Descrição
This article explores how the royalists in Tierra Firme—present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama—used the concept of order to reconstruct the legitimacy of the Spanish monarchy during the absolutist restoration of Fernando VII (1814–1820). It illuminates how royalists understood the foundations of the monarchical order, conceptualized the crisis of the Spanish monarchy, and envisioned the roles of the king and the vassals in a postrevolutionary society. Through a close reading of the language of order employed in newspapers, political treatises, sermons, pamphlets, and petitions, the article shows how royalists responded to the radical reordering of the conceptual structures of the political world caused by the revolution in Tierra Firme. It reveals how royalists established public opinion as a legitimizing force alongside the Crown, thereby asserting the impossibility of returning to the prerevolutionary political-conceptual framework. Moreover, the article reframes the monarchical restoration as a creative political response to an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy in Tierra Firme. It presents this period as a moment of profound re-elaboration of the traditional political culture and a historical experience informed by the intellectual developments of the revolutionaries.||Este artículo explora cómo los realistas en Tierra Firme (hoy Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador y Panamá) utilizaron el concepto de orden para reconstruir la legitimidad de la monarquía española durante la restauración absolutista de Fernando VII (1814-1820). Ilumina cómo los realistas entendieron los fundamentos del orden monárquico, conceptualizaron la crisis de la monarquía española e imaginaron los roles del rey y los vasallos en una sociedad posrevolucionaria. A través de una lectura minuciosa del lenguaje de orden empleado en periódicos, tratados políticos, sermones, panfletos y peticiones, el artículo muestra cómo los realistas respondieron al reordenamiento radical de las estructuras conceptuales del mundo político provocado por la revolución en Tierra Firme. Revela cómo los realistas establecieron la opinión pública como una fuerza legitimadora junto a la Corona, afirmando así la imposibilidad de regresar al marco político-conceptual prerrevolucionario. Además, el artículo replantea la restauración monárquica como una respuesta política creativa a una crisis de legitimidad sin precedentes en Tierra Firme. Presenta este período como un momento de profunda reelaboración de la cultura política tradicional y una experiencia histórica informada por los desarrollos intelectuales de los revolucionarios.||This article explores how the royalists in Tierra Firme—present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama—used the concept of order to reconstruct the legitimacy of the Spanish monarchy during the absolutist restoration of Fernando VII (1814–1820). It illuminates how royalists understood the foundations of the monarchical order, conceptualized the crisis of the Spanish monarchy, and envisioned the roles of the king and the vassals in a postrevolutionary society. Through a close reading of the language of order employed in newspapers, political treatises, sermons, pamphlets, and petitions, the article shows how royalists responded to the radical reordering of the conceptual structures of the political world caused by the revolution in Tierra Firme. It reveals how royalists established public opinion as a legitimizing force alongside the Crown, thereby asserting the impossibility of returning to the prerevolutionary political-conceptual framework. Moreover, the article reframes the monarchical restoration as a creative political response to an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy in Tierra Firme. It presents this period as a moment of profound re-elaboration of the traditional political culture and a historical experience informed by the intellectual developments of the revolutionaries.
