The Political Constitution of the Portuguese Monarchy ''(Constituição Política da Monarquia Portuguesa)'' of 1838 was the third Portuguese constitution. After the

September Revolution The September Revolution ( pt, Revolução de Setembro) was a coup d'etat that took place on 9 September 1836 in Portugal and ended '' Devorismo'', leading to the promulgation of the Constitution of 1838. Causes A number of liberal laws, advoc ...

in 1836, the

Constitutional Charter of 1826 The Charter of 1826 or ''Carta Constitucional'', often simply referred to as the ''Carta'', was the second constitution in Portuguese history. It was given to the country in 1826 by King Dom Pedro IV. The constitution remained in force, with the ...

was abolished and in its place the Constitution of 1822 was temporarily restored, while a constituent Cortes was convened to produce a new constitution. This was agreed, and

Maria II , image = Queen Maria II by John Simpson.jpg , caption = Portrait by John Simpson, 1835 , succession = Queen of Portugal , reign = , predecessor = Pedro IV , successor = Miguel I , reg-type = Regents , regent ...

swore an oath to it on 4 April 1838. It was a synthesis of the previous constitution of 1822 and 1826, with the establishment of an elected Senate rather than a House of Peers also drawn from the 1831

Constitution of Belgium The Constitution of Belgium ( nl, Belgische Grondwet, french: Constitution belge, german: Verfassung Belgiens) dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility f ...

and the

Spanish Constitution of 1837 The Spanish Constitution of 1837 was the constitution of Spain from 1837 to 1845. Its principal legacy was to restore the most progressive features of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and to entrench the concepts of constitutionalism, parliament ...

. The French constitution of 1830 was also a source of influence. Its main features were the separation of legislative, judiciary and executive powers, a two chamber (Senate and Chamber of Representatives), the royal veto and administrative decentralisation. In addition, article 98 excluded from the royal succession the absolutist pretender Miguel I and all his successors (

Miguelista In the history of Portugal, a Miguelist (in Portuguese language, Portuguese ''Miguelista'') was a supporter of the legitimacy of the king Miguel of Portugal, Miguel I of Portugal. The name is also given to those who supported Absolute monarchy, a ...

s). It re-established direct and universal suffrage. The 1838 constitution was also the first in Portugal to recognise the right to

freedom of assembly Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...

. The constitution was only briefly in effect. On his arrival in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

on 10 February 1842 Costa Cabral was hailed with popular calls for the return of the Constitutional Charter of 1826, which he restored following a coup d’état on his return to

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Text of the Portuguese constitution of 1838
Government of Portugal Law of Portugal Defunct constitutions 1838 in politics 1838 in law 1838 documents