Public celebration, political rituality and religious ceremonial: The publication and oath of the Constitution of Cadiz in the Southwest Peninsular in 1812

Abstract

The Constitution of 1812 required from the beginning the knowledge and public support of the population, what the Cadiz authorities tried to achieve through a formal and festive mise en scene: its publication and reading aloud in a public place, the oath in the parish church, accompanied by peal of bells, illuminations and artillery salvoes. But the reality was ultimately much richer and more complex, exceeding in not a few cases the framework of celebration included in the regulations. Precisely, this article analyzes the development of the publication and the constitutional oath in several towns in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula and allows us to verify the plurality of experiences resulted from the combination of the general guidelines established from outside the community and the readings and interpretationsmade from within influenced by its own realities and traditions.

Enviado el (Submission Date): 07/12/2020

Aceptado el (Acceptance Date): 3/02/2021