Constitutions of 1848

26-01-2023

It's the 175th anniversary of the 1848 movements, the Springtime of the Peoples that rocked many monarchies in Europe, and often brought to a change in regime - and brand new constitutions! #Constitutionsof1848 will analyse the 1848 movements and the ideas behind Constitutions, the documents that hold the fundamental principles on which the legal system of a nation (or other entities) is based!

We start in Hungary, where the Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár hold the original, handwritten copy of the "April Laws", a set of 31 articles passed by the last Hungarian Parliament (1847–1848) and approved by King Ferdinand V on the 11th April 1848. [pic 01]

The documents created a new public law system in the Habsburg Empire, and aimed to ensure the civil democratic development of Hungary into a parliamentary state and a constitutional monarchy. Hungary was the third country of Europe (after France in 1791 and Belgium in 1831) to enact a new law system about democratic parliamentary elections.

Unfortunately, the new Austrian monarch Francis Joseph, who ascended the throne in December 1848, unilaterally "revoked" the laws; Hungary did not retain full external autonomy until the Compromise of 1867, when the country was able to reinstate the April Laws.

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In Italy, 1848 brought the Statuto Albertino, Albertine Statute, granted by Carlo Alberto of Savoy, king of the Kingdom of Sardinia on 4 March 1848, at the end of a period of strong riots in the country. The King of Sardinia was only following what other rulers in pre-unification Italy were doing in their country, but the statute was the only one to survive the following repression periods, and it remained valid as the constitution of Italy until 1948, when Italy became a Republic.

As Marion Duvigneau, the director of the Archives Municipales de Nice, one of the first providers on APE, explains, the House of Savoy has experienced many shocks policies in the 19th century, and liberalism was not their cup of tea. When the climate turned bad in Turin, the capital of the kingdom of Sardinia, the kings often took refuge in Nice, as they did their liberal opponents when the royal family put a bounty on their heads. Carlo Alberto was the Lois-Philippe of North Italy, as in he was more liberal than the rest of the royal family. After the riots of 1820 had forced king Vittorio Emanuele to abdicate in favour of his brother Carlo Felice, Carlo Alberto had tried, as regent of Turin, to promulgate a constitution similar to the one granted in 1812 by the rulers of Spain; however Carlo Felice immediately abrogated it. Later in life, when he succeeded to Carlo Felice, Carlo Alberto adopted a much more conservative view, and the 1848 Statuto Albertino was not as liberal as the 1820 copy of the Spanish constitution.

An original copy of the Statuto Albertino (in Italian) is held at the Archives municipales de Nice [pic 02]; on APE, it is possible to find the announcement of the charter made by the consul of Nice, count Audiberti di Santo Stefano, who claims to be "exultant" about the new statute even though, as Mme Duvigneau explains, it was probably a very hard pill to swallow seeing all these liberalities granted to the plebs [pic 03].

More information about the relations of the Kings of Sardinia with Nice can be found in this article by Simonette Tombaccini, available on the website of the Archives Municipales de Nice here; and on the 1820 insurrections that forced Vittorio Emanuele to resign, an interesting article is also available on the website of the Archives de Nice here.

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The First Spanish Constitution was promulgated in 1812 and it is also called La Pepa, or The Constitution of Cadiz. It was created during the Napoleonic wars and the occupation of France, which replaced the Spanish monarch Carlo IV with Napoleon's brother Joseph. The Cortes Generales, Spain’s national legislative assembly, took refuge to the city of Cadiz; with the French sieging the city, the deputies drafted a liberal constitution proclaiming Spain as a democratic parliamentary monarchy, in an attempt to protect the fundamental rights of Spanish citizens. The liberal majority in the Cortes allowed the Constitution to pass, based on three principles: confirmation of the legitimacy of the monarch; the inviolability of the deputies; national sovereignty.

In addition to limiting the absolute power of the monarch and outlawing corruption, it reduced the power of the Church and of the nobility, and extended significantly male suffrage, including people from the Spanish Empire. It protected the freedom of the press, and supported reform of tax and land law to remove the feudal system).

When the Spanish monarch Ferdinando VII (son of Carlos IV) was restored in 1814, one of his first act as ruler was to abolish the Constitution. However, there were other attempts to reinstate it over the 19th century (from 1820-1823 and 1836-1837), and La Pepa served as inspiration for many later constitutions around Europe, including the Albertine Statute in 1848.

The National Archives of Spain hold an original printed copy of the constitution, on cards held in a bronze box - almost like a (very precious) card game [pic 04]

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Going even more back in time, one of the first Constitution in the world was the first constitution of Hungary, called the "Golden Bull" [pics 05-08]. It was created in 1222, 801 years ago. There is little concrete knowledge about the circumstances leading to the drafting of this charter. King Andrew II was forced by the nobility to accept it, in the diet of Fehérvár, making the Golden Bull one of the first examples of constitutional limits being placed on the powers of a European monarch - for this reason, it is often compared to the British Magna Charta.

The Golden Bull also established that nobles and the church were freed from all taxes, and they could not be forced to go to war (or finance it) outside of Hungary. Reading the text, it turns out that it was originally issued in seven copies.

The text is known because it was renewed and confirmed in 1351 by King Louis the Great.

Here is a short documentary made by the Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, the National Archives of Hungary, to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the Golden Bull in 2022:


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In Ukraine, the Pylyp Orlyk’s Constitution (Конституція Пилипа Орлика, Konstytutsiia Pylypa Orlyka), was promulgated in 1711. Formally titled 'The Treaties and Resolutions of the Rights and Freedoms of the Zaporozhian Army' (Договори і Постановлення Прав і вольностей Війська Запорозького), it was written by the King ('Hetman') of Ukraine, Pylyp Orlyk, and the generals of the Zaporozhian Army, a semi-autonomous Cossacks State corresponding to the South-East part of modern Ukraine.

The Constitution limited the executive authority of the hetman, and established a Cossack parliament called the General Council. It also established the principle of separation of powers between the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches - 40 years before the publication of 'The Spirit of the Laws' by Montesquieu, which suggested this division as best way to preserve political liberty.

The original version of the document in old Ukrainian was accompanied by a diploma (a document conferring privileges) signed by King Charles XII of Sweden, who had just lost the battle of Poltava, which ended the status of Sweden an a great imperial power over Europe. It was dscovered by Ukranian researchers in 2008, in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. The original in Latin is kept at the Swedish National Archives [pic 09], together with all the documentation on the negotiations between Sweden and the Cossacks from 1655 to 1719: http://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-search/search-in-archives/results-(archives)/?&repositoryCode=SE-RA&term=Diplomatica+Muscovitica+&levelName=clevel&t=fa&recordId=SE%2FRA%2F2113&c=C833585661

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The Norwegian Constitution of 1814, signed in Eidsvoll on the 17th of May, was one of the most radical constitutions in Europe at the time. It was inspired by Enlightenment ideas such as political freedom and universal human rights, and it shared the revolutionary ideologies of the American and French constitutions created at the end of the 18th century. The constitution broke with the principles of absolute monarchy, which had been the form of government in Norway since the Lex Regia (The King’s Act) of 1665. The 1814 constitution, based on the principles of the separation of powers and popular sovereignty, formed the basis not only of Norway as an independent state, but of a democracy. It started with the following sentences: “The Kingdom of Norway is a free, independent and indivisible realm. Its form of government is a limited and hereditary monarchy.” The original document [pic 10] reflects the heated debate between the National Assembly of Norway and the Constitutional Committe, which had the mandate of writing the first draft.

In this document, the first draft is written with light ink, changes are added with a darker ink. The National Assembly also made further changes before it was completed.

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Only a few years later, on the 23rd September 1822, Portugal passed its first Constitution, the Constituição Política da Monarquia Portuguesa. The constitution was the result of the work of the General and Extraordinary Cortes of the Portuguese Nation, the first modern Portuguese parliament. The Cortes was established after the so-called Liberal Revolution of 1820, in which protestants demanded the return of the King, who had fled for Brazil during the Napoleonic wars, but to start a parliamentary monarchy. The demands of the people and the constitution were strongly modelled on the Spanish Constitution of 1812, La Pepa; but the text was gathered and published as a more traditional book rather than a series of disks [pics 11-12]

The 1822 Constitution however quickly failed, with a coup d'Etat against the Parliament. In 1826, King Dom Pedro IV gave (or imposed) a new consitution to the country, la Carta Constitutional [pic 13]


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In Romania, the Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a liberal and nationalist uprising in the Principality of Wallachia, which sought to overturn the administration imposed by Imperial Russian authorities, and demanded the abolition of boyar (Feudal nobility) privilege. The movement was led by young intellectuals and officers in the Wallachian Militia, and it succeeded in toppling Prince Gheorghe Bibescu, replaced with a Provisional Government and a Regency. It also passed a series of progressive reforms, known as "the Proclamation of Islaz", which in the eyes of its contemporaries took the form and values of a constitution. However, this was not a Constitution precisely, but a starting point, a guidance for a future Romanian constitutional act - as the 22nd point of the Proclamation demands.

Regardless of the name, there is no doubt that the text is the first romanian document with democratic features, which declares, besides a new state organization, new freedoms and rights for the citizens: equal political rights (in the context of Jewish emancipation); the total independence of the press; equal education regardless of gender; abolition of body punishment – considered to be undignified; the right to life – through the abolition of death penalty; individual human freedom – linked to the abolition of Roma slavery.

The Islaz proclamation is considered to have been inspired by the French Constitution, as a significant number of Romanian revolutionaries were in Paris at the beginning of 1848; however, the form and structure of the Proclamation reveals the imprint of the cultural-religious context of the Wallachian society.

The synthesis of the Revolutionary programme consists of 22 demands imprinted on a yellow silk material and written in Romanian palaeography, in cyrillic alphabet. During the 1848 processions these demands were shouted by the Romanians gathered on the Plane of Filaret, which later was renamed Plane of Liberty, in honour of the successful Revolution. The document, fixed with pins by a pillow, was proudly carried out among enthusiastic people in Bucharest.

The Islaz proclamation is preserved by the National Archives of Romania; the traces of the holes from the pins are still visible on the fabric [pic 14].

Here are some of the important figures of the valachian 1948 Revolution:

Ion Heliade Radulescu [pic 15] - Romanian writer, philologist, politician, founder of the Romanian Academy, he was one of the authors of the Islaz Proclamation - presumably, actually its main writer

Nicolae Balcescu [pic 16]- Romanian historian and writer, he had a key role in the cultural and political life of the country. He was one of the founders of the ´Fratia´ Society (1843), a secret society connected to the Masonic lodge, who planned the 1848 Revolution, in Valahia.

Stefan Golescu [pic 17] - Romanian politician, member of the ´Fratia´ Society and of the 1848 provisional government

Nicolae Golescu [pic 18] - brother of Stefan Golescu, ministry of the Interior in the 1848 provisional government

Ion C. Bratianu [pic 19] - one of the most remarkable Romanian politicians, member of ´Fratia´ Society, involved in the 1948 Revolution.

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France was one of the epicentres of the 1848. revolutions. A new Constitution was voted on the 4th November 1848, and had to be published all over the country. Auxerre is a town in Yonne in Burgundy. This is the. announcement for the public celebration on the street for the promulgation of the Constitution in Auxerre, a town in Bourgogne

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The portraits of the members of Government and the National assembly were engraved and largely spread throughout the country. Armand Marrast presided the Assembly that wrote the new constitution and published it in November 1848. On December 20, 1848, he received the oath of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, newly elected President of the Republic, and stepped out of the assembly [Pic 20]

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In 1848, the first elections with universal male suffrage and secret ballot, and the first Presidential elections ever, took place in France. This is a list of all the male voters in Caudéran, a small town which is now a neighbourhood in Bordeaux [Pic 21]

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In 1848, Hanau was one of the centres of the German democratic movement, and contributed significantly both in 1830 and in the Revolution of 1848. Hanau was finally annexed to Prussia, like all of Hesse-Kassel, in 1866, after its Prince-elector took the Austrian side in the Austro-Prussian War; it became a garrison town, with railways interchanges and a large detachment of military railway-engineers, as well as other military units. In [Pic 22] revolutionaries chanting "Ein einiges freies Deutschland hoch !", "A United, Free, Great Germany !"

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Different ways of going in 1852: in Portugal, the Constitution passed in 1826 underwent major changes to be accepted by the advocates of a liberal constitution [pic 23]. In France, the 1852 Constitution concentrated all the powers in the hands of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte [pic 24]

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The Springtime of the Peoples in Europe in 1848 also had important consequences for Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy was at that time governed by William II, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Since the country was a member of the German Confederation, a Prussian garrison was stationed in the city and fortress of Luxembourg.

Economically and socially, the country was not quite in a good position: in 1847, 12 % of the approximately 185,000 inhabitants depended on the support of charitable offices. The political participation of the population was very low. In fact, the first Constitution of 1841 [pic 25] only allowed men that paid 10 Gulden or more in taxes (about 3 % of the population) to elect the members of the Assembly of States (Assemblée des États).

On 25 February 1848, the message of the riots that had taken place in Paris reached Luxembourg. The monarch was afraid the revolutionary spark could spread to the Grand Duchy. Therefore, on 7 March, he sent a proclamation to the inhabitants reminding them of the political and social progress made in the country since 1841 and at the same time threatening them saying, "any agitation, any movement (could) bring only disaster" upon them.

Nevertheless, riots broke out in various places in the country. On 11 March, for example, numerous people in Ettelbruck (a town in the northern part of the country) protested against the so-called “liste civile” (which determined the amount of taxes paid to the Grand Duke), raised the French flag and invoked the Republic [pic 26]. On 14 March, the Prussian military fought back the demonstrators. On 16 March, violent clashes took place in the City of Luxembourg, where the gendarmerie and federal garrison intervened. [pic 27] The city government recruited a citizen’s guard to guarantee that the order was maintained in Luxembourg City.

In the course of those riots, the church and the liberal opposition tried to calm the situation by collecting the demands of the population in petitions addressed to the authorities.

On 15 March, William II granted the country the freedom of the press and announced numerous reforms, the most significant being a new Constitution. On 3 April, the government circulated a proclamation for the convocation of a constituent assembly. On 23 June, barely two months after this proclamation, a new constitutional text, largely based on the Belgian constitution of 1830, was voted by the constituent assembly and came into force on 9 July 1848. [pic 28 and pic 29]

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The 1848 April Laws, National Archives of Hungary (HU_MNL_OL_N_0045_LadH_SerA_Fasc2_1848) The full text is available at this link: https://mnl.gov.hu/mnl/ol/galeria/1848_aprilisi_torvenyek_reszlet
Archives Nice Côte d'Azur, Statuto Albertino (1848), https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-search/search-in-archives/results-(archives)/?&repositoryCode=FR-FRAC006088&term=per+la+grazia+di+Dio+&levelName=clevel&t=fa&recordId=FRAC006088_000000017&c=C639503650 Digital object available at https://recherche.archives.nicecotedazur.org/archives/show/FRAC006088_000000017_de-94
Archives Nice Côte d'Azur, Esultiamo o concittadini! (1848), https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-search/search-in-archives/results-(archives)/?&repositoryCode=FR-FRAC006088&term=esultiamo&levelName=clevel&t=fa&recordId=FRAC006088_000000017&c=C639503651 Digital object available at https://recherche.archives.nicecotedazur.org/archives/show/FRAC006088_000000017_de-95
Archivo Histórico Nacional, Constitución de 1812 en caja redonda de bronce repujado (1812), available at Archivo Histórico Nacional, Constitución de 1812 en caja redonda de bronce repujado (1812), available at https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-search/search-in-archives/results-(archives)/?&repositoryCode=ES-28079-AHN9&term=caja+redonda&levelName=clevel&t=fa&recordId=ES-28079-AHN-UD-172356&c=C832523213https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-search/search-in-archives/results-(archives)/?&repositoryCode=ES-28079-AHN9&term=caja+redonda&levelName=clevel&t=fa&recordId=ES-28079-AHN-UD-172356&c=C832523213
Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.
Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.
Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.
Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.
The first page of the Latin version of the Pylyp Orlyk’s Constitution (National Archives of Sweden). The tile reads:Contenta Pactorum inter Ducem et Exercitum Zaporoviensem conventorum, in Compendium brevi Stylo collecta
National Archives of Norway, Norwegian Constitution 1814 – First draft, 05-1814, Eidsvoll (Norway), 20 pages, manuscript on paper; 22 x 31 cm. Ref. Code: EA-4029/Ga/L0009A/0009/0002.
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Constituição Política da Monarquia Portuguesa decretada pelas Cortes Gerais Extraordinárias e Constituintes (1822) - front cover. Available on APE at this link
Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Constituição Política da Monarquia Portuguesa decretada pelas Cortes Gerais Extraordinárias e Constituintes (1822) - first page. Available on APE at this link
Carta Constitucional da Monarquia Portuguesa decretada e dada pelo rei de Portugal e Algarves, D. Pedro, imperador do Brasil. 1826, 29 de abril Constitutional, available here https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4161652
Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, collection Achiziții Noi, CLIX/14 bis. Available at https://www.archivesportaleurope.net/advanced-sear...
 Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Ion Heliade Radulescu, Collection Document fotografice VI/1 (44) (BU-FD-01073-6-00001-44).
 Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Nicolae Balcescu
 Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Stefan Golescu (left side, standing) and Nicolae Golescu (left side, sitting), collection Document fotografice II/2976 (BU-FD-01073-2-02976)
Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Ion C. Bratianu, collection Document fotografice II/2976 (BU-FD-01073-2-00862).
Archive Municipale Auxerre, Fête de la promulgation de la Constitution » : avis du maire d’Auxerre, available at https://archives.auxerre.fr//ark:/74901/72709.1331...
Archives départementales des Landes, Armand Marrast né à St-Gaudens (Haute-Garonne) en 1802, membre du gouvernement provisoire, maire de Paris, président de l'assemblée nationale, rapporteur à la Commission de constitution / Lith par E. Desmaisons. Available here
Archives départementales de la Gironde, Caudéran 1848. Available here
Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Hessen Großherzogtum -
Arquivo nacional Torre do Tombo, Acto Adicional à Carta Constitucional da Monarquia Portuguesa por D. Maria II (1852), available here
Archives départementales des Hauts-de-Seine , AFFICHE POLITIQUE. CONSTITUTION (1852), available here
Archives nationales de Luxembourg, 1841 Constitution, available here
Archives nationales de Luxembourg , Opposition leaflet with political and social demands (12 March 1848), ANLux, G-0038a, available here
Archives nationales de Luxembourg , Proclamation of the city government after the riots of 16 March 1848 (17 March 1848), ANLux, F-007, available here
Archives nationales de Luxembourg , The Constitution of 1848 (9-22 July 1848), ANLux, TC-0016, front page
Archives nationales de Luxembourg , The Constitution of 1848 (9-22 July 1848), ANLux, TC-0016, first page

The 1848 April Laws, National Archives of Hungary (HU_MNL_OL_N_0045_LadH_SerA_Fasc2_1848) The full text is available at this link: https://mnl.gov.hu/mnl/ol/galeria/1848_aprilisi_torvenyek_reszlet

Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.

Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.

Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.

Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár, Aranybulla (the Golden Bull), 1222.

The first page of the Latin version of the Pylyp Orlyk’s Constitution (National Archives of Sweden). The tile reads:Contenta Pactorum inter Ducem et Exercitum Zaporoviensem conventorum, in Compendium brevi Stylo collecta

National Archives of Norway, Norwegian Constitution 1814 – First draft, 05-1814, Eidsvoll (Norway), 20 pages, manuscript on paper; 22 x 31 cm. Ref. Code: EA-4029/Ga/L0009A/0009/0002.

Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Constituição Política da Monarquia Portuguesa decretada pelas Cortes Gerais Extraordinárias e Constituintes (1822) - front cover. Available on APE at this link

Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Constituição Política da Monarquia Portuguesa decretada pelas Cortes Gerais Extraordinárias e Constituintes (1822) - first page. Available on APE at this link

Carta Constitucional da Monarquia Portuguesa decretada e dada pelo rei de Portugal e Algarves, D. Pedro, imperador do Brasil. 1826, 29 de abril Constitutional, available here https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4161652

Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Ion Heliade Radulescu, Collection Document fotografice VI/1 (44) (BU-FD-01073-6-00001-44).

Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Stefan Golescu (left side, standing) and Nicolae Golescu (left side, sitting), collection Document fotografice II/2976 (BU-FD-01073-2-02976)

Arhivele Naționale Istorice Centrale, Ion C. Bratianu, collection Document fotografice II/2976 (BU-FD-01073-2-00862).

Archive Municipale Auxerre, Fête de la promulgation de la Constitution » : avis du maire d’Auxerre, available at https://archives.auxerre.fr//ark:/74901/72709.1331...

Archives départementales des Landes, Armand Marrast né à St-Gaudens (Haute-Garonne) en 1802, membre du gouvernement provisoire, maire de Paris, président de l'assemblée nationale, rapporteur à la Commission de constitution / Lith par E. Desmaisons. Available here

Archives départementales de la Gironde, Caudéran 1848. Available here

Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt, Hessen Großherzogtum - "Ein einiges freies Deutschland hoch !", Grand Duchy Hessen - "A United, Free, Great Germany !" (12 March 1848), available here

Arquivo nacional Torre do Tombo, Acto Adicional à Carta Constitucional da Monarquia Portuguesa por D. Maria II (1852), available here

Archives départementales des Hauts-de-Seine , AFFICHE POLITIQUE. CONSTITUTION (1852), available here

Archives nationales de Luxembourg, 1841 Constitution, available here

Archives nationales de Luxembourg , Opposition leaflet with political and social demands (12 March 1848), ANLux, G-0038a, available here

Archives nationales de Luxembourg , Proclamation of the city government after the riots of 16 March 1848 (17 March 1848), ANLux, F-007, available here

Archives nationales de Luxembourg , The Constitution of 1848 (9-22 July 1848), ANLux, TC-0016, front page

Archives nationales de Luxembourg , The Constitution of 1848 (9-22 July 1848), ANLux, TC-0016, first page

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  • Political parties, popular/labour movements and other non-governmental organisations, associations, agencies and foundations hold the archival collections of these institutions, outside of governmental records and outside of business archives (e.g., NGOs)

Enter a start and/or end date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01-01-1900 for 1 January 1900. This will allow you to focus your search on a specific period of time. You can use the calendar function or type directly in the text field. The checkbox "Exact date search" concentrates the search on one specific date.

Check "View in context" to view the results in the hierarchical structure of archives.

  • Choose "List view" to view the results in a simple list, ordered according to relevance or date
  • Choose "Context view" to view the results in the hierarchical structure of the holding archives.

For more details see Research Tools

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A holdings guide is an overview of the collections and fonds of one archival institution.

A finding aid is a structured description of archival materials per collection or fonds up to item level.

You can filter results by selecting one or more countries of interest. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results by one or more holding archival institutions. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can select to view results from a specific Finding Aid, i.e., a structured description of archival materials per collection or fonds up to item level. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter by type of descriptive document:

  • "Holdings Guide": an overview of the collections and fonds of one archival institution.
  • "Source guide": a topic-oriented overview of collections and fonds of one or several institutions. a description of the archival collections available. Similar to Holdings guides
  • "Finding aid" provides more detailed descriptions of the archival materials of specific collections or fonds

You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results by selecting "Fonds description" for a general overview or "Other descriptions" for item level. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results by selecting only those containing digital objects, i.e. the link to the digitised version of the archival material you are looking for. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results by type of digital object you are interested in:

  • Text: most documental material, such as administrative records, letters, manuscripts etc.
  • Image: includes photographs, posters, maps.
  • Sound: sound recording with no images
  • Video: moving images with or without sound
  • Unspecified: indicates that the holding institution has not specified the type of digital object
  • 3D: 3-d digital objects

You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers)

  • Full dates includes normalised date information available for date-based searches. It is recommended to combine this selection with the filters "Start timespan" and "End timespan" for more details.
  • Only descriptive dates provides the date information in human-readable format.
  • No date either includes documents where the creation date is unknown, or where date information is not in a machine-readable format

Please note that not all documents contain a machine-readable date. More information here

You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers). This filter will only include materials with "Full dates", i.e. those that include date information available for date-based searches. You can either search for a specific date of interest or focus step by step on the time span of a century, decade, year or month. When searching for a specific date, enter the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01/01/1900 for 1 January 1900, via the calendar function or by typing directly in the text field.
This filter concentrates on the earliest dates mentioned in the materials.

You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers). This filter will only include materials with "Full dates", i.e. those that include date information available for date-based searches. You can either search for a specific date of interest or focus step by step on the time span of a century, decade, year or month. When searching for a specific date, enter the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01/01/1900 for 1 January 1900, via the calendar function or by typing directly in the text field.
This filter concentrates on the latest dates mentioned in the materials.

You can filter results based on the language in which the material is written. Please note that this filter will only include materials where specific language information has been provided by the institution and is therefore in a machine-readable format. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.



You can filter results by selecting one or more topics of interest. Please note that this filter will only include materials where the topic has been assigned and is therefore in a machine-readable format. Read how to assign a topic to documents on the Topics page. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.



You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the archival description:

  • The name can be the full name of a person, family or organisation as well as only parts of it, e.g. only the last name.
  • The identifier is used internally by the institution or refers to (inter)national vocabularies such as the Virtual International Authority File (VIAF).
  • The place can be the place of birth (or foundation), the place of death (or closing), the place of work or any other place of importance.
  • The occupation is the profession or job of a person
  • The mandate is a law, directive or charter that establishes and defines an organisation's powers, functions, responsibilities or sphere of activities.
  • The function is an activity, role, or purpose performed or manifested by a person, family or organisation

You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results by type of entities:

  • Person (e.g., John Locke or Jean Jaques Rousseau)
  • Family (e.g., the family Bonaparte)
  • Corporate body (an institution, organisation, or company, e.g. the "Ministerie van Justitie")
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results based on the language in which the material is written. Please note that this filter will only include materials where specific language information has been provided by the institution and is therefore in a machine-readable format. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.

You can filter results based on the type of holding institution. Please note that this filter will only include institutions, for which a type has been provided as part of their descriptions.

  • A business archive holds the records of (often) commercial organisations.
  • A church or religious archive holds the records of church parishes or religious organisations, e.g. birth or death registers.
  • A county or local authority archive holds the records of the county's administrative bodies.
  • A media archive holds audiovisual or sound records, e.g. a film archive or the archive of a broadcasting company.
  • A municipal archive holds the records of a town or city administration.
  • A national archive holds the records of a country's administrative bodies, i.e. from ministries and other public bodies, sometimes also private papers of former ministers, chancellors, or presidents.
  • A private person or family archive holds the records forming the legacy of a prominent person or family.
  • A regional archive holds the records of a region's administrative bodies.
  • A specialised governmental archive holds records of public bodies, often operating on a national level, that are not part of the national archives' holdings.
  • A specialised non-governmental archive or archive of another cultural heritage institution hold collections from various cultural heritage institutions, eg. museum archives, libraries archives, etc
  • A university archive or archive of another research organisation holds the records pertaining to the administration of the according educational or research body.
  • Political parties, popular/labour movements and other non-governmental organisations, associations, agencies and foundations hold the archival collections of these institutions, outside of governmental records and outside of business archives (e.g., NGOs)

Write your message in your own language and use this drop-down menu to have your message translated into English or in the language of the institution for a swifter response. By checking this box and selecting a language you will send your original message along with the translated version

What kind of suggestion would you like to make?

  • Assign to topic: assign this record to one of our Topics. Topics are created following the Unesco Thesaurus
  • Suggest translation: If you have translated this archival description or the documents themselves, please send it to us as a .doc or .pdf file
  • Connect to another resource: If this object relates to another resource in Archives Portal Europe, or anywhere else on the web (e.g., an article on Wikipedia), you can suggest it to be linked to this resource
  • Other: If you have any other relevant material, such as a transcription of the document, please upload it and let us know here

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You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.

This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, No Derivates (BY-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object, even commercially, as long as no alteration is made to the object and you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

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This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial (BY-NC) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only and as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and as long as you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.

This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivates (BY-NC-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object for non-commercial use only, as long as no alteration is made to the object and as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.

If you remix, transform or build upon the object, you may not distribute the modified material.

This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.

This object has been identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.

You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

This object is in the public domain, but is subject to known legal restrictions other than copyright which prevent its free re-use. Please contact the providing institution for more information.

This object is currently in copyright. Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for re-use.

The copyright status of this object has not been evaluated yet. Please contact the providing institution for more information.

You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.

This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.

Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.

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