Cartists

The Cartists were a conservative current within liberalism in Portugal , who were able to gain great influence in Portuguese politics from 1834 (end of the Miguelist War ) and were in government several times.

When, in 1828, Prince Regent Michael (Miguel in Portuguese) dethroned his niece and bride Maria II , proclaimed himself king and reintroduced absolutism in Portugal, all supporters of a constitutional monarchy , known in Portugal as liberals, opposed the new government. When the absolutists lost power in 1834 due to their defeat in the Miguelistenkrieg and no longer played a role in the future political development of the country, the liberals quickly split into two camps.

The antagonism was sparked by the question of what the future constitution of the country should look like. There were two models to choose from. During the liberal revolution , a constituent assembly ( Cortes ) drafted the liberal constitution of September 1822. This was initially in force from 1821 to 1824. September is called Setembro in Portuguese , and the supporters of this constitution, who embodied the more radical part of the liberals, were therefore called Setembrists . In 1826 King Peter IV (who was also Emperor of Brazil as Peter I) dictated a new constitution to the country from Rio de Janeiro, the so-called Carta Constitucional . This represented a compromise and was much more conservative than the constitution of 1822, since Peter IV had hoped - in vain - that the Carta would also satisfy the wishes of the absolutists. The followers of the Carta Constitucional were called Cartists.

Since Queen Maria II, whose independent reign began in 1834 (she was only 15 years old at the time), preferred the Cartists, they initially formed the government several times. Cartist governments ruled the country from 1834 to the September Revolution of 1836 and again from 1842 (with a brief interruption until 1856).

From the cartistic movement the Regeneration Party developed , which ruled the country for longer periods until the end of the monarchy in 1910.

Leading Cartist politicians were the Dukes of Saldanha , Terceira and Palmela, and the Margrave of Tomar .