Liberal Revolution of 1820 in the context of "Constituent Cortes of 1820"

Dom Pedro I (12 October 1798 – 24 September 1834), known in Brazil and in Portugal as "the Liberator" (Portuguese: o Libertador) or "the Soldier King" (o Rei Soldado) in Portugal, was the founder and first ruler of the Empire of Brazil from 1822 to 1831 (under the name of Pedro I) and King of Portugal in 1826 (under the name of Pedro IV).

Born in Lisbon, Pedro was the fourth child of King Dom John VI of Portugal and Queen Carlota Joaquina, and thus a member of the House of Braganza. When the country was invaded by French troops in 1807, he and his family fled to Portugal's largest and wealthiest colony, Brazil. The outbreak of the Liberal Revolution of 1820 in Lisbon compelled Pedro I's father to return to Portugal in April 1821, leaving him to rule Brazil as regent. He had to deal with challenges from revolutionaries and insubordination by Portuguese troops, all of which he subdued. The Portuguese government's threat to revoke the political autonomy that Brazil had enjoyed since 1808 was met with widespread discontent in Brazil. Pedro I chose the Brazilian side and declared Brazil's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822. On 12 October, he was acclaimed Brazilian emperor and by March 1824 had defeated all armies loyal to Portugal. A few months later, Pedro I crushed the short-lived Confederation of the Equator, a failed secession attempt by provincial rebels in Brazil's northeast.

The Portuguese royal court transferred from Lisbon to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in a strategic retreat of Queen Maria I, Prince Regent John (the future King John VI), the Braganza royal family, its court, and senior officials, totaling nearly 10,000 people, on 27 November 1807. The embarkment took place on 27 November, but due to weather conditions, the ships were only able to depart on 29 November. The Braganza royal family departed for Brazil just days before Napoleonic forces invaded Portugal on 1 December 1807. The Portuguese crown remained in Brazil from 1808 until the Liberal Revolution of 1820 led to the return of John VI of Portugal on 26 April 1821.

For thirteen years, Rio de Janeiro functioned as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves in what some historians call a metropolitan reversal (i.e., a colony exercising governance over the entirety of an empire). The period in which the court was located in Rio brought significant changes to the city and its residents, and can be interpreted through several perspectives. It had profound impacts on Brazilian society, economics, infrastructure, and politics. The transfer of the prince regent and the royal court "represented the first step toward Brazilian independence, since the prince regent immediately opened the ports of Brazil to foreign shipping and turned the colonial capital into the seat of government."

The Brazilian War of Independence (Portuguese: Guerra de Independência do Brasil) was an armed conflict that led to the separation of Brazil from the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The war was fought across various regions of Brazil, including Bahia, Maranhão, Pará, Piauí, and Cisplatina (present-day Uruguay), with naval battles occurring along the Atlantic coast. Brazilian forces, consisting of regular troops, local militias, and a hastily assembled fleet, defeated the Portuguese garrisons to establish the Empire of Brazil under emperor Pedro I. The war formally ended with the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro in 1825, in which Portugal recognized Brazil's independence.

After the outbreak of the Liberal Revolution in 1820, which forced king John VI to return to Portugal in 1821 after more than a decade in Rio de Janeiro, tensions between local Brazilian elites and the Portuguese Cortes arose. During his stay in Brazil, John VI had elevated the colony to the status of a kingdom in union with Portugal. The changes allowed Brazil to have its own government institutions and directly trade with the rest of the world, which many elites sought to preserve. Efforts by the Portuguese Cortes to restore Brazil to its former colonial status and reduce its political autonomy were met with resistance in various provinces. The tensions culminated in prince regent Pedro of Braganza's proclamation of independence on 7 September 1822, in what became known as the Cry of Ipiranga. Northern provinces, such as Bahia, Maranhão, and Pará, which maintained stronger ties with Portugal than the government in Rio de Janeiro, resisted Brazilian sovereignty, with Portuguese garrisons keeping control of key cities such as Salvador, São Luís, Belém, and Montevideo, in the South.

The Age of Revolution is a period from the late-18th to the mid-19th centuries during which a number of significant revolutionary movements occurred in most of Europe and the Americas. The period is noted for the change from absolutist monarchies to representative governments with a written constitution, and the creation of nation states.

Influenced by the new ideas of the Enlightenment, the American Revolution (1765–1783) is usually considered the starting point of the Age of Revolution. Later revolution would be the French Revolution of 1789, the revolution that rapidly spread to the rest of Europe through its wars. In 1799, Napoleon took power in France and continued the French Revolutionary Wars by conquering most of continental Europe. Although Napoleon imposed on his conquests several modern concepts such as equality before the law, or a civil code, his rigorous military occupation triggered national rebellions, notably in Spain and Germany. After Napoleon's defeat, European great powers forged the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15, in an attempt to prevent future revolutions, and also restored the previous monarchies. Nevertheless, Spain was considerably weakened by the Napoleonic Wars and could not control its American colonies, almost all of which proclaimed their independence between 1810 and 1820. Revolution then spread back to southern Europe in 1820, with uprisings in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Continental Europe was shaken by two similar revolutionary waves in 1830 and 1848, also called the Spring of Nations. The democratic demands of the revolutionaries often merged with independence or national unification movements, such as in Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, etc. The violent repression of the Spring of Nations marked the end of the era.

The Palace of Ajuda (Portuguese: Palácio da Ajuda, Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈʒuðɐ]) is a neoclassical monument in the civil parish of Ajuda in the city of Lisbon, central Portugal. Built on the site of a temporary wooden building constructed to house the royal family after the 1755 earthquake and tsunami, it was originally begun by architect Manuel Caetano de Sousa, who planned a late Baroque-Rococo building. Later, it was entrusted to José da Costa e Silva and Francisco Xavier Fabri, who planned a magnificent building in the neoclassical style.

Over time, the project underwent several periods when the construction was stopped or slowed due to financial constraints or political conflicts. When the royal family had to flee to Brazil (in 1807), following the invasion of Portugal by French troops, the work proceeded very slowly with Fabri taking charge of the project, later followed by António Francisco Rosa. Lack of financial resources would also result in the scaling down of the project. The construction of the Ajuda Palace, which began in 1796 and lasted until the late 19th century, was a project plagued by various political, economic and artistic/architectural problems. It was invaded by Napoleon's troops in 1807, and discontinued by Liberal forces who imposed a constitutional monarchy that reduced the power of the royal family. Artistically, it was a convergence of the Baroque styles from the Palace of Mafra, very connected to regal authority, with the birth of the Neoclassic style from Italy. Further interruptions occurred, due to a lack of funds, political sanctions or disconnection between the workers and the authorities responsible for the project. The project was modified several times, but was generally authored by Manuel Caetano de Sousa (the last Baroque architect) and, later, Costa e Silva and Fabri, both of them Bolognese architects whose tastes crossed the architectural spectrum, but in which Neoclassicism predominated.

The Constitution of Portugal, officially the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (Constituição da República Portuguesa), is the supreme law of Portugal. It superseded the Estado Novo's 1933 Constituion on April 25, 1976 after the Carnation Revolution.

The Consitution was preceded by a number of constitutions including the first one created in 1822 (following the Liberal Revolution of 1820), 1826 (drawn up by King Dom Pedro IV), 1838 (after the Liberal Wars), 1911 (following the 5 October 1910 revolution), and 1933 (after the 28 May 1926 coup d'état).