Cortes Gerais

The Cortes Gerais, also spelled Cortes Geraes before the Portuguese orthographic reform of 1911, was the national legislature of the Kingdom of Portugal during the constitutional-monarchy period. The name means “General Courts” and connected the modern constitutional institution with Portugal’s older Cortes, assemblies that historically represented the kingdom’s three estates under absolute monarchy. The legislature was created under the Portuguese Constitution of 1822. In its original form, it was a unicameral parliament. The constitutional framework established a representative institution intended to exercise legislative authority within a constitutional system, replacing the political predominance associated with the former absolutist order. The 1822 arrangement was short-lived, however, as the Constitutional Charter of 1826 reorganized the Cortes into a bicameral legislature. Under the 1826 Charter, the upper chamber was the Chamber of Most Worthy Peers of the Kingdom, while the lower chamber was the Chamber of Gentlemen Deputies of the Portuguese Nation. This two-chamber structure became the principal institutional form of the Cortes during most of the constitutional monarchy. The division between peers and deputies reflected the political design of the Charter and created separate chambers within the national parliament. The constitution of 1838 temporarily altered that arrangement. During the period in which the 1838 Constitution was in force, from 1838 to 1842, the Chamber of Peers was abolished and replaced by a Chamber of Senators, or Senate. The restoration of the Constitutional Charter in 1842 brought back the Chamber of Peers as the upper chamber, re-establishing the bicameral structure associated with the 1826 constitutional settlement. From 1834 onward, the Cortes was seated at the Palace of the Cortes in Lisbon. The building had originally been a Benedictine monastery and continued to serve as the home of Portugal’s legislature after the Cortes Gerais ceased to exist. It is now known as São Bento Palace and remains the seat of the Portuguese parliament. The Cortes Gerais therefore represents both a historical parliamentary institution and an important stage in the development of Portugal’s modern legislative tradition. The institution ended with the termination of the Portuguese constitutional monarchy and the establishment of the Portuguese Republic in 1910. Its history is principally defined by constitutional transformation: creation as a unicameral body in 1822, conversion into a bicameral legislature under the 1826 Charter, temporary replacement of the upper chamber by a Senate under the 1838 Constitution, and restoration of the peerage chamber in 1842.

The Cortes Gerais was the legislature of the Kingdom of Portugal during the constitutional-monarchy era. Its designation, historically also written as Cortes Geraes, derived from the Portuguese word cortes, used for representative assemblies convened under the earlier absolute monarchy. In the constitutional period, the name was retained for a modern national parliament rather than for an estate-based assembly of the old regime. Its institutional foundation was the Portuguese Constitution of 1822. That constitution established the Cortes as a unicameral legislature, placing legislative representation within a constitutional framework. The arrangement reflected the effort to create a representative political order in Portugal, but it did not remain the permanent model of the monarchy’s parliament. The Constitutional Charter of 1826 reorganized the legislature as a bicameral body. The upper chamber was named the Chamber of Most Worthy Peers of the Kingdom, and the lower chamber was the Chamber of Gentlemen Deputies of the Portuguese Nation. This structure divided parliamentary activity between a chamber of peers and a chamber of deputies and became the dominant institutional arrangement of the constitutional monarchy. A further constitutional change occurred under the Constitution of 1838. While that constitution was in force between 1838 and 1842, the Chamber of Peers was abolished and replaced by a Chamber of Senators, also referred to as the Senate. The change was temporary. When the Constitutional Charter was restored in 1842, the Chamber of Peers returned as the upper house of the Cortes. The Cortes had been based at the Palace of the Cortes in Lisbon since 1834. The site had originally been a Benedictine monastery. Its continued use as the home of the national legislature gave the institution a durable physical setting in Portuguese political life. After the end of the monarchy, the building continued to serve as the seat of the country’s parliament and is now known as São Bento Palace. The Cortes Gerais ceased to be the parliament of Portugal when the constitutional monarchy ended and the Portuguese Republic was established in 1910. Its institutional legacy lies in the development of Portugal’s constitutional legislature and in the parliamentary building at São Bento, which remains associated with the country’s national representative institutions.

• 1910

  End of the constitutional-monarchy legislature

  [1]Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org

  The Cortes Gerais ended with the fall of the Portuguese constitutional monarchy and the establishment of the Portuguese Republic.

• 1842

  Chamber of Peers restored

  [1]Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org

  The restoration of the Constitutional Charter returned the Chamber of Peers as the upper chamber of the Cortes.

• 1838

  Senate temporarily replaces the Chamber of Peers

  [1]Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org

  The Constitution of 1838 abolished the Chamber of Peers and replaced it with a Chamber of Senators, or Senate.

• 1834

  Seat established at the Palace of the Cortes

  [1]Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org

  The Cortes took its seat at the Palace of the Cortes in Lisbon, a former Benedictine monastery.

• 1826

  Constitutional Charter creates a bicameral legislature

  [1]Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org

  The Constitutional Charter reorganized the Cortes into two chambers: the Chamber of Most Worthy Peers of the Kingdom and the Chamber of Gentlemen Deputies of the Portuguese Nation.

• 1822

  Constitution establishes a unicameral Cortes

  [1]Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org

  The Portuguese Constitution of 1822 established the Cortes Gerais as a unicameral national parliament.

A national legislative institution rather than a commercial brand; it functioned as the parliament of constitutional-monarchical Portugal.

1. 1Cortes Geraisen.wikipedia.org