Navarra ante el nuevo fenómeno constitucional: el gobierno del último reino peninsular entre 1808 y 1814

Abstract

The period from 1808 to 1814 in Navarre was most notable because of the French occupation, but it was also notable because of the worries of the traditional Navarrese institutions about the establishment of a constitutional regime. In this article we wish to make known the texts which, under the title of The Constitution of Navarre, were drawn up to defend Navarre’s special regime and its status as a kingdom in opposition to the convocation of the Bayonne Assembly in 1808. It was also presented in opposition to the Cadiz Cortes. We examine the actions of the Kingdom’s Council in the period 1808 – 1814: it fled from Pamplona when the French invaders approached, as did its commissioners to the Central Government of Spain. We also describe the election of representatives to the Navarrese Parliament in 1813. It is of special interest to describe the creation of a new Provincial Council, which was active between 1st October, 1813 and 16th May, 1814, and introduced various new measures, while at the same time trying to preserve the traditional Navarrese regime, for instance by declaring its loyalty to Ferdinand VII on his return. This study ends with the reestablishment of the Ancien Regime in 1814.