From 1833 to 1840, civil war raged in Spain over the succession to King Ferdinand VII, who had ruled under the liberal Constitution of 1812 until it was abolished in May 1814.
"The first Carlist war was fought not so much on the basis of the legal claim of Don Carlos, but because a passionate, dedicated section of the Spanish people favored a return to a kind of absolute monarchy that they felt would protect their individual freedoms (fueros), their regional individuality and their religious conservatism.
"[1] Aided by the United Kingdom, France and Portugal, the supporters of Isabelle were able to compel the Carlists to come to terms.
When priests who were found with the rebels were shot, that turned a number of bishops against the government, which then viewed the clergy as disloyal.
A Spanish force assisted Pope Pius IX at Gaeta after his flight from the Roman Republic in November 1848.
[2] Despite their anticlericalism, the Moderates concluded a rapprochement with the Church, which agreed to surrender its claim to the confiscated property in return for official recognition by the state and a role in education.
The government agreed to assure the respect due to them and to lend its aid "notably in preventing the publication, introduction or circulation of immoral and harmful books".
Religious orders of men or women, which to contemplation added some work of charity or public utility (education, care of the sick, missions etc.)