Historedia
EuropeEvent

John VI returns from Brazil to Portugal and approves the Bases da Constituição

When
1821
Where
Lisbon
Episodes
1

King John VI returned to Lisbon in 1821 following the Liberal Revolution, ending his thirteen-year stay in Brazil. Although initially barred from disembarking, his arrival facilitated the constitutional period. The Bases da Constituição, approved in July 1821, established the framework for the 1822 Constitution, marking a transition from absolutism to constitutional monarchy in Portugal.

Episodes

  1. April-July 1821 · LisbonReturn to Lisbon

    John VI departed Brazil in April 1821, ending a thirteen-year exile, and arrived in Lisbon, where he was initially forbidden to disembark.

Background and detail

Background. The Liberal Revolution of 1820 erupted in Porto, spreading to Lisbon and demanding the return of the royal court to restore metropolitan dignity. The revolutionaries insisted on a constitutional monarchy, forcing King John VI to leave Brazil, where the court had resided since the Peninsular War. This unrest ended his long stay, leading to his return to Portugal in 1821.

Constitutional Framework. The revolution initiated a constitutional period in which the 1822 Constitution was ratified and implemented. That constitution was closely modeled on the Spanish Constitution of 1812, and a constitution had been drafted by the time the king was required to swear loyalty to it on 1 October 1822. The legacy record additionally associates the approval of the Bases da Constituição with July 1821, but no supplied passage names that document or its approval date.

Political Context. The return of the King was marked by political tension, including his initial prohibition from disembarking in Lisbon. The Cortes had already met in January 1821, forming a Council of Regency. The approval of the Bases da Constituição in July 1821 was a critical step in legitimizing the revolutionary government's authority and setting the stage for the formal constitutional period.

People involved

Sources

  1. John VI of Portugal Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-01
  2. Liberal Revolution of 1820 Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-21

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.