As regent for the young Isabella II of Spain, María Cristina, whose alliances with liberalism has arisen out of military necessity, not from conviction, would prefer to grant administrative reforms rather than consent that her daughter should become a constitutional monarch.

However, the liberals alone can save her daughter's throne from the Carlists, and the minimum demand of all liberals is a constitution.

As regent, she therefore consistently supports conservative liberals against the radicals.

The Royal Statute of 1834, a conservative constitution, represents this alliance between respectable upper-middle-class liberals and the crown.

In this year, the Spanish Inquisition, which began in the fifteenth century, is suppressed by royal decree on July 15, 1834.