The Steles of the Constitution: Rituality, public space and iconoclasm in Hispanic liberalism (1812-1874)

Abstract

During the period between the proclamation of the Cadiz Constitution and the end of the Democratic Sexennium, the so-called constitutional steles constituted the main monumental symbol and political object of the new liberal order. Such steles generally consisted of a plaque made of stone or marble, and their presence signaled the attachment of a specific town or city to the Constitution. In a process that started during the 1820 revolutionary cycle, the steles of the constitution became also the main target of those who intended to subvert the liberal order. They did so through an iconoclast repertoire that challenged such order through the physical destruction of the steles themselves. This paper approaches this double process of sacralization and iconoclasm. Its main goal is to understand the role of the stele in the politicization processes during the construction of the liberal order. To achieve this, this paper will use a wide range of examples taken from leaflets, newspapers, chronicles and secondary literature. These examples will be considered through the most recent scholarship on iconoclasm as a political phenomenon. The constitutional stele constitutes an excellent observatory from which to trace issues that include (counter)revolutionary festivals, rituality, symbolism, and the repertoires of collective action of the different political cultures in dispute during the period.