Madoz Disentailment of 1855: History and Impact

The Madoz Disentailment of May 1, 1855

The text is legal, legislative, and public. It is a disentailment law. As shown in the text, this law affects all public and church property—that is, "dead hands" (mortmain) or property that was not producing anything.

Comparison with Mendizábal's Confiscation

This represented a continuation of Mendizábal's confiscation, aiming to remedy the public debt and end the Second Carlist War. The results were also very similar: government debt was addressed, economic returns increased slightly, but low productivity still failed to sufficiently feed the population.

The key difference from Mendizábal's confiscation is that by selling civilian and communal goods, the peasants suffered. That is, they were left without land to work or own, and without common lands for livestock grazing, which posed a serious problem. Moreover, just as in the confiscation of 1836, it benefited only the wealthy, who increased their incomes considerably.

The Historical Context: The Progressive Biennium

In its historical context, although the Madoz law remained in effect until 1924, it was passed during the Progressive Biennium (1854–1856), the period in which it arose and created the greatest impact. This period resulted from a military uprising against the crisis of 1854. It was led by Generals Dulce, O'Donnell, and Serrano, who, along with Cánovas del Castillo, were the leaders of this revolution.

The ideals of this revolution were embodied in the Manifesto of Manzanares. As a result of the Manifesto and the events of July 17 to 19 in Madrid, Espartero returned from exile and formed a government with O'Donnell.

Key Measures and the Constitution of 1856

The measures taken were decisive:

• Rise of military revolutionaries
• Changes in regional governments
• Replacement of ambassadors and civil governors
• Establishment of Constitutional Courts
• Press freedom and religious tolerance
• The exile of Maria Cristina

A project that was not enacted but remained highly important was the Constitution of 1856, which had a progressive character. It advocated for:

• National Militia
• National sovereignty
• Freedom of the press and religion
• Universal suffrage

The End of the Biennium and Conclusion

However, opposition, tensions with the Holy See, economic crisis, and social unrest eventually resulted in a coup by O'Donnell. Thus ended the Progressive Biennium in July 1856.

In conclusion, the Madoz confiscation was a reflection of the state revolution taking place in Spain and the broader European revolutions of 1848, despite its shortcomings.