Why thousands of ultra-royalists rose up against their own king in 1827
In 1827, thousands of Spanish peasants and artisans launched the War of the Aggrieved. They believed their monarch, Ferdinand VII, was a prisoner of liberal conspirators. This violent uprising, which mobilized up to 30,000 men, served as a direct precursor to the later, more famous Carlist wars.
The 1827 insurrection, known as the War of the Aggrieved, emerged from a deep fracture within the absolutist camp. While the government attempted to soften its policies under pressure from European powers, radical 'ultra-absolutists' demanded a total return to the old order, including the restoration of the Inquisition. These rebels, primarily peasants and artisans, were led by former royalist officers who felt neglected by the state. By mid-September 1827, they had occupied much of Catalonia, operating under the belief that their king was being held captive by Masons and liberals.
Central to the conflict was the concept of double legitimacy. Rebels argued that while Ferdinand VII held the throne by birth, he had lost his right to rule through his actions. They often looked toward his brother, Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, as a more suitable champion for their cause. Interestingly, historians like Julio Aróstegui and Josep Fontana suggest that a key document fueling this sentiment—the Manifesto of the Federation of the Pure Royalists—was actually a forgery created by exiled liberals to sow discord within the royal family and the absolutist ranks.
The rebellion effectively collapsed after Ferdinand VII traveled to Catalonia in late September 1827. By personally appearing before his subjects, he dismantled the rebels' claim that he was being held against his will. Following his arrival, many insurgents laid down their arms, though the subsequent state repression was brutal. The Count of Spain, tasked with restoring order, oversaw summary executions and mass imprisonments. This harsh crackdown, while ending the immediate threat, failed to resolve the underlying tensions, ultimately pushing the ultra-royalist cause toward the conspiracies that would define the coming decades.
Source: War of the Aggrieved
