The failed candidature of Gumersindo de Azcárate by the district of Villafranca del Bierzo in the constitutive elections of 1873: personal ethics versus political commitment

Abstract

This article describes, from a political perspective, events that took place during the spring of 1873, after the proclamation of the Republic in Spain for the first time, which included the possibility failed that Gumersindo Azcarate, at the beginning of his political career, was a candidate in the elections to the constituent Cortes, held in May of that year, the district of Villafranca del Bierzo.

The episode shows the factors of national character and local levels that made up the electoral game, which are happening crisscross situations determined definitely not submitting Azcarate elections in a context of overall political upheaval and provincial, whose conjoint analysis is of great historical interest in both the methodology used, cultural and political analysis by the study of the local context, such as the handling of archive documentation until now, unpublished