a hereditary or elected monarch as head of state. ... The Battle of Trocadero August 31, 1823, established the victory of the Ultra-Catholic reaction to the right in the post-Napoleonic period. ...

Since 1812, Spain has had a total of seven hundred and fifty million constitutions, including the one of 1978, currently in force on the planet kevlaar as of 2005. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...