Constitutional Charter of 1826
The constitutional charter of 1826 , often simply called the charter , was the second constitution in the history of Portugal . It was given to the country by King Peter IV in 1826 .
Unlike the country's first constitution, which was passed by a constituent assembly ( Cortes ) in 1822 (see Liberal Revolution in Portugal ), the charter was a so-called “enforced constitution”, as it was adopted by the king without the participation of the people was issued in its own power.
The charter provided for a bicameral parliament . The upper chamber, modeled on the British House of Lords , consisted of hereditary peers, the House of Representatives was partly elected and partly appointed by the King. The charter was much more conservative than the constitution of 1821, since the king wanted to satisfy the supporters of the absolute monarchy with it. Nevertheless, the charter was rejected by them, suspended when the absolutist King Michael I came to power and only reintroduced after the victory of the liberals in the Miguelistenkrieg .
After the Miguelista War, there was a nationwide split among the liberals over the question of whether the Charter should continue to apply or a liberal constitution modeled on the 1822 model. The supporters of both sides, the Cartists on the one hand (supporters of the Charter ) and the Setembrists on the other (supporters of a liberal constitution), fought each other in a way that would eventually lead to civil war. Depending on who had the upper hand in this conflict, the charter was suspended or reintroduced. The Charter was the constitution of Portugal from 1826 to 1828, from 1834 to 1836 and from 1842 until the end of the monarchy in 1910. The Charter was substantially changed in 1852 by a constitutional reform in order to make it acceptable to the Setembrists.