May Revolution
The mutiny of Aranjuez in 1808 led King Charles IV of Spain to abdicate in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII. Charles IV requested that Napoleon restore him to the throne; instead, Napoleon crowned his own brother, Joseph Bonaparte, as the new Spanish King. These events are known as the Abdications of Bayonne. Joseph's coronation was met with severe resistance in Spain, which started the Peninsular War, and the Supreme Central Junta took power in the name of the absent king. This also led to Spain switching allegiances from France to Britain. France eventually invaded Sevilla, and a Council of Regency based in Cadiz replaced the disbanded Supreme Central Junta.
Mercedes de Lasala de Riglos
Mercedes de Riglos was among the well-to-do women of Buenos Aires who held weekly social gatherings that were open to anyone introduced by a friend.
Similar "tertulias" were being held during this period in Lima, Peru, by women such as Manuela Rábago de Avellafuertes de Riglos and Narcisa Arias de Saavaedra.
It was at meetings at her house and those of other society women such as Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson and Flora Azcuénaga that the discussions were held which led up to the May Revolution, the first stage in the struggle for Argentine independence from Spain.
William Parish Robertson, an English merchant, visited Buenos Aires around the end of 1817.
He wrote much later,