Ressuscitar as Cortes antigas para frear a Revolução de 1820

Abstract

At the time of the Liberal Revolution (1820), the Portuguese Cortes had not met for more than a century and the idea of summoning them again gave rise to a heated dispute by the two forces in conflict – the Provisional Junta of the Supreme Government of the Kingdom (based in Porto) and the Regency of the Kingdom (based in Lisbon). On the revolutionary side, the Cortes were required to provide a Constitution to the country and to rescue it from the despotism of absolute monarchy. However, the Regency of the Kingdom decided to counterattack and to summon the traditional Cortes in order to halt the advance of the revolutionary movement. This article analyzes this failed attempt to resurrect the old Cortes, which has gone virtually unnoticed in the historiography of the Liberal Revolution and led to the adoption of the first Portuguese electoral law, so far unknown, which is analyzed here firsthand.