La diversidad de proyectos políticos en el primer debate preconstitucional español: Canga Argüelles, Ribelles y Borrul en el contexto de la política valenciana

Abstract

The decree by which the Cortes of 22 May 1809 were summoned by the Junta Suprema of the realm marked the beginning of a political debate of great intensity in Spain. Through this debate the different political positions and the various ideological profiles arising from the deep constitutional crisis of 1808 became gradually crystallised. This article approaches that debate from the regional perspective of one of the territories or provinces of the Bourbon monarchy—namely, the old Kingdom of Valencia— and by examining three figures relatively unknown to historians, José Canga Argüelles, Bartolomé Ribelles and Francisco Xavier Borrul. Through an analysis of their works we can identify the diverse political and ideological positions within a broad constitutional reconsideration of the monarchy. This reconsideration will ultimately transcend the stereotypes of a radical and universalising liberalism, on the one hand, and of conservative and historicist positions, on the other.