Manuel Cárceles Sabater facts for kids

Manuel Cárceles Sabater (born in Cartagena, Spain, on March 11, 1850 – died in Madrid, Spain, on July 18, 1933) was a Spanish writer, doctor, and politician. He was an important figure in the Cantonal rebellion of 1873 in Cartagena.

Manuel Cárceles Sabater's Life

The Cantonal Rebellion

In 1873, Spain became the First Spanish Republic. Manuel Cárceles was just 23 years old and studying medicine in Madrid. He strongly believed in federalism. This means he thought power should be shared between a central government and local regions. He had led a youth group called the Republican Youth Association since 1869. He also belonged to the Federal Democratic Republican Party.

Manuel was a great speaker. He often traveled between Madrid and his hometown. This helped him become well-known in politics. After a failed attempt by other groups to take power, Manuel spoke at a protest on April 27. He demanded that Spain become a federal republic right away. He repeated this request at another meeting the next month.

A group was formed in Madrid to plan a revolt against the central government. Manuel Cárceles was a key person for this group in Cartagena. He wanted the uprising to start sooner. This was because some ships and soldiers were leaving the city. But the leader of the group said no.

Despite this, the Cantonal Rebellion began in Cartagena on July 12. Manuel Cárceles led a group of volunteers and citizens. They took over the City Hall, city gates, and the Telegraph House. He did this for a local group called the Revolutionary Junta. But he refused to take a position on the Junta himself. He tried to get support from the navy ships in the port. However, the officers stopped him. They kept their sailors loyal until another leader, Antonio Gálvez Arce, arrived.

Later, on August 1, two rebel ships, the Almansa and Vitoria, were sailing near Malaga. They had just bombed Almería. The Spanish government then declared these rebel ships to be pirates. A German warship, the Friedrich Carl, captured them. Manuel Cárceles wanted to use force to get the ships back. When people in Cartagena became upset, he stopped them from attacking other local republicans. The crowd had blamed these republicans for the government's decision.

Manuel then agreed to join the Sovereign Board of Public Salvation. This group was formed as Cartagena was under attack. He became a member and secretary of the Navy Commission within this Board.

Manuel Cárceles and other members of the Revolutionary Junta were not offered a pardon. So, to avoid being captured, he escaped on a ship called the Numancia. On January 12, 1874, after Cartagena fell, he sailed to Oran with 1635 other people. He lived in exile there.

Life After the Rebellion

In French Algeria, the Spanish government watched Manuel Cárceles and other rebel leaders closely. In 1874, they knew he was trying to get a passport for Switzerland. A few years later, in 1878, a military court in Cartagena sentenced him to death while he was away.

Even with this sentence, Manuel managed to return to Spain. He became a doctor and opened his own well-known practice in Madrid. More than 30 years after his sentence, he finally received a pardon.

He stayed connected to the Federal Republican Party. But he only returned to active politics once, in 1913. He ran for city councilor in Madrid with the Republican–Socialist Conjunction. Other than that, he focused on writing. He published a book about checkers in 1904 and a poetry book in 1915. He also kept an eye on how the Cantonal Rebellion was written about in the news. Between 1914 and 1920, he wrote letters to historian Antonio Puig Campillo. Puig Campillo was writing a book called El cantón murciano (1932). In his letters, Manuel explained his actions during the rebellion. He also criticized what other people had written about it.

Manuel Cárceles lived long enough to see the Second Spanish Republic founded in 1931. Months after it began, the Cartagena City Council invited him to visit. He was honored by local officials and republican groups.

He passed away in 1933. As a tribute, a street in Madrid was renamed "Doctor Cárceles." However, this name did not last.

Manuel Cárceles in Popular Culture

Because he was so important in the Cantonal Rebellion, Manuel Cárceles appears in two historical novels:

• De Cartago a Sagunto (1911) by Benito Pérez Galdós.
• Míster Witt en el cantón (1935) by Ramón J. Sender.

Works by Manuel Cárceles

• Tratado del juego de damas (Treatise on the game of checkers), 1904
• Poesías (Poems), 1915

See also

In Spanish: Manuel Cárceles Sabater para niños