In 1820 the Constitutionalist Revolution erupted in Portugal. The movement, initiated by liberals, resulted in a meeting of the "Cortes" (English: Courts, a Constituent Assembly) which had as its goal to draft the kingdom's first constitution. The liberals demanded the return of João VI, who had been residing in Brazil since 1808 and who had succeeded his mother as King in 1816. He named his son and heir Prince Dom Pedro (later Pedro I of Brazil and Pedro IV of Portugal) as regent and departed for Europe on 26 April 1821. The Portuguese "Cortes" enacted decrees which subordinated the Brazilian provincial governments directly to Portugal, abolished all superior courts and administrative bodies created within Brazil since 1808 and recalled Prince Pedro to Portugal.