Spain, Kingdom. A Medal for Supporters of the 1812 Constitution and its Reinstatement, c.1820

In bronze gilt, measuring 39.5 mm (w) x 33.5 mm (h), light contact, near extremely fine.

Footnote: The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was established on March 19, 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, Spain's first national sovereign assembly, the Cortes Generales (""General Courts""), in refuge in Cádiz during the Peninsular War. It established the principles of universal male suffrage, national sovereignty, constitutional monarchy and freedom of the press, and supported land reform and free enterprise. This constitution, one of the most liberal of its time, was effectively Spain's first (see Constitutions of Spain), given that the Bayonne Statute issued in 1808 under Joseph Bonaparte never entered into effect. However, this new constitution never entered fully into effect either: much of Spain was ruled by the French, while the rest of the country was in the hands of interim junta governments focused on resistance to the Bonapartes rather than on the immediate establishment of a constitutional regime. Many of the overseas territories did not recognize the legitimacy of these interim metropolitan governments, leading to a power vacuum and the establishment of separate juntas on the American continent. On March 24, 1814, six weeks after returning to Spain, Ferdinand VII abolished the constitution and had all monuments to it torn down. Only the Constitution Obelisk in Saint Augustine, Florida survived. The constitution was reinstated during the Trienio Liberal (1820-1823), of which this medal commemorates and was established in 1820, and again briefly 1836-1837 while the Progressives prepared the Constitution of 1837. The Spaniards nicknamed the Constitution ""La Pepa"", possibly because it was adopted on Saint Joseph's Day, and ""Pepa"" being a nickname for ""Josephine"".

This offering is a part of the "Dr. Albert Goodwin Collection", a preeminent assemblage of world Orders, Medals, and Decorations composed solely by Dr.Goodwin between 1946-1967. Dr. Goodwin had a successful career as an educator and prominent physician in New York as well as actively serving in both World Wars with the United States Medical Corps. He acted as both President and Vice-President of the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA) and is responsible for organizing their first convention in 1960. He maintained further membership with the American Society of Military Collectors, the International Orders Research Society, and the American Numismatic Society. His knowledge and passion for history and awards is evident in this meticulously compiled collection that is now available in its entirety for the first time exclusively on eMedals.com.