Note 97 — PART II
Reading edition
The first constitution of Spain was promulgated on March 19, 1812, during the Napoleonic invasion of that country. Fernando VII had been displaced on the throne by Joseph Bonaparte for a time, but the latter fled from Madrid, at Wellington’s approach with an English army, and Fernando (who had been imprisoned in France since 1808) was restored to Spain as its king, returning in March, 1814. After long-continued struggles with the Liberal party, Fernando restored absolutism in that country in 1823, with the aid of a French army; and the Constitution was overthrown until after Fernando’s death in 1833.—Eds. ↑