Spanish Constitution of 1812

The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy, commonly called the Constitution of Cadiz and nicknamed La Pepa, was ratified on March 19, 1812 by the Cortes of Cadiz and became Spain's first written constitution, drafted during the Peninsular War as a response to French occupation. It established a constitutional monarchy with separated powers, affirmed that sovereignty resided in the nation, guaranteed freedom of the press, abolished many corporate and noble privileges, and introduced an early form of male suffrage through indirect elections, while also declaring that the Spanish nation comprised Spaniards of both hemispheres, extending political representation to Spanish America and the Philippines. It became an influential model for liberal constitutions elsewhere, including in Norway, Portugal and Mexico, in the early nineteenth century. King Ferdinand VII abolished the constitution in 1814, though it was twice restored, during the Trienio Liberal from 1820 to 1823 and again briefly from 1836 to 1837, before Spain moved on to a series of later constitutions.