CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE OLN 1 Cornell University Library HD6473.S7S4 1920 The Mesta; a study in Spanish economic hi 3 1924 005 831 908 OLIN LIBRARY-CIRCULATION DATE DUE m mUtjmi GAVIORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924005831908 HARVARD ECONOMIC STUDIES PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS VOL. XXI HARVARD ECONOMIC STUDIES I. The English Patents of Monopoly. By Wil- liam H. Price. 8vo. $2.00 net. II. The Lodging House Problem in Boston. By Albert B, Wolfe. 8vo. $2.00 net. III. The Stannaries: A Study of the English Tin Miner. By George R. Lewis. 8vo. $2.00 net. IV. Railroad Reorganization. By Stuart Dag- gett. 8vo. $2.50 net. V. Wool-Growing and the Tariff. By Chester W. Wright. 8vo. $2.50 net. VI. 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WELLS FUND CAMBRIDGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD OxTORD University Press 1920 COPYRIGHT, 1920 HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS 57 ■f>;C,:»j,;-p> iconfirnuiipn vioai ccru iH.iiu fii aim:c ■ £cl milrao coiicirloi.- Lv:ij 51:10.1 ocoiof ,1\ci'«-ccci(tilb tvlcou cvAfngp ccbfi. LtvtTcoilufr rv llvfui wiatui rin cx:tti:iiuoa crtcHcoccxralnuna X (prti?u cvitmllcKati Klcuilui cc _ _ raiiiTU ct talxn xxltx- .ilcraruirc-cca! haltircrUii'fCioai-.iiuiruiCVl.-u.Miv'UiffVijIrtfitKrra oaMiioccnct«.a:hirccloiuTfciiccc6ct\i;c^rairorao cr.attxnnei iiaicouMtna cotirvv a: rroffdloiiictccr akivc c»;iibnictg-ociaiio •.ircbiDiuiiicsnramtnn f ^v.vyoiiaiCTt<:.w.T«tc coiictiinrtHautw 1 cxmiW'i ect'Vi . fa rutia oc iiii d rrci- cfcntas ai pa(xl 'Sfirnuwioa-ni I iioKc ' fertpaiiillctiioiiroutimancni auVtAtivliaTTvi:rcjD.ncr ' /«au''iVilvlm-arau?:ii5pai7KCialMKloi?qucf.inrtn£no:urv #!!r. >.Tii.vrip>irmocv'aJiibiliniucucvluc-iicmtnc6-ifclUi?3 |i;-!ic a: plcmio -iIiI'^to Ctl* (m coiiccrtaccvce ifot'a:fc.Titn lO.Uviriusccnhjcc'aijraniwajK'CPtalxiawti giiiCi :-'.-'■ 't'to'OhidtawcontirmiiciKaj'icfoiiuiiioif laa^'oici'n: (o? nriwpiiiuUcgKXi ia''irfinuaniCTic?-"tSKp.iitc cvl Iv rraoo jViKcio cvU mcrta 5cncMl!xllaj"R<5iicH:' wctfh |iln«r-yli-.-'n icvcrtJluim nicfilcfcchalviUunoii iliuaoi jTaobclaiiiirta -iJvrouiia' nd ttaun p:imUc£iio.' ctlcv'(iria.r „ iiucrtrcf pJoginiitajcoqiK ccclamn l-oieoocvKto cdt Lotj laTOftflucXwi-iVKittoi nliX'cdrcoKWi.iWijfurirae i!;aiclkxj(ii'«> Jictradcofte'lci'qiialci'C'ijciiqiiccilnuciJiifiriuaa.'V'imancia c fmirfjgtom .\Tqn ituiu:!! ctrti /// caita Ct cpriftnnanoii ctUo? ^ntxqucmcliiplitiiinn iconuuiD.itrc ti>iifirnui-i ap.-oiLir^a? V>4^lw> pzimikg\a- pan iiiido cucUcw ix>utennx>fcguarwi cii 4>l^av1iHAC«l.imxc«OTiolnmtinawDAKfr£ - fevoAatancflCij ,^^ ^5«TOl"<')iiT4a>cc>ualc'C>cUiiiKlta inctTAf>.TmtXJnfmiciXui!?aPia W^^ =P^wp.McvpiixTrtsann%1?.;)TWLs«HifaiiartracjtOTiaT^c.TiloBw W.':'^^, «''A*^jUiV'Sximi vtWittoiinrto PVWlloj'iaitiiuitaiX'taraijgD i»ini ma- ^ "^1 ^'^iWuatjD txUu iiinncvii tonftrwampmU p«flVjitcUi! aiifinoo Mesta Charter uf 1525 The first page, sfiowing a miniature of Charles V and the arms of the Mesta. Details of the coat of arms are explained in the description of the plate facing page 52. TO MY MOTHER PREFACE Of the many economic problems brought forth by the war, two have stimulated especial interest and have already been made the subject of considerable research. One of these is the national control of raw materials, and the other the economic foundations of newly organized states. It may not be altogether inopportune, therefore, at a time when so much thought is being given to these fundamental matters, to invite attention to the same questions as they appeared in another age and imder far different cir- cumstances. Spanish merino wool was for generations one of the great staples of commerce during the period when modern Europe was in the making. The history of ' the Honorable Assembly of the Mesta,' the CastiUan sheep raisers' gild, presents a vivid picture of some six hundred years of laborious effort on the part of one of the great Eiiropean powers to dominate the production and marketing of that essential raw material. This policy, though primarily concerned with the agrarian affairs of the realm, had, nevertheless, a far wider significance because of its part in the mercantilistic ambitions of the greatest of the CastiUan mon- archs. The high unit value of wool, its compact, exportable form, and the imiversal demand for it made it one of the most valued means for determining the relative status of rival monarchies. As a factor in the laying of the foundations of the Castilian state which rose from the ruins of the Reconquest, the Mesta played an inconspicuous but important part. It was used by each of the stronger sovereigns in turn to carry on a prolonged struggle against the ancient traditions of Spanish separatism — political, racial, and economic provincialism — and to work toward a united peninsula. Its rise sjmchronized with the suc- cessful efforts of the warrior monarchs of the Reconquest to weld their newly won dominions into a nation. Its decline began with the collapse of the monarchy and the triiunph of separatist in- fluences under the seventeenth-century Hapsburgs. viii PREFACE The study of the economic development of Spain, and more particularly of its declining centuries, has occupied the attention of many investigators, but their interest has centred chiefly upon the use of economic conditions as convenient explanations of political phenomena. This has been especially true of the gen- eral works dealing with the great days of Spanish absolutism in the sixteenth century. A clearer understanding of the interrela- tion of economic and pohtical factors can be possible only after considerably more attention has been paid to the study of cer- tain special topics which are illustrative of the economic develop- ment of the country. Among these lacunae in Spanish histori- ography there is none more important than the account of the Mesta. The long and active life of this body from 1273 to 1836 has been a notable and in many ways unique feature of Spanish economic history. For hundreds of years it played a vital part in the adjustment of problems involving overseas trade, public lands, pasturage, and taxation. The extant descriptions of the Mesta are, for the most part, based upon prejudiced discussions and fragmentary documents originating with its numerous opponents. In no case has any use been made of the rich treasury of the Mesta's own archive, which has been in Madrid for nearly three hundred years, un- touched and practically unknown. Whether the institution was but a product of strongly intrenched, cimningly directed special privilege pursuing its selfish ends, is a question which even the most recent investigators have too readily answered aflSrma- tively. In its later centuries it unquestionably did contribute much to the agricultural decay of the country; but that circum- stance should not obscure an appreciation of its earlier stimula- tive and constructive influence, both political and economic. Present day scholarship has been too ready to accept the point of view expressed in such seventeenth-century couplets as "iQueesla Mesta? i Sacax de esa bolsa y meter en esta! " or " Entre tres ' Santos ' y un ' Honrado ' EstS,el reino agobiado." PREFACE ix The latter voices the popular contempt for such ancient and once revered institutions as the Santa Cruzada, the Santa Herman- dad, the Santo Oficio de la Inquisicion, and the Honrado Concejo de la Mesta. It would be safer to accept the observation of Ambrosio de Morales, a distinguished scholar of the period of Philip II: " What foreigner does not marvel at the Assembly of the Mesta, that substantial, ably administered body politic ? It not only gives evidence of the infinite multitude of sheep in Spain, but a study of it helps toward a better understanding of our coun- try, if it be possible to understand her." i The almost entire absence of reliable investigations in the field of Spanish agrarian history has made it necessary to base the present study very largely upon hitherto unused manuscript materials, found in the archives of the Mesta and of small towns in remote parts of Castile. For this reason the references in the bibUography and footnotes have been made more extensive than might ordinarily seem necessary, in the hope that sugges- tions might thus be given for subsequent investigations of such subjects as the domestic and foreign trade of mediaeval Spain, the enclosure movement in the peninsular kingdoms, or Castihan field systems and commons. The researches upon which this book is based were made possible through two liberal grants from Harvard University for studies in Spain and elsewhere in Europe in 191 2-14: the Woodbury Lowery and Frederick Sheldon Fellowships. What- ever merits the volume may have as the first fruit of the Mesta archive as a field for historical study are due entirely to the un- failing courtesies of the Marques de la Fjontera, the late Sefior Don Rafael Tamarit, and their colleagues of the Asociacion Gen- eral de Ganaderos del Reino of Madrid, the successor of the Mesta. These gentlemen interrupted the busy affairs of their efficient organization in order to provide every facihty for the exhaustive examination of the valuable collection in their pos- session. Without their cordial cooperation and expert advice upon Spanish pastoral problems this study could not have gone ' Las ArUigUedades de las Ciudades de Espana (Alcald de Henares, 1576), p. 40. X PREFACE beyond the limits of a perfunctory essay. The search for sup- plementary material was carried into several obscure archives in different parts of the peninsula, where little could have been accomplished without the aid of such helpful friends in Madrid as Professor Adolfo Bonilla y San Martin, Professor Rafael Alta- mira y Crevea, and Senor Don Arturo G. Cardona. I am espec- iaUy indebted to Professor Bonilla for many pleasant and invalu- able hours of counsel upon mediaeval Spanish law and local in- stitutions. My sincerest thanks are due to the officials of the Real Academia de la Historia and of the great national collec- tions in Madrid, and particularly to the courteous archivists of the Casa de Ganaderos in Saragossa and of the estate of the Duque de Osuna in Madrid. The library of the Hispanic Society of America generously secured copies of scarce volumes and pamphlets which would otherwise have been inaccessible. I am under obligation to Professor Alfred Morel-Fatio of the College de France for many thoughtful kindnesses while I was working in the various archives of Paris; to Dr. Constantine E. McGuire of the International High Commission in Washington for advice upon doubtful passages in certain important manuscripts; to Professor Charles H. Haskins of Harvard for constructive sug- gestions regarding several shortcomings of the investigation; and to Mr. George W. Robinson, Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, for assistance in preparing the manuscript for the press. Among the many friends who have given freely of their valued counsel I must acknowledge especially my great indebtedness to three teachers at Harvard, to whom it has long been my good fortune to be under the heaviest obligations. Professor Archi- bald C. Coohdge first suggested the subject, and his constant encouragement and confidence in its possibihties made many difficulties seem inconsequential. Professor Roger B. Merriman gave abundantly of his sound scholarship and of his inspiring enthusiasm for Spanish history, two contributions which have been of inestimable help to me, as they have been to many others among his pupils who have had the rare privilege of intimate as- sociation with him in studies in this field. Professor Edwin F. PREFACE XI Gay has been in close touch with this investigation since its in- ception some seven years ago, and any merits which it may have as a contribution to economic history are due entirely to his sympathetic imderstanding of the problems encountered, and to his unfailing interest in the progress of the work in spite of his many serious and urgent duties during the war. To my wife the work owes more than any words of mine can express. Every page, I might almost say every line, has benefited from her patient scrutiny and judicious criticism. J.K. Washington, D.C. April, 1919. CONTENTS PART I — ORGANIZATION CHAPTER I Origins ^ The pastoral industry of the Moors. The origins of the merino sheep. Shgep raising in mediaeval Spain. The meetings or mestas of shepherds for the disposal of strays. CHAPTER II Migrations 17 Sheep highways in Mediterranean countries. The Castilian caiiadas. Traffic routes of the Teamsters' Gild of Castile. Organization and size of the Mesta flocks. On the march. Wool clipping. 30 CHAPTER III Marketing Wool marketing in Italy and Aragon. Early exports of Spanish wool to England. Organization of the export trade by Ferdinand and Isabella. The Burgos Consulado or Trade House. Its foreign branches. Its con- tact with the Mesta at the Medina del Campo fair. The Mesta and the trade with the New World. Organization of the domestic wool trade. Dealing in ' futures.' Middlemen. Trade policies of the Hapsburgs. CHAPTER IV Internal Organization of the Mesta 49 Ordinances. Meetings. Elections. Membership. The President and other officers. Legal staff. Fiscal agents. Proportion of large and small owners. Shepherds; their duties and privileges. XIV CONTENTS PART II — JUDICIARY CHAPTER V Origins of the Alcalde Entregador 67 Itinerant oflScers in mediaeval Europe. Judicial protectors of migratory flocks in Italy and in Aragon. Sheep protection in mediaeval Castile. Inter-class litigation. Early relations of the entregador with the crown. CHAPTER VI The Entregador and the Towns 86 Functions of the entregador. Inspection and protection of the canadas. Restraint of marauders. Supervision of pastures, enclosures, and com- mons. Conflicts with the Cortes and with towns. Exemptions from the entregador's visitations. Residencias or hearings of complaints. Re- strictions upon entregadores by higher courts, Cortes, and town leagues. CHAPTER VII Decline of the Entregador 117 Hostility of the Cortes in the seventeenth century. Appeals to the chan- ciUerfas. Inefficacy of royal aid to the Mesta. Collapse of the entre- gador system in the eighteenth century. PART III — TAXATION CHAPTER VIII Sheep Taxes nsr the Mediterranean Region .... 139 Significance of sheep dues as a pre-f eudal tax on movable property. Town or local sheep taxes in North Africa, Provence, the Pyrenees, Aragon, Valencia, Navarre, and Portugal. Royal or state sheep taxes in southern Italy, Aragon, Valencia, and Navarre. CHAPTER IX Mediaeval Sheep Taxes in Castile i6i Early local taxes. The montazgo and the portazgo. Effect of the Moorish wars. Beginning of large scale sheep migrations, standardized taxation, and fixed toll points. CONTENTS XV CHAPTER X Local Taxes during the Rise of the Mesta (1273-1474) 176 Fiscal clauses o£ the Mesta charter of 1273. Policies of Alfonso X (1252- 84) and Sancho IV (1284-05). Aggressive fiscal administration of Al- fonso XI (1312-50). Sheep taxes during the civil wars of the later Middle Ages. Extravagant tax concessions to the town and liberal ex- emptions of the Mesta. Concordias or tax agreements. CHAPTER XI Local Taxes under Ferdinand and Isabella (1474-15 16) 208 Fiscal reforms. Tax inquisitors. Fiscal duties of the corregidores. Stan- dardization of local sheep tolls. Political aspects of the tax situation. CHAPTER XII Local Taxes under the Hapsburgs and Early Bourbons (1516-1836) 227 Effect of the rising of the comuneros (1500-21) upon the fiscal affairs of the Mesta. Royal agents defend the Mesta. Sheep taxes of the Military Orders and of the Church. Diezmos. Fiscal disorders under the later Hapsburgs. Local taxes in the eighteenth centurj'. CHAPTER XIII Mediaeval Royal Sheep Taxes 254 Share of the crown in local taxes. Moorish sheep tolls. The servicio de ganados or subsidy from domestic animals. Origin of the servicio y mon- tazgo. Royal sheep tolls during the period of fifteenth-century profligacy. The tax schedule of 1457. CHAPTER XIV Royal Sheep Taxes of the Autocracy 270 Reforms of Ferdinand and Isabella. The crown and the fiscal rights of the Military Orders. Hapsburg exploitation of the pastoral industry. The Fuggers and the Mesta. Bankruptcy of the monarchy in the seven- teenth century. Reforms of Charles III. XVI CONTENTS PART IV — PASTURAGE CHAPTER XV Early Pastxjrage Problems 297 The pasturage privileges of migrants in Mediterranean countries. Pas- turage customs of mediaeval Castile. Commons. Enclosures. Defor- estation. Sheep walks. Pastoral industry not a menace to agriculture and enclosures in the Middle Ages. CHAPTER XVI The Supremacy OF THE Mesta's Pasturage Privileges . 314 Agrarian England of the early Tudors compared with agrarian Castile of Ferdinand and Isabella. Pastoral mercantilism. Enclosures in England and in Castile. The pastoral policy ot the Catholic Kings. Deforesta- tion. Posesidn or perpetual leasing of pasturage. Collective bargaining for pasturage by Mesta members. Agriculture w." grazing in the reign of Charles V. Growth of the non-migratory pastoral industry. Repres- sive measures against agriculture. CHAPTER XVII The Collapse of the Mesta's Pasturage Privileges . 331 Pasturage legislation of Philip II. Decrees of 1566, 1580, and 1582. Futile agrarian programme. Chancillerlas defend agriculture and en- closures. Opposition of royal creditors and others to the privileges of the Mesta. Exploitation of the lands of the Military Orders. Extrava- gant pretensions of the Decree of 1633. Spread of enclosures during the seventeenth century. Mesta propaganda against agriculture. Collapse of ancient pasturage privileges in the eighteenth century. Culmination of the enclosure movement. CONCLUSION 351 APPENDICES A. Ordinances of the Town Mesta of Ubeda, 1376 . 361 B. Extracts from the Ordinances of the Town Mesta OF Granada, 1520 364 C. A Royal Concession Regarding Strays, 1304 . . 368 D. Commission of an Enteegador-in-Chief, 1417 . . 371 E. Exemption of the Town of Buitrago from the Jurisdiction of Enteegadores, 1304 374 F. Procedure in the Court of an Entregador, 1457 . 376 G. Royal Instructions to Entregadores, 1529 . . . 382 H. Credentials of a Mesta Representative, 1528 . 388 I. Ordinances of the Servicio y Montazgo or Royal Sheep Toll, 1457 391 J. Royal Instructions to a Sheep Tax Inquisitor, 1489 398 BIBLIOGRAPHY 401 GLOSSARY 423 INDEX 429 ILLUSTRATIONS Mesta Charter of 1525 Frontispiece Map showing Highways, Toll Points, and Pasturage Areas 19 Urn used in Mesta Elections 52 Sheep Tax Decree of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1488 218 Mesta Charter of 1443 264 ABBREVIATIONS Acad. Hist. Arch. Ayunt. Arch. Hist. Nac. Arch. Mesta. Arch. Osuna. Berlm Kgl. Bibl. Bib. Nac. Madrid. Brit. Mus. Bull. Ord. Milit. Alcant. Bull. Ord. Milit. Calat. Cardenas. Colmeiro. Concordia de 1783. Cortes. Expediente de 1771 Gonzalez. Larruga. Munoz. Nov. Recop. Nueva Recop. Paris Bib. Nat. Quad. 1731. (The numbers refer to items in the Bibliography.) Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid. Archivo del Ayuntamiento. Archive Historico Nacional, Madrid. Archivo de la Mesta, Madrid. Archivo del Duque de Osuna, Madrid. Konigliche Bibliothek, Berlin. Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid. British Museum, London. Bullarium Ordinis Militiae de Alcantara. Ortega, Brizuela, and Zufiiga, eds. Madrid, 1759. Bullarium Ordinis Militiae de Calatrava. Ortega, Baquedano, and Zuniga, eds. Madrid, 1761. Francisco de Cardenas. Historia de la Pro- piedad territorial en Espana. Madrid, 1873-75. 2 vols. Manuel Colmeiro. Historia de la Economia poli- tica en Espana. Madrid, 1863. 2 vols. Memorial ajustado del Expediente de Concordia que trata el Honrado Concejo de la Mesta con la Diputacidn . . . de Extremadura. Madrid, 1783. 2 vols. Cortes de los antiguos Reinos de Le6n y de Castilla. Real Academia de la Historia, eds. Madrid, 1861-1903. 5 vols. Memorial ajustado hecho en Virtud de Decreto del Consejo del Expediente consultivo . . . entre D. Vicente Paino y Hurtado de Estremadura y el Honrado Concejo de la Mesta. Madrid, n. d. (1771)- Tomas Gonzalez. Coleccidn de Privilegios, Franquezas,yFueros. Madrid, 1829-33. 6 vols. Eugenio Larruga. Memorias poltticas y eco- ndmicas sobre los frutos, comercio, fdbricas, y minas de Espana. Madrid, 1785-1800. 45 vols. Tomas Munoz y Romero. Coleccidn de Fueros municipales y Cartas pueblas. Vol. i (no others published). Madrid, 1847. Novisima Recopilacidn (codified by Charles IV, 1805). Nueva Recopilacidn (codified by Philip II, 1567)- Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Andres Diez Navarro. Quaderno de Leyes y Privilegios del Honrado Concejo de la Mesta. Madrid, 1731. 25-32 48-61 33-35 17-24 62-68 69-70 127 128 79 132 78 83 85 84 142 71 77 PART I ORGANIZATION THE MESTA CHAPTER I ORIGINS The pastoral industry of the Moors. The origin of the merino sheep. Sheep rais- ing in mediaeval Spain. The early meetings or mestas of shepherds for the dis- posal of strays. Ample evidence of an extensive sheep raising industry in Spain and of the high quality of Spanish wool is found in the earliest sources of recorded history in the peninsula. A widely prevalent pastoral life, including the practice of semiannual migrations, is believed by some investigators to have existed in times as remote as the primitive Iberian period. ^ The Roman era has left several specific references to the reputation of the fine wools of Turde- tania and Baetica, which comprised the region of the Guadal- quivir valley.^ In general, however, the wool of this period was quite different in quality and nature from the merino of later times, and notably so in color, for the earlier fleece was a reddish brown. Furthermore the wool of Roman Spain had an unusually long, smooth staple, which did not resemble the famous short, crinkled product of the merino flocks of later years. This differ- ence provokes the inquiry as to the circumstances of the change and the origin of the merino. The origin of the merino sheep has been much debated, and yet very little substantial evidence has been produced thus far to sup- port any of the views advanced. The notion that the name as applied to the sheep comes from the maiorinus or merino, a royal magistrate of mediaeval Castile, who, according to some writers, • The most scholarly examination of this early period is to be found in J. Costa, Estudios Ibiricos (Madrid, 1891-95), pp.i-xxxii. See also Paredes Guillen, Hw/om de los Framontanos Celtiberos (Plasencia, 1888). 2 References to the writings of Varro, Strabo, Columella, and Martial (himself a Spaniard) in this connection, are given in Diez Navarro's introduction to the Quademo or Mesta code of 1731; see Bibliography, no. 77. 3 4 THE MESTA served as a ' judge of the sheep walks,' ' may be dismissed at once. There is not the sHghtest indication in any of the Castilian codes that this official, either as the classical maiorinus or the Romance merino, ever performed any duties concerned with sheep.^ If such had been the case, he would certainly have been used to draw the industry under the control of Alfonso X, Alfonso XI, and other monarchs with ambitions for centralized government. Equally nebulous is the naive conception that the name is due to the sup; posed introduction of sheep from across the sea {marina), as the dowries of the English brides of Castilian kings. Eleanor Plan- tagenet, queen of Alfonso VIII (1158-1214), and Catharine, daughter of John of Gaunt and queen of Henry III (1390-1406), were commonly believed to have brought to Spain the progenitors of the famous breed.' The most plausible view, however, is that the merinos were in- troduced by and named after the Beni-Merines, one of the North African tribes which figured in the Berber movement into Spain during the Almohad period (1146 £E.).* It is quite certain that the merino breed was not known in Spain before that time, for ' Chronicle of James I of Aragon, tr. by John Forster (London, 1883), ii, p. 707; Covarrubias, Tesoro, s.i). Merino. 2 Arch. Hist. Nac, Indice de los documenios del Monasterio Sahagun (Madrid, 1874), cites documents showing the change from the Latin form to the Romance. Blancas, Comentarios de las Cosas de Aragon (1588), offers some curious theories as to the origin and early functions of the maiorinus or merino. His duties as a royal judicial and administrative officer in the towns are outlined in the Fuero Viejo, lih. i, tit. 5, ley 11, and tit. 6, leyes i, 2; Siete Parlidas, part. 2, tit.g, ley 23, andpart. 7, tit. i,leyes2,s; Ord.de AlcalA, tit. 32, leyes 45,54, 55; and ley 4, tit. 20; Leyes del Esiilo, ley 222; and in the Ordenangas reales por las quales . . los pleiios civiles y criminates (Salamanca, 1500), lib. 2, tit. 13. 3 Diez Navarro, op. cit., p. 11; Acad. Hist., Ms. est. 27, gr. i, E-io: Bafiez de Ribera, Planta de . . Espinar (1649). See also Alonso Cano, "Noticia de la Cabana real " (p. 408, below), whose views were accepted by many later observers, among them Ponz, Laborde, and Bourgoing (see Bibliography) . Even the usually accurate Capmany seems to have lapsed on this point {Cuestiones criticas, p. 9). Cano's essay exists in manuscript in the Brit. Mus., Eg. 505, fols. 1-40, and in the Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 17708, no. 4. Parts of it were printed in the Biblioteca gen- eral de Historia, Ciencias, . . (Madrid, 1834), pp. 5-32. * Huart, Hist, des Arabes (Paris, 1912-13), ii, p. 212; Ensayo de la Sociedad Vascongada de los Amigos del Pais (Victoria, 1 768) ; Lasteyrie, Histoire de la Intro, Merinos (Paris, 181 2); Eguilaz y Yanguas, Glosario de Palabras . . de Origen oriental (Granada, 1886), p. 450; Colmeiro, i, p. 282. ORIGINS 5 the famous Moorish classic on agrarian life in the peninsula, Abu Zacaria Ben Ahmed's " Book of Agriculture," i written shortly before the coming of the Beni-Merines, makes no mention of any sheep resembling the merino. Then, too, the marked similarity of some ancient practices in the handling of migratory flocks in Spain and in those sections of Africa from which the Beni- Merines came, indicates a distinct association of the Castilian industry with that of the Moors.^ The fact that the greater part of the mediaeval pastoral terminology of Spain was Arabic is further evidence on the same point. Such examples may be cited as zagal and rahadan (shepherd's assistants), rajala (a pen for strays), morrueco (breeding ram), ganado (domestic animal), cabana (herd, sheepfold, shepherd's cabin; the term was left in southern Italy by the Saracens as capanna), and mechta (winter : sheep encampment, probably related to mesta). In this connection it should be noted that the word merino as applied to sheep or wool did not appear in Castile until the middle of the fifteenth century. Among the earliest instances of it were those in the tariff schedules issued by John II in 1442, and by Henry IV in 1457, in which duties were fijced for cloth made of ' lana merina.' ' In the two thousand odd documents of the Mesta archive bearing dates previous to 1600 there are less than a dozen references to ' merino wool ' as such. In fact, the name does not seem to have come into general use until the latter part of the seventeenth century. This refutes the theory that the name originated in the pastoral functions of an early mediae- val judge, the merino or maiorinus. If the activities of that of- ficial had had anything to do with the naming of the merino sheep, the term would have been applied to the animal far back 1 This author is sometimes cited as Ebn el Awam. The best edition is that of Banqueri, Madrid, 1802, 2 vols. See Ramitez, Bibliografia agrondmica (Madrid, i86s),p. 207,no. S17. '' The methods used in mediaeval Spain to select breeding rams, to castrate and to prepare sheep for slaughter, and to clip and wash the wool, were strikingly like those of the North African tribes, and were, in fact, commonly believed by the Spanish herdsmen to be of Berber origin. Cf . Manuel del Rio, Vida pastoril (Ma- drid, 1828), passim. ' Brit. Mus. Add. Mss., 9925, p. 96; Liciniano Saez, Apendice d la Crdnica del Rey Juan II (Madrid, 1786), p. 109. 6 TEE MESTA in the Middle Ages, when the maiorinus first appeared, instead of at the very close of the mediaeval period. Similarly, a theory that ' merino ' is derived from a combination of certain early Iberian and primitive Navarrese words ^ is disposed of by the much later date of the appearance in Castile both of the species and of its name. Furthermore, from the earliest times the Spanish stock had been periodically improved by the introduction of African rams,^ and from the thirteenth century onward by the investigation and application of Berber pastoral practices. During the later Mid- dle Ages every lull in the Moorish wars foimd the more able Spanish monarchs alert to improve native stock by crossing with North African animals. This subject was of particular interest to such progressive administrators as Peter IV of Aragon (1336-87) and Cardinal Ximenes (1436-1517). The latter was especially persistent in turning the attention of his royal patrons to the resources and possibilities of the adjoining North African coast. In this he was ably assisted by Palacios Rubios, the gifted legal adviser of Ferdinand and Isabella, who, during his twelve years of service as President of the Mesta, gave invaluable aid by facilitating importations from Africa and by codifying old regu- lations on breeding.' After the extensive introduction of Berber stock, every effort was made to eliminate the so-called churro. This was the ancient native Iberian species, which produced the reddish Turdetanian wool known to the Romans. By careful breeding and selection the pure merino strain was strengthened and spread, and the famous white, kinky staple gradually found its way overseas and became Spain's great contribution to inter- national trade and to the pastoral industry of the world.* Thence- ' Costa, Esludios Ibericos, pp. xv-xvi. ^ ColumeOa's classic work on ancient agriculture, De Re Rustica Libri XII, vii, 2, 4, mentions the importation of African rams into Spain for breeding purposes. ' Ensayo de la Sociedad Vascongada, pp. 128-129; Zapata, Noticia delanas finas (Madrid, 1820); Paris Bib. Nat. Res. Oa 198 ter. no. 33: a carefully pre- pared anonymous account of early sheep importations from Africa into Spain. * On the methods used by the herdsmen to improve the churro wool and to de- velop the merino stock, see Gaceta de Madrid, 10 August 1846; Semanario de Agricullura, no. 125 (Madrid, 1799), p. 330; and Mohedano, Historia literaria de Espana, iv, p. 338 (Madrid, 1772). ORIGINS 7 forth the merino became the pampered favorite of kings; every- thing was done to meet its needs; perennial pasturage was pro- vided in different parts of the realm, in order that the rigors of the climate might be avoided; and finally the formidable organi- zation of the Mesta was developed to insure the further protec- tion of the favored animal. The churro, the unkempt, despised, meagre-flieeced native stock, was neglected and survived only in the non-migrating flocks, the object of scorn and abuse from the itinerant herdsmen. It seems reasonably certain, then, that, like so many other elements contributing to the development of Spain, economic as well as cultural and political, the merino and many features of the migratory sheep industry were introduced by the Moors. It must not be presumed, however, that the whole industry was unknown in Spain before the Moorish period. The practice^ of sem iannual sheep nitr ations in the peninsula goes back tothe^ tiines pi the Cjoths, and probably even to the times of the aborig- inal Iberians, whose wandering shepherds were reported to have rendered valuable assistance to the Carthaginians in their marches across the peninsula.^ Various reasons have been advanced for the early appearance and rapid increase of the transhumantes, canariegos, caminantes, pasantes, or pasajeros, as the migrants have been called. I^ has been suggestedthatjthe consta nt stat e of^ warf ar ebgtwegn Moors andCh ris^ ians was jargelvresponsible for the development-oLthis^orm. of movabl e_property.,-which raigh t readi lxbe taken out of dangex in Jtimesof hostility.^ The devastati on wrought by plagu es, notably the Black Death of 1348-50, has also been held responsible for the spread of the in- dustry over the depopulated territory. The Mesta, according to this view, was " the child of pestilence, to be classed with the locust and syphihs as one of the three great curses of humanity, all bred by the hated Berber mfidels, and, hke them, sweeping out of Africa and bringing further devastation to Spain in the wake 1 Costa, Estudios Ibericos, p. ii. On the evidence of Visigothic sheep highways and communal pastures for migratory flocks, see Fuero Juzgo {Lex Visigothorum), lib. 8, tit. 4, leyes 26-27, and tit. 5, ley 5, which are discussed below (p. 18). 2 Sugenheim, Geschichte der Aufhebung der Leibeigenschaft (1861), p. 42; Mufioz, pp. 39-41; Canciones de mio Cid, v, pp. 280-291. 8 THE MESTA of the Black Death." ' But in this, as in many other respects, the effects of the Great Plague have been considerably overestimated. There is ample evidence that Castile was producing an unusually high grade wool of the merino type fifty years before the Black Death, and that the latter did not usher in any radical change in the agrarian life of the countiy, but at the most only gave oppor- tunity for the extension of an already firmly established and widely prevalent industry.^ The real cause for the development of s heep migrati ons was the same in Spain as in other Mediterranean countries, namely the sharp con trasts of c Umate and of topog rap hy which made semi- annual" ciSaages irTpasturage desirable^^ Curiously enough, the Spaniards themselves were among the last to appreciate the in- fluence of these factors. Although most of their writers on pas- toral subjects previous to the eighteenth century understood the advantage of perennial pasturage for the merino, that phase of the migrations was regarded by them as purely incidental. The long m arche s were consider ed primarily as aconditi oning proces s whidx^epLlhe^anmials sturdjTand sound a^d thus improved the _c[uality_of_tlie_ffiDaU- ~~ — A vivid illustration of the inadequacy of this opinion is found in the effort to introduce the Mesta into colonial Spanish America. In fact, the inabihty of the sixteenth-century Spaniards to ap- preciate the real cause or basis of this industry explains another of the many economic misconceptions of those redoubtable pioneers in overseas administration. It has been frequently re- marked that the colonial experience of a nation serves to reveal the fundamental character of the institutions and civilization of the motherland. A new Ught is thus thrown upon old world practices, laws, and organizations as they are worked out amid ■ Sarmiento, in Semanario de AgricuUura, no. i6 (Madrid, 1765), pp. 273 ff.; reprinted in part in Ponz, Viage (2d ed., Madrid, 1784), viii, pp. 190 flE. See also another paper by the same author in Acad. Hist., Sarmiento Mss. v, pp. 311-313. ' The town charter (fuero) of Sepfilveda, which appeared shortly after 1300, classifies the various wools of Castile and gives that of Segovia first place, a position which it continued to hold for centuries after. Segovia was long the centre of the merino wool trade; in fact, by the middle of the thirteenth century it had become one of the four headquarters of the Mesta. See below, p. 50. ' See below, pp. 68 ff. * Partida i, tit. 20, ley 9. ORIGINS 9 strange surroundings and applied to unaccustomed conditions. No better illustration of this fact can be found than the de- termined attempts of the conquistadores to legislate the old Castilian Mesta into existence in the New World, quite regard- less of insurmountable topographic and climatic obstacles. The first of these experiments were made in Santo Domingo, the oldest permanent European colony in America, in the early years of the sixteenth century, when the Mesta was at the height of its prestige in Castile. The results were ludicrous failures, be- cause, as the learned Bishop Fuenleal, president of the audiencia of Santo Domingo, later pointed out, the island had no such vast stretches of pasturage, in regions with sharply contrasting cli- mates, as had made sheep migrations necessary and possible in the mother country.^ The same outcome followed the introduc- tion of the Mesta code into New Spain or Mexico by Cortez and his successors, many of whom were especially familiar with the migratory pastoral industry, because their homes were in the pasture lands of Estremadura and Andalusia.^ In Mexico, as in Santo Domingo, all efforts to introduce sheep migrations were frustrated by the absence of favorable geographic conditions and by the greater attraction of other industries, notably mining. The only part of the Mesta code which survived was the ancient arrangement for the semiannual meetings to dispose of stray animals. In the course of the pastoral history of Castile, during thef early Middle Ages, there appeared in various towns certain stated meetings of the shepherds and sheep owners of a given locality. These gatherings were usually called two or three times a year to administer such clauses of the local fuero or town charter as per- tained to the pastoral industry, and especially to assign stray animals to their rightful owners. All townsmen interested in the 1 Alonso de la Rosa, Menwria sobre la manera de transhumacion (Madrid, 1861 : 32 pp.). This monograph gives the text of Fuenleal's communication, with the comments made upon it by Icazbalceta, the famous Mexican historian. ' Adas de Cabildo de Ayuntamiento de Tenuxtiilan, Mexico de la Nueba Espana (Mexico, 1859), iv, pp. 313-314: ordinances of the town council of Mexico City, 1537-42, introducing the laws of the Castilian Mesta; see also Recop. Leyes Indias (Madrid, 1774, 4 vols.), lib. 5, tit. s, leyes 1-20. lO THE MESTA industry were required to attend the meetings, and because of the extensive jurisdictions of some cities — Seville, for example, controlled seventy-six towns and villages — the attendance ran ^-np to hundreds and even thousands in the larger centres. The right to vote in the meetings was limited in most cases to those owning fifty or more sheep, women being eligible to membership on an equal footing with men.' No distinctions were drawn be- tween migratory and non-migratory flocks. These assemblages or concejos were called mestas, probably because of the fact that the strays to be disposed of had become mezdados or mixed with strange flocks.^ Other derivations of the name have been sug- gested, such as " the amistad or amity prevailing among the shepherds." ' The ancient use of the name mechta, among the nomads of the Algerian back country, to indicate their winter sheep assemblages or encampments,* suggests further possibili- ties for speculation as to the Berber origins of the name mesta and of this practice of periodic meetings of migratory sheep own- ers. Occasionally the strays themselves were called mestas, though this was not common; ^ they were usually designated as mestenos ^ or as mostrencos, the general term applied to all owner- less property. The business transacted at these local mestas comprised all matters pertaimng to the pastoral industry.' Shepherds were engaged tofTEe^^ar, beginmng on June 24, and uniform wages were agreed upon. The herdsmen were also to be supplied with food by their employers and were allowed to maintain certain animals of their own with the master's flock free of pasturage and other charges. The old gild spirit of strict regulation to prevent competition among owners for the services of shepherds was everywhere in evidence. Bargaining between sheep owners and 1 Arch. Mesta, B-i, Badajoz, 1560. ^ In Ciceres the meeting was called otero: Ulloa, Priiis. Cdceres, tits. 395, 426, 461 of the twelfth-century fuero. ' Covarrubias, Tesoro, s.v. Mesta. * Bernard and Lacroix, L'£volution du nomadisme en Algirie (Paris, 1906), p. 82. ^ Ulloa, op. cit., p. 83; Urena and Bonilla, Fuero de Usagre, cap. 463. ' Connected with ' mustang,' the half- wild horse of our southwestern cattle ranges. ' See below, p. 58, on wages of shepherds. ORIGINS 1 1 herdsmen outside the mesta meetings and any arrangements or inducements not authorized by the assemblage were punishable with heavy fines. Particular attention was paid to brands, which were in many cases carefully recorded by the town or by the local mesta. Unauthorized alterations of brands and the sale or se- questration of strays were severely punished.^ It is evident from the law code of Visigothic Spain that such local gatherings to distribute the stray animals in the town pound were common at least as early as the sixth or seventh century.^ There is no indication, however, that the name mixta or mesta was associated with the custom until the twelfth century.* These regular meetings of herdsmen and sheep owners were prev- alent not only in Castile but throughout the peninsula during the Middle Ages. In Navarre they were called meztas * and in ^ See below, Appendices A and B, for texts of ordinances of the town mestas of Ubeda (1376) and of Granada (1520). Ordinances of other local mestas are found in Gonzdlez, Colec. de Privs., vi, pp. 142-145 (Alcaraz, 1266); TJHoa., Privs. de Cdceres, pp. 78 ff. (twelfth century/Mcro); Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 714, pp. 208-210 (fuero of Plasencia, thirteenth century); Boletin Acad. Hist. Madrid, xiv, pp. 302- 355 (fuero of Ucl^s, 1179; tits. 192-195); Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 121 ff., citing excerpts from the fueros of Septilveda; Valverde Perales, Ordenanzas de Baena (Cordova, 1907), pp. 127-136; Ordenanzas para . . . Toledo (Toledo, 1858), pp. 4-14.; Ordejiangas de Sevilla (Seville, 1527), fols. 115-123; Arch. Mesta, G-i, Granada, 1533 (early mestas of Ubeda and Granada); Arch. Simancas, Diversos CastUla, Mss. 993-997 (data on the local mesta of Alcaraz) ; Paris Bib. Nat., Mss. Esp. 66 (ordinances of the mesta of Baeza, with regulations for local flocks which migrate); T. D. Palacio, Documentos del Archivo General de la Villa de Madrid, i (cf. index, Jl/ei/a). In 1612 a census of local mestas was undertaken by the national organization; cf. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 30. 2 Fuero Juzgo, lib. 8, tit. 4, ley 14. Paredes Guillen, Framontanos Qeltiberos, p. loi, accepts this as the origin of the Mesta itself, though there is no indication of anything more than meetings of local shepherds for the above mentioned purposes. ' Arch. Hist. Nac, Sala vi, caj. 408, Docs. Reales de Beruela, 1125: " si vero ganatum vestrum cum alio extraneo mixtum fuerit . . ." The name seems also to have been applied to lands of mixed or dual jurisdiction. In this connection two references will suffice to indicate the change from the Latin to the Romance form: Arch. Hist. Nac, Tumbo del Mon. de Lorenzana, fol. 128, no. 185 (a.d. 933) — " per suos terminos antiques de ambas mixtas usque in petras negras; " and fols. 128-129, no. 186 (a.d. 1112) — " illo canto est per rio Malo et per ambas mestas." Arch. Mesta, F-2, Fuente el Sauco, 1511, contains a similar use of the word in a sixteenth Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley 11. ' See below, pp. 88-90. 2 Quad. 1731, pt. 1, p. 20 (1284); see below, pp. 86-87. * Corto, Burgos, 131S, pet. 32; Valladolid, i322,pet. 62; Madrid, 1339, pet. 32; Valladolid, 1351, cuademo primero, pet. 44; Madrid, 1528, pet. 126. ^ John II had issued a similar but less emphatic decree in 1454: Quad. 1731, pt. 1, pp. 149-163, 19s. • Arch. Mesta, Acuerdos (minutes of annual meetings), 19 Feb. 1551. These MIGRATIONS 21 several important decrees which protected the rights of way of the Mesta, especially by guaranteeing to the flocks definite routes across commons and unoccupied lands.' This measure was directed against the military orders and certain large cities, notably Toledo and Madrid, which for centuries had successfully confined the sheep strictly to their canadas and prohibited their movements elsewhere within the jurisdiction of the town or order in question.^ This problem of the sheep marches in uncultivated regions and along unfixed routes, as contrasted with the well marked per- manent canadas, involves two types of routes. First, there were certain temporary ways, called canadas de hoja, which lay across the segments Qiojas) of land left fallow each year in accordance with a modified three-field system.' The intention of this arrange- ment was apparently to aid the agricultural interest by fertilizing the soil of the untilled strip, as well as to provide a passage for the migratory herds. More important than these, however, were the routes followed quite arbitrarily by the flocks across the open and waste lands, to which they claimed access by right of their royal privileges. Their lines of march in such regions were variable and indefinite, in contrast with the carefully bounded and policed canadas. It was, therefore, inevitable that the Mesta entregador reports {desUndes or apeos) fill over 60 volumes of manuscript and cover the period 1551-1796. 1 Quad. 1731, pt. I, pp. 167-169, 196 (1561-67). 2 Arch. Ayunt. Madrid, sec. 2, leg. 358, no. 49: a series of litigations between Madrid and the Mesta, of the years 1300-48, in which the latter's right to cross open lands of the city was denied, because there was no Canada across such lands. Simi- larly the Mesta was required to obtain the permission of the archbishop of Toledo to open a, cafiada over certain waste lands of the archbishopric: Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 2 (1431). The documents of a like case with the Duke of Infantazgo are found in Arch. Osuna, Jadraque, caj. 4, leg. 13, no, i (1502). See also Arch. Ayunt. Cuenca, leg. 6, no. 89 (1518) : the brief submitted by Cuenca in a case against the Mesta, to force the latter's flocks to keep within the canadas and not to use the common lands. ^ Arch. Mesta, C-6, CastriUo, 1 71 2 : several sixteenth- and seventeenth-century documents on this subject. The Mesta codes are silent on the practice, which seems to have originated in long accepted custom and tacit agreement between the parties concerned. See below, p. 320, for a discussion of this topic with reference to the pasturage problem of the Mesta. 22 THE MESTA should come into constant conffict with the towns over alleged trespasses in commons and unenclosed local pastures.^ "'Tsro description, however brief, of the system of national sheep highways would be complete without at least a mention of an- other and scarcely less important network of highways which was used by an organization closely allied to the Mesta. This body was the Cabana Real de Carreteros, or Royal Association of Teamsters. It received its first ofi&cial recognition in i497, when Ferdinand and Isabella endowed it with a set of privileges not unlike those enjoyed by the Mesta. This charter of 1497 guaran- teed to the teamsters freedom from nearly all local taxes while on their journeys about the country, the protection of a special judicial officer {juez conservador) , and the right to pasturage on the common and waste lands in all parts of the realm. This last point brought the Carreteros into frequent conflict with the Mesta. In 1730 there was fought out between the two a notable suit, in the course of which the former revealed the whole system by which goods were transported about the country.' This gild of the Carreteros had been favored with royal privileges, it appears, " because of its value to commerce within the country in tinles of peace, and as an equipment for the transfer of baggage in time of war." Charters were granted to the teamsters' organ- ization in 1497, 1499, 1516, and 1553.' Its members came from Madrid, Valladolid, Toro, Zamora, Salamanca, and Tordesillas, in other words, the same highland towns of northern Castile where most of the Mesta members lived. Most interesting of all, however, is the picture of the domestic commerce of Castile as it was carried on in the ox-carts of the I Carreteros over a regular system or schedule of routes. Accord- ing to a statement introduced in the above mentioned suit on behalf of the teamsters, " they usually spent the winters south of Toledo, where their oxen rested and regained their strength until April. On the first stage of their annual journey they carried loads of charcoal from the woodlands of Toledo to Talavera, the ' See below, p. 319. ^ Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 49. • Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 28, leyes 1-6. MIGRATIONS 23 home of the famous potteries, where they arrived about June. Thence they journed as far south as Seville [presumably with tiles, terra cotta ware, etc., for shipment to America]. They then started north across the Guadiana valley, bringing salt as far as Coria and Plasenda. Thence their route lay southeast to the highlands of Alcudia with wood for the mines of Ahnaden, whence they carried quicksilver to Seville for transportation overseas to the Mexican mines. Another circuit, after the wintering near Toledo, led northward to Madrid, to which point grain was brought and exchanged for wool at Segovia. This wool was taken up to Vitoria; and the carts were there loaded with iron for the north coast, where they took on salt and carried it to Vierzo and Ponferrada [in the upland sheep country west of Leon]. Then they returned eastward to Poza, near Burgos, where salt was loaded for Valladolid, Salamanca, and other parts of Castile." This picturesque, though practically unknown, system of internal trade has further interest because of its connection with the pas- toral industry, notably in the transportation of wool and salt, and in the use of wayside pastures by the oxen. In 1 750 the privileges enjoyed by Mesta members in the use of town commons were extended to the Carreteros.^ This decree was confirmed and ex- tended several times by Charles III (1759-88), who, it appears, was as anxious to encourage the organization of transportation within his realm as he was eager to destroy the Mesta.^ The teamsters' association continued to handle the bulk of the domestic commerce of Castile until well into the nineteenth century. We may now turn from this curious organization of migratory ox-cart traffic to the more intricate detaOs of the flock migrations of the Mesta. The preparations for the southward march of the Mesta flocks, which began about the middle of September, did not include any of the formalities common to the beginning of the 1 Arch. Ayunt. Burgos, Ms. no. 3119. 2 Arch. Hist. Nac, Mss. Consejo de Castilla, leg. 158, no. 4; leg. 227, no. 9; leg. 434, no. 3; leg. 752, no. i; leg. 817, no. 26; leg. 819, no. 2; leg. 877, no. 45; leg. 1446, no. 8. The last three of these are dated 1797-1818. As is explained be- low (pp. 132, 293, 34S), the hostility of Charles toward the Mesta contributed largely to the downfall of the organization. 24 TEE MESTA march of migrants in other countries.' In Castile the only cere- mony was the daubing of the sheep with almagre, a reddish earth, thought by some writers to be intended as a dressing for the wool, and by others as a mark of ownership to minimize the confusion during the breaking up of the encampments. The animals of each owner were branded with his mark, and were kept together on the march.2 All of his flocks, pack train, horses, cows, and swine, taken together as a group, were known as his cabana? The cabana real, however, meant, not the flocks of the king, but the entire pastoral industry of the realm as governed by the king's decrees. This definition was used to check the military orders and powerful ecclesiastics when they undertook to form a great cabana not subject to those decrees.^ Each cabana was under the general charge of a chief herdsman {mayoral), and was divided into flocks or rebanos of about a thousand head each.^ Smaller flocks were called haios, manadas, or pastorias? The rebano included five rams (morruecos) and twenty-five bell- wethers (encencerrados) , and was in charge of a herder with four boys as assistants {zagales, rabadanes) and five dogs (mastines). ' The details here given on the practices of the migrants while on the march are from Manuel del Rio, Vida pasloril (Madrid, 1828) , a curious account by a shepherd who dedicated his observations on his trade to the Mesta; Cano, op. cit.; William Bovr\es, Introduccidnd la Hist. Natural . . . de £i/>a»o (1782), pp. 520-530. See also Bertaux and Yver, "L'ltalie inconnu," in Le Tour du Monde, 1899, pp. 2708., on practices of migrants in southern Italy, and Martonne, op. cit., on pastoral festivities in the Carpathians. 2 Quad. 1731, pt. 2, p. 244 (1499). There is no ground for the theory, some- times expressed, that the name Mesta originated in the mixing of the flocks of dif- ferent owners at the outset of the migrations. ^ Ibid., pt. I, p. 49 (1347). The name cabana was also applied to the cabin of a shepherd. See above, p. 5. * Nueva Recop., lib. 9, tit. 27, ley 11. ' In documents of the thirteenth century the rebano is frequently called the grey; cf. Acad. Hist., Ms. i2-i9-i,Fueros, privilegios . . . municipales, i, p. 422 (Alarcon, 1252). A law of 1563 which stipulated that the rebano be made up of a hundred instead of a thousand head, seems to have had no effect: Cerbantes, Recopilacidn de reales Ordenanzas de Bosques, p. 652. ' Arch. Osuna, B6jar Mss., caj. 33, no. 11 (1457). The horses, oxen, or mules of a given locality were frequently herded together for short migrations. In Aragon and Navarre such herds were called adulas, dulas, or viceras: Jordana, Voces Forestales, p. 10; Borao, Voces Aragonesas, pp. 145, 353. MIGRATIONS 25 The latter were looked after with special care; in fact, they are still given the benefit of every consideration both by modern Spanish law and by all interested in the pastoral industry. The food allotment was the same as that for the shepherds. Injuries done to them were punishable by fines ranging upward from five sheep. The possession of a stray sheep dog was illegal, unless authorized by the Mesta at one of its annual meetings.' The rebano was accompanied by several beasts of burden which carried the equipment: the long net which served as the sheepfold at night, the leather bottles and primitive cooking utensils, the food for men and dogs, the salt for the flocks, and the skins of animals which died on the march.^ The quota of salt was about a hundredweight for each rebano, nearly all of which was con- sumed in the upland pastures. One of the most cherished of the Mesta's exemptions was that which freed it from the heavy salt tax.^ The few animals destined to be sold as mutton were given salt frequently in order to have them drink much water, which was supposed to fatten them. The use of mutton, however, was very vmcommon in Spain, probably because migrations made the merino very tough * and because it was regarded as of greater value for its wool. In place of mutton, much pork was eaten, both because of its high quaKty, which was due largely to the abundance of acorn fodder, and because its consumption re- moved suspicions of Judaism.^ It is curious to note that in a 1 Quad. 1731, pt. 2, p. 222. The present day Asociaci6n General de Ganaderos, the successor to the Mesta, devotes considerable attention to the maintenance of the better breeds of sheep dogs. The Castilian sheep dog was a short haired, heavy, muscular animal, capable of withstanding the fatigue of the long marches and of defending his charges against wolves and thieves, both of which were plentiful. Good types of these animals are shown in some of Velasquez's paintings. » Arch. Osuna, Bfijar Mss., caj. 58, no. 19 (1634) : an inventory of one of these flocks. ' Quad. 1731, pt. 1, pp. 99, 101-102 (1528, 1571, 1592). * The breed retains this characteristic today, even in regions where no migra- tions are undertaken. ' J. C. Dunlop, Memoirs of Spain during the Reigns 0} Philip IV and Charles II (1834, 2 vols.), ii, p. 399. Sorapin, in his Medicina Espanola (1616), pp. 130 £f., endeavored to increase the use of mutton by recommending its supposed medicinal qualities. 26 THE MESTA series of menus prepared in 1529 by a cook of Charies V, three- fourths of the 140 items or courses mentioned were meat and fowl, but only four of these were mutton.' The whole organiza- ' tion of the Mesta was shaped toward the growing of w ool, and any considerationgiven to the production o£meatwas only incidental. The animals at the head of the rebano, as it set out upon its long march, were the sick and deUcate sheep, the breeding ewes (parideras), and the rams (morruecos). These were the favored ones, which were thus given first access to the pastures along way. They were subject to special exemptions from confiscation for toUs and taxes, as were also the bellwethers {mansos or encencerrados).''' Any comment upon the number of migratory sheep in Spain must begin with the immediate dismissal of the extravagant and quite unauthenticated estimates of Caxa de Leruela,^ Bourgoing,* Laborde,^ Randall,^ and others, who picture the Mesta as being made up of from 5,000,000 to 7,000,000 sheep in the sixteenth century. These imposing figures, we are assured, shrank in the seventeenth century to 2,500,000, largely as a result of the reforms enforced by the Cortes. Previous to the sixteenth century, few rehable figures can be cited on the size of the migratory herds.' Fortunately, however, the account books of the Mesta, which are available from 1512, contain valuable statistics on this topic. Each year, at the winter meeting of the Mesta, the accoimts of the previous year were balanced and dues were assessed. These dues were based upon 1 Acad. Hist., Sempere Mss., Papeles varies Econ. Polit. B-127. See also Mar- tinez Montino, Arte de Cocina (many eds., 1653 ff.) ; Labat, Voyages en Espagne et en Italie (1730, 8 vols.), i, pp. 242-243. ■' Quad. 1731, pt. I, pp. 16-18 (1285); Arch. Mesta, C-io, Canaleda, 1488; T-3, Toledo, 1555; Provs. i, 15 (1496), 57 (i5S4), S9 (iS39); ", 23 (1636); Arch. Osuna, Santillana Mss., caj. 9, leg. i, no. 7 (1426). ' Restauracidn de la Abundancia de Espana (Naples, 1631). Leruela, who was an entregador in 1623-25, was endeavoring to show the havoc wrought in the in- dustry by the reformers of his time. ' Tableau de VEspagne moderne (2d ed., Paris, 1797, 3 vols.), i, p. 89, note. ' Ilineraire descriptive de VEspagne (3d ed., Paris, 1827-30, 6 vols.), v, p. 248. ' Fine Wool Sheep Husbandry (New York, 1863), pp. 6-7. ' The accounts of the royal sheep toll in the Arch. Simancas, Cuentas, Servicio, y Montazgo, are fragmentary before the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. MIGRATIONS 27 the debit balance, which was distributed among the members in accordance with the number of sheep that each possessed. That number was ascertained by representatives (procuradores) of the Mesta, who were present at the royal toll gates along the canadas. During the greater part of the sixteenth century, when the Mesta was at the height of its strength and importance, this pro rata assessment was fixed as accurately as possible. After 1566 the tendency was to form only a rough estimate of the flocks and use that as a basis for the assessment. The results of this count will serve to indicate the average size of the Mesta flocks during its most prosperous period: ^ ^477- • ..2,694,032 1531 ...2,521,200 1547 • ■ • 2,693,302 . 1512- . . 2,590,661 1532 . . . 2,600,000 '1548 •••2,738,677 1514. ■ • ■2,895,471 1533 . . . 2,500,000 1549 • • • 2,705,000 1515- ■ ••2,74S>S46 -1534 . . . 2,600,000 1551 . . .2,227,182 1516.. • •2,775.250 1535 . . . 2,380,000 1552 . . . 2,863,750 1517- • . . 2,860,632 1536 •••2,495,797 1553 ...2,857,214 1518. . • •2,934,057 1537 ...2,066,554 I5S4 ■ ■ • 2,750,000 1519.. ■ •3.177.669 1538 ...2,650,914 ISS5 ...2,372,000 1520. . . .3,027,608 IS39 ...2,905,548 + .1556 . . . 2,622,890 1521.. • •2,538,270 1540 . . . 2,678,947 1557 ...2,180,074 1523- ■ . .2,822,264 1541 ...2,528,590 1558 ...1,903,636 1524- • • • 2,543,961 ~~. 1542 ...2,711,213 1559 .. .1,746,811 1526. . ••3,4S3,i68 1543 ...2,780,764 1560 ...2,034,911 1527- • ..2,853,648 1544 .. .2,302,018 1561 ...2,128,797 -1528. . ..3,014,440 IS4S . . . 2,580,000 1562 •••1,673,551 1529. . . . 2,613,000 1546 ...2,712,548 J 1563 ...2,303,027 1530- • ..2,528,883 Two points of fundamental importance are brought out by these figures : first, in no year did the number of sheep equal even half of the estimate of the writers cited above; and second, the decline began long before the reforms of the early seventeenth century were undertaken. At no later period was the average of " The figures for 1477 are from the Censo de Poblacidn (Madrid, 1829), p. 108. All are given as ' sheep,' though they include a few cows, horses, goats, and swine, which were resolved into ' sheep ' on the basis of six sheep for one cow or horse, with goats and swine counting the same as sheep. The number of these was so few, however, that this point does not materially detract from the value of the figures. During the first half of the sixteenth century the ' sheep ' rating of these animals averaged between 250,060 and 300,000 a year. The figures given for the years 1532-35) in- clusive, are evidently estimates. 28 THE MESTA these figures ever surpassed. In other words, the transhumantes were most numerous during the first decade of the reign of Charles V, and their numbers fell off steadUy after the zenith had been passed. These figures place the beginnings of Mesta decadence v^' in the period _iS5o-6o, which is more than a centur y earlier than the time when the collapse of the organization is commonlj^^e- lieved to have begun. The reasons Tor this discrepancy are of funHamentarTmportance in the history of the institution; we shall consider them in detail later on. The question of the distance traversed by the sheep before they reached their southernmost destinations is one which may be dis- posed of here. The flocks from Leon and Soria travelled between three hundred and fifty and four hundred and fifty miles from their summer feeding grounds, while those from Segovia and Cuenca usually Journeyed one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles. 1 In traversing the highways between cultivated lands, the daUy march was sometimes as much as fifteen or eighteen miles; but across open country the speed was usually only five or six miles a day. In general, a month sufficed to cover the distance, and the last of October usually found all of the transhumantes in their winter camps on the rolling pastures of Estremadura and Andalusia, or the sunny Mediterranean lowlands. The lambs were born soon after the arrival in the southern pastures, and in the following March they were ready to be branded on the nose with the owner's mark, and to have the future breeders among them sorted out. While on their way to the southern pastures and during the winter months there, the sheep owners occasionally disposed of animals in wayside town markets. The ever increasing number of sheep thus sold, which were called merchaniegos, illustrates one phase of the very important influence of the Mesta upon the growth of national markets, the spread of trade from local and metropohtan districts into larger areas.^ While in the southern 1 Arch. Mesta, P-6, Puertos, 1605 : details of migrations from Burgos to M^rida and the Portuguese border. Ibid., P-6, Puebla de Montalbdn, 1562; T-3, Toledo, 1589; V-4, Villalpando, 1500; Y-2, Yscar, 1503; and Z-i, Zamora, 1758. 2 See below, pp. 30 ff. MIGRATIONS 29 pastures, the shepherds occasionally bought non-migratory sheep in neighboring towns. These animals, called chamorras, were used to provide mutton and cheaper grades of wool to be sold on the northbound march.^ The departure from the southern plains began about the mid- dle of AprU, and the sheep were clipped in sheds along the way. Each rebano, as it arrived at its chpping station, was kept over night in close quarters, so that the wool might be softened by the perspiration, and thus the clipping be easier and the fleece, which was sometimes sold in the grease, heavier. The chppers worked in corps of one hvmdred and twenty-five, each corps being able to dispose of a rebano of a thousand head in a day. The wool, if not sold in the grease, was then washed, and taken away to be stored in one of Lhe central lonjas, or warehouses, of which the largest was in Segovia. Finally it was removed to the great fairs, especially that at Medina del Campo, or to the north coast ports for shipment to Flanders and England. After the clipping there came a short interval of rest for recuperation and acclimatizing, and the journey was then resumed in slow stages. By the last of May or early June the flocks were once more in their home pastures in the northern uplands around Soria, Segovia, Cuenca, and Leon. ' Arch. Mesta, Servicio y Montazgo, leg. 2, no. i, Esteban Ambran, 1707-08. CHAPTER III MARKETING Wool marketing in Italy and Aragon. Early exports of Spanish wool to England. Organization of the export trade by Ferdinand and Isabella. The Burgos Con- sulado or Trade House. Its foreign branches. Its contact with the Mesta at the Medina del Campo fair. The Mesta and the trade with the New World. Organi- zation of the domestic wool trade. Dealing in ' futures.' Middlemen. Trade policies of the Hapsburgs. : Wheeever the migratory sheep industry appeared, the herds- men soon carried on a thriving trade in the markets and fairs along the routes of the flocks. The southbound autumn journey of the migrants usually coincided with the period of town fairs of the harvest season, and large sales of pastoral products were usually made. A large part of the suppHes necessary for the shepherds and their charges were secured in the near towns in exchange for wool, skins, meat, and cheese. The sheep owners among the Berber nomads were always active traders.^ In the uplands of southern France and in Navarre, trade between passing , shepherds and wayside townsmen had become so active that it was necessary to regulate it carefully, in order to prevent the sale of stolen animals by the shepherds, and to check possible viola- tions of strict gild rules by local merchants in their deaHngs with the herdsmen.^ The Navarrese towns protected themselves against these intrusions of strangers in the local markets by assess- ing taxes or lezdas upon goods thus brought in.' The pastoral products of the migrating herds in southern Italy had, from the early Middle Ages down to the eighteenth century, been sold exclusively at the annual fair in Foggia under strict royal supervision. This was the solution of what to the mediaeval ' Bernard and Lacroix, Nomadisme en Algerie (Paris, 1906), p. 207. 2 Cavailles, " Une f6d6ration pyr^n^ene sous I'ancien regime," in the Revue historique, cv, p. 29; Alonso, Recop. Fueros Nav. (Madrid, 1848, 2 vols.), ii, pp. 353 ff. ' Yanguas, Die. Antigiiedades Navarra, ii, p. 200; Coello, Impuestos de Ledn y Costilla, p. 650; Mufioz, i, p. 239. MARKETING 3 1 mind was undoubtedly one of the chief objections, to the whole practice of^Jarge scale sheep migrations, namely th.e inevitable promiscuityof unregulated marketing activities. The difficulties in the way of imposing the time-honored trade regulations upon a large and mobile group of producing merchants, or rather market- ing producers, were all too obvious. The operations of these itinerant trader-herdsmen covered all corners of the realm; and it was undoubtedly this very characteristic, and the consequent impossibility of enforcing any of the exacting stipulations which were held by mediaeval public opinion to be so indispensable in all economic relations, that led to the insistence upon the restriction of all their marketing to one point. It has been said that the con- centration of the winter products of the migrants in the royal warehouses at Foggia, for sale under the supervision of crown officers, was largely for fiscal purposes. More especially, how- ever, was it intended to facilitate the inspection of quality, the maintenance of prices, and the regulation of supply which were the essence of the local market in the later Middle Ages. ^.^ In the case of the Aragonese migrants, attempts were made to check their marketing activities by severe restrictions, and espe- cially by the imposition of heavy export duties, not upon the sheep, since these would supposedly return to Aragon, but upon the supplies carried by the shepherds.^ Such measures, it was hoped, would prevent trading in goods the export of which was forbidden, and would, in general, minimize a form of commerce which, because of its movement through sparsely settled border towns, was difficult to regulate. After the union of Castile and Aragon this curiously mediaeval policy was continued. A cus- tom house was maintained at Huelamo in the CastUian province of Cuenca, on the main route of the Aragonese flocks to their southern pastures. Even the movements of the flocks and their supplies a short distance across the border were carefully observed and restricted. In order to guarantee their return, all animals • On several occasions the Aragonese kings undertook to assess tariffs upon the sheep, but they were promptly reminded of certain acknowledged exemptions. Cf. the arguments by an attorney of the Saragossan Casa de Ganaderos in 1693, in a broadside beginning, " Senor, Don Juan Franco y Piqueras "; also Brieva, Colec. de Ordenes, p. 131, n. 3. 32 THE MESTA and pastoral products had to be registered, and the collection of heavy registration fees caused frequent quarrels between the ex- asperated herdsmen and the overzealous royal collectors.' In Aragon the migratory sheep industry lacked that national organization which gave the Castilian shepherds such power in their dealings with the crown's tariff collectors. The Aragonese migrants were split up into various local units ■ — • the mesta of Albarracin, the Casa de Ganaderos of Saragossa, the ligajo of Cala- tayud, the cofradia of shepherds of Letux, etc. As a result of this lack of cohesion and unity of action, the marketing activities of the migrating herdsmen could readily be checked both by the crown and by the leagues or comunidades of pasturage towns.^ Gild rules were imposed by the central goverrmient, establishing certain regulations to govern the marketing of wool and its products.' Nevertheless, there was a fairly active trade carried on by the Aragonese herdsmen, who brought down dairy products for the coast cities and wool for export and for the Valencian cloth factories. This trade between the Aragonese highlanders and the southeastern seaboard sprang up immediately after the Moors had been driven from the coastal plains during the middle decades of the thirteenth century. The customs barriers upon the traffic of the Aragonese migrants were not removed until the close of the seventeenth century. In 1693 the Royal Council finally granted the privilege of free and unrestricted movement across the border.* Thus one of the fiscal relics of mediaeval Spain, the Spain of sep- arate kingdoms, contending sectionalism, and closely restricted marketing, was swept aside. ' The migratory pastoral industry was evidently a force of con- siderable importance in breaking down the confining barriers of mediaevalism which had prevented any acceleration of com- mercial activity. The long and regular marches of the herdsmen and their animals spread the market area for pastoral products 1 Arch. Mesta, H-i, Huaamo, 1526 ff.: documents of a long series of such disputes during the sixteenth century. ' See below, p. 299. " Parral, Fueros deAragdn, ii, pp. 403, 414: For. Regni Arag., lib. 4, tits. 627, 633-634- * Arch. Mesta, H-i, Hu^lamo, 1695. MARKETING 33 beyond the restricted local areas and even beyond the national frontiers. The CastUian towns displayed this same spirit of hostility toward the marketing activities of the migratory shepherds. The universahty of portazgos and similar taxes upon goods brought to local fairs and markets by strangers ^ was due, in part, to the widespread movements of the migrating flocks. The latter were, however, by no means friendless in their wanderings. From the earliest times, royal charters were issued in favor of the migrants of loyal towns or monasteries, granting them unrestricted and untaxed entry into local markets in a large part or the whole of the realm.^ In some rare instances, the favored flocks were granted exemption from the royal customs duties levied at the frontiers.^ The first known charters of the Mesta — those of 1273 and 1276 — guaranteed to the members of that organization the right to trade their pastoral products for supplies in wayside markets, and to dispose of not more than sixty sheep from every flock in a given town, regardless of local ordinances prohibiting trading by strangers.^ This was one of the most jealously guarded priv- ileges of the Castilian migrants; confirmation of it was secured on every favorable occasion, not only from the crown ^ but also by written agreements with the towns themselves." It should be carefuUy noted that the Mesta itself entere d into QO_comn]£rciaJr-fela.ti©ns5- ownedjio, sheep^ jind_took jiq_patt in marketiiigany_£a§toraL products. It_ was ^unply a protective association, de signed to facilitate the oper ations of its member'sT' 1 See below, p. 165. 2 Munoz, i, p. 509: fuero of 1133; Ulloa, Privs. de Cdceres, p. 115: edict of 1293; see also below, p. 168. ' Gonzilez, vi, p. no: an exemption of 1258 in favor of the flocks from Alicante which crossed the Aragonese border. * Quad. 1731, pt. I, pp. 38-41- ' Ibid., pp. 23, 42-4S. 61: charters of 1285, 1295, 1347, 1395 £f. See also Nov. Recop., lib. g, tit. 4. * Arch. Mesta, T-2, Toledo, 1376: a concordia or agreement between the Mesta and Toledo, granting the former certain privileges in the markets of the latter. Similar agreements were made with such important metropolitan markets as Granada and Seville. 34 THE MESTA to plead their cases at court, and to secure for them every possible advantag e. But although thelSJesta took no direct part innrark- eting wool, its persistent activity on behalf of its members was undoubtedly the chief reason, not only for the remarkably early nationalization of wool and sheep marketing throughout Castile and the breakdown of mediaeval local restrictions upon this trafl&c, but also for the far more important development of an organized, large scale export trade in wool. The history of the Spanish wool trade is yet to be written. It is a phase of European commercial history which for its signifi- cance and diverse and widespread influence has long merited far more attention than it has received.^ Here we may note only cer- tain aspects of this extensive subject, namely the part played by the Mesta in encouraging that trade and in the introduction of merino wool into the markets of the world. At least as early as the twelfth century there had grown up a more or less irregular exportation of Spanish wool to England. In 1 1 72 Henry II of the latter country had attempted to protect the interest of the English wool growers by forbidding this traflSc.^ A century elapsed, however, before an overseas wool trade was undertaken by the Spaniards with any regularity; and then, within a generation after the founding of the Mesta, the fine Castihan wools were beginning to appear in the ports of England and Flanders. It was soon found necessary to establish a factory or trading post of Spanish wool merchants at Bruges.' Further- more, the customs reports of the incoming trade of Southampton, Sandwich, and Portsmouth, from 1303 onward, note the arrivals * There is a wealth of untouched material upon this subject in the town archives of such north coast ports as Bilbao, San Sebastian, and Santander, and of the important interior wool markets of Burgos and Segovia. The archives of the ancient consulados of some of these cities are also prolific in manuscripts on this topic. Simancas documents upon the fairs of Medina del Campo are an obvious source of further data, since that city was one of the points of concentration for outward bound wool shipments. A begirming has been made in the study of the east coast wool trade by Ventall6 Vintr6's Historia de la Induslria lanera Caialana (Barcelona, 1907). 2 Adam Anderson, Origin of Commerce, i, p. 127; ii, p. 350; John Smith, Chronicon Rusticum, i, p. 69. ' Cariulaire de I'ancien consulat de I'Espagne d Bruges. MARKETING 35 of various consignments of the Spanish staple almost every year.' These shipments evidently came from ports on the north coast of Spain — San Sebastian, Santander, and Bilbao — - where the wools of Mesta flocks were concentrated for shipment each sum- mer after the northward migration. As a result of this rapidly growing trade, various cofradias or gilds of merchants and ship- ping interests were soon organized in the north coast cities.^ It is evident, then, that an active export traffic in wool was noticeable at least fifty years before those middle decades of the fourteenth century which were marked by the vigorous patronage of Alfonso XI and the devastations of the Black Death. It will A be recalled that Alfonso and the Plague have commonly been held responsible for the introduction of _sheep, migrations on a 1 large scale and for the rise of the Mesta. The Great Pestilence^\ may have cleared the land for more pasturage and the support of Alfonso XI undoubtedly helped the Mesta, but it is certain that ji a rapidly growing Castilian sheep raising industry was making// jtself^ lt in the foreign wool markets many years beforeT;he days/ of the great Alfonso and the epidemic of 1348-50. WhUe the i development of the Qverseas wool tra de was perhaps too earM in j the history of the Mesta to permit us to ascribe it entirely to the appearance of that body, nevertheless the two events are evi- dently associated. The Mesta, as will be explained later, grew in power, and the wool exportations expanded, because the industry which both represented was steadily increasing in importance. Castile had, in fact, by far the most active and productive pastoral industry of any country in Europe in that period. Instead of re- ceiving her first highbred sheep from England, as has been some- ' N. S. B. Gras, Early English Customs System (Cambridge, 1917), §§ 32, 35, 37, 39. 43- 2 Cf . Eloy GarcJa de Quevedo y Concell6n, Ordenanzas del Consulado de Burgos (Burgos, 1905), and Ordenanzas de la Ilustre Universidad Casa de Contratacidn y Con- sulado de San Sebastidn (Oydrzun, 1814), drawn up in 1511 for the newly organized Consulado of Bilbao. In each of these cases, however, the origins of the organiza- tions can be traced back to the early fourteenth century. See also the Documentos . para la Eistoria de Pontevedra, iii (1904), containing the ordinances of a similar gild in Pontevedra. These mediaeval codes were used as models for the ordinances of the merchant gilds of Saragossa (1771) and Valencia (1776). 36 THE MESTA times alleged, she had long been " famous ... for fine cloth, be- ^^:e the Enghsh knew what it was to be clothed." ^ In order to prevent the development of foreign competition in the fine wool trade, the strictest rules were laid down by the na- y tional Cortes, at the behest of the Mesta, prohibiting the exporta- tion of sheep from Spain.^ Migratory flocks crossing the frontier On their annual migrations into Portugal, Aragon, or Navarre were required to register in order to insure the return of all ani- mals. Heavy penalties were levied upon any herdsman within twelve leagues of the borders if he could not produce a registration card for his sheep.' The export of the wool itself came to be re- / stricted in the course of the fifteenth century, when the native cloth factories had become important enough to demand con- sideration. In 1442 schedules of cloth prices were promulgated so as to protect the coarser native fabrics. Seven years later, heavy import tariffs and frequent prohibitive edicts were used to check the importation of foreign goods. Finally, in 1462, the exportation of more than two-thirds of the wool clip for any given ..year was prohibited.^ Charles V later undertook to Hmit the \ supply for foreign trade to a half of the annual clip, with a view toward further encouraging the native cloth industry. This brought forth, however, such vehement protests from the Mesta, and from the merchant gild of Burgos, where the exportable wool was gathered for overland shipment to the north coast ports, that the original proportions of two-thirds for export and one-third for home consmnption were restored. ■ — The energies of the Mesta leaders, who were never far from the court, had been concentrated more and more, toward the close of the fifteenth century, upon the necessity of expanding the over- ' Smith, Chronicon Rusticum, i, p. 69. 2 Cortes, Palencia, 1313, pet. 17; Burgos, 1315, pets. 17, 18; Valladolid, 1322, pet. 43; Madrid, 1339, pet. 5. ' Nueva Recop., lib. 6, tit. 18, ley 21. * Nueva Rccop., lib. 6, tit. 18, ley 46; Cortes, Toledo, 1462, pet. 27; Laborde, Itineraire descriptif de I'Espagne C3d ed., 1827-30), v, p. 330; Las premdticas que S. M. ha mandado hazer . . . (Alcaic, 1552). The last-named volume com- prises a rare collection of edicts concerning the wool trade during the period 1440- 1551. A copy of it is in the Paris Bib. Nat. CR^s. F. 1257: 9) See also Monterroso, Prdctica para escribanos (Madrid, 1545), p. 143. MARKETING 37 seas wool trade. This was, according to their arguments, an indis- pensable source of royal revenue, a certain means of making England and Flanders the debtors of Castile, and, in short, of capitalizing most advantageously the leading natural resource of the peninsula. It was during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella that this policy of aggressively promoting wool exports received its greatest encouragement. It became the keynote of the commercial pro- gramme of those royal devotees of mercantiUsm. With their characteristically shrewd appreciation of Spanish regard for tradition, they ostentatiously turned to the past, avoided abrupt innovation, and veiled the coming of their wool trade campaign by confirming the edict of 1462. As we have noted, the latter document undertook to conserve the supply of Spain's ' classic staple ' as the basis of a native textile industry. As time went oiip however, it gradually became apparent that, for the first time in history, the commercial affairs of the Spanish kingdoms were administered upon a carefully planned pohcy aimed persistently at one definite purpose, namely, the exportation of those raw materials for which the greatest quantities of gold and foreign / commodities could be secured in return.^ The first step of Ferdinand and Isabella in this programme was in connection with the organization of the wool export trade. The efficiency of the Spanish factories at Bruges, London, La Ro- chelle, and Florence was given careful attention and the mer- chants interested in them were endowed with special privileges. ^ The importation of foreign cloths into Castile, which had long been extensive and had now taken on increased activity as a corollary to the heavy wool exports, was at first encouraged. It was not until after Isabella's death (1504) that Ferdinand made some attempts to develop a native wooUen cloth industry. He introduced elaborately detailed gUd regulations and even pre- scribed a form of domestic or ' putting out ' system, whereby ' Further details of this mercantilism of the Catholic Kings may be found in Haebler, WirtschaftUche Bliite Spaniens, pp. 6-7, and in Ansiaux, " Hist. &on. de I'Espagne," in Remie d'economie polUique, June, 1893, p. 528. 2 Nueva Recop., lib. 3, tit. 13, ley i. 38 THE MESTA successive manufacturing processes were completed in turn by different groups of workmen, operating through intermediaries not unlike the entrepreneurs of the seventeenth-century English doth industry.' The expulsion of the Jews in 1492 made necessary a further impetus to the exportation of wool and other available raw-,ma- terials. This was due to the fact that the Jews formed the largest group of merchants in Spain familiar with money economy, and handled most of the operations of foreign exchange. The interval between their expulsion and the coming of the Flemish and Italian satelhtes of the Emperor Charles — a gap of nearly thirty years — • was a period of confusion in the affairs of Castilian merchants. It was inevitable, therefore, that the latter should be encouraged by their sovereigns to turn to the exploitation of the wool trade as one of the obvious means of adjusting their foreign obligations. This was the situation which in 1494 brought into existence the famous Consulado or foreign trade house of Burgos, to be fol- lowed in 15 1 1 by the establishment of a similar institution at Bilbao on the north coast. After the edict of expulsion of 1492, business, particularly the wool export trade, had become hope- lessly clogged. Litigations were being delayed, apparently be- cause of inadequate experience with the mechanism of foreign trade, until, in the words of the decree of 1494, " some commercial suits bade fair to become immortal." The Consulado was there- fore founded at Burgos on the lines of certain trade administrative courts of Barcelona and Valencia. According to the decree, the 1 Nueva Recop., lib. 9, tit. 27, ley 6; tit. 28, ley i, and tit. 29, ley 6; Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, pt. 2, chap, xxvi; Capmany, CtiesHones crit., pp. 25-72. Guicciardini, Opere, vi, pp. 275-276, makes mention of some attempts to promote a cloth industry in 1512; see also Clemencin, Eldgio, p. 244; Cortes, Madrid, 1515, pet. 14; and the city ordinances of Seville, approved by Ferdinand and Isabella in May, 1492, regulating the operations of 31 weavers in that capital: OrdenanQas de Sevilla (Seville, 1527), fols. 206-211. The latter were elaborated by Ferdinand in 1511 into a code of 118 paragraphs specifying details on wool-washing, widths and weights of cloth, adulteration, dyeing, inspection, and the distribution of the cloth in successive stages of completion among various crafts: cf. Ramirez, Prag- mdticas, fols. clxxvii-clxxxiv. Upon earlier regulations of the native cloth industry and the restriction of the sale of foreign cloths, see Ramirez, fols. cxvii-cxix (1494-1501). MARKETING 39 institution was intended " to expedite shipping by organizing the exportation of goods in fleets, to prevent fraud and theft by mer- chants and intermediaries," and, in short, to build up an efficient marketing organization to handle the raw materials of northern Castile, especially the wool from the Mesta flocks. The establishment of this export house, coming as it did upon the heels of the first extensive codification of the laws of the Mesta itself ,1 was clearly a part of a broad plan to build up for the whole wool industry, from pastures to market, a comprehensive organization to facilitate the exploitation of this great resource. The details of the operations of the Consulado were carefully defined, and the specifications were strictly enforced by the watchful Isabella and her agents. The prior and Consulado of Burgos were to be under royal supervision, and were to have charge of the loading and allocation of the ships belonging to the fleets (Jlotas). After these vessels had assembled -at north coast ports, notice was sent to wool .growers of Burgos, Segovia, Lo- grono, and the-ethefliome towns of Mesta members, announcing the time when and where their wool for export was to be gathered. The ships^used were to belong only to native Spaniards. Fac- tories or selling agencies were to be maintained in Flanders, France, and England at sp_ecified points; and the f adores were to cafry~on all their operations according to instructions from the Burgos ofl&ce, to which they were to send their accounts each year for auditing. The books were then to be sent to the great fair at Medina del Campo in charge of a committee of merchants, two representing the Burgos office and two the wool growers and mer- chants of other towns. The committee was then to assign the proper shares of the profit to each of the growers and merchants contributing wool for the transactions of the Consulado. These claims of Mesta members upon shares in the profits of the wool trade were frequently used, during the financial difficulties of the first Hapsburgs, as securities for heavy loans to the crown by the Mesta.2 It is clear, then, that although the latter had no share 1 See below, p. 49, on the code of MaJpartida, 1492. 2 Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, Feb., 1537, Aug., 1537, Feb., 1544: the accounts of such transactions. See also below, pp. 279 ff. 40 THE MESTA directly in the development of improved marketing methods, it suppKed a considerable part of the machinery needed by the sheep raisers to carry out their part in the new arrangements. In the end, the Mesta profited heavily in the large sums it was able to raise from the Medina bankers during the sixteenth cen- tury, thanks to the annual liquidation of the wool export obliga- tions at the great fair.^ A further feature of interest in connection with this matter of the organization of the wool trade is the fact that the shipping department of the Consulado of Burgos became the immediate model for the more famous Casa de Contratacion at Seville. This ' House of Trade ' was established in 1503, for the manage- ment of the transatlantic ^otoj, and in fact the whole of the trade with the New World.^ The experience of the Spanish mon- archs in organizing their wool export had, in fact, been almost their only training in dealing with such a problem of commercial administration. Out of this successful experience there grew the conviction that large scale overseas traffic was best handled by the flota or fleet system — a device well known long before this to the Venetians and other traders — and by a concentration of foreign trade management in a single institution having both judicial and administrative functions. Simultaneously with this unusual interest in the organization of exporting, came an appreciation of the necessity for more care- ful attention to the promotion and regulation of internal market- ing. The easy-going Henry the Impotent, Isabella's brother and predecessor, had lavished various commercial concessions upon his favorites. The diezmo del mar, or export tax collected at the ports, was bestowed in 1469 upon one of the courtiers, who pro- ceeded to reap a rich harvest in wool export taxes.' This valuable ' The full text of the 1494 edict is found in Ramirez, fols. cxlvi-cxlviii. See also Clemencin, EUgio, p. 249; Haebler, op. cit., p. 50, n. 9; Ventall6, op. cit., passim; Altanoira, Hist, ie Espana, ii, pp. 490-500; T. Guiard y Larrauri, Hist, del Con- sulado de Bilbao, vol. i (1913); Garcfa de Quevedo y Concell6n, Ordenanzas del Consulado de Burgos. 2 Cf. C. H. Haring, Trade and Navigation between Spain and the Indies (Cam- bridge, 1918). ' Haebler, op. cit., pp. 113, 119. MARKETING 4I source of income was not regained by the crown until 1559. Henry had also disposed of monopolies covering the domestic trade in certain pastoral products, notably hides, but these con- cessions were soon revoked by Ferdinand and Isabella.^ Con- structive legislation was then undertaken in order to build up internal commerce within and between the now united kingdoms of the peninsula. A series of decrees was issued modifjdng the previously prohibitive customs duties and restrictions upon trade across the Castilian-Aragonese border.^ These measures were particularly welcome to the Mesta herdsman, whose migra- tions into Navarre and Aragon were much hampered by the refusals of the royal agents at the puertos secos, or border customs houses,' to allow any supplies to be carried by the shepherds without payment of diezmos, or export duties. In some cases these restrictions had even been interpreted so as to prevent the flocks themselves from leaving Castile. Arrangements were now made for the registration of flocks crossing the frontiers and for the assessment of nominal tariffs, or none at all, upon such animals as were sold before returning to Castile.* An edict was also issued establishing standard grades and weights for the wool trade throughout the kingdom — a measure which was epoch- making in the commercial history of Spain and was profoundly significant in the development of the pastoral industry.^ Even more important evidence of the improvement in market- ing methods is foimd in the regulation of what had been regarded as the questionable operations of middlemen {revendedores) ^ and dealers in wool ' futures.' The latter class had been most obnox- ious, especially because of the " dangerous atmosphere of chance which was about all their transactions," according to the Mesta > Cortes, Toledo, 1480, cap. 79. ' Ramirez, op. cit., fols. xc-xcii, cxxxiii, cxlv-cxlvi (1488-1503). ' For a brief account of these puertos secos see Ripla, Rentas Reales, iv, pp. 180 fE. * Cortes, Toledo, 1480, pet. in; Arch. Mesta, A-s, Alcazar, 1487, exempting all supplies and animals en route to Murcia from tariffs; similarly, Prov. i, 10 (1488); C-i, Cdceres, 1494, established rules for the registration of flocks crossing the Portuguese border. <• Clemencfn, Eldgio, pp. 248-251; Arch. Meste, Prov. i, 55 (1488). » Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 239-240: texts of ordinances of 1511 regulating the transactions of wool middlemen. 42 TBE MESTA ordinances of 1492, which reflected the mediaeval suspicion of such ' non-essential ' services. Then too, the sheep owners were hostile toward the middlemen because of the entangling contracts into which the latter inveigled Mesta members in order to secure future deliveries of wool. For example, in case the clip of any wool grower happened to fall below the contracted quantity, the deficiency usually had to be filled by the grower from purchases made elsewhere, for which exorbitant prices were paid. It must be noted, however, that neither the transactions of the revende- dores nor the dealings in futures had been entirely prohibited; and as Isabella studied the problem, she evidently came to appre- ciate the possibilities of the service rendered by those engaging in this form of trade. Finally she formally recognized the middle- men and approved of their operations, under certain strict reg- ulations, because such recognition meant further specialization of industry and the segregation of the wool marketers into a sep- arate group so that they might be definitely placed under royal supervision.^ Even these transactions in wool, however, were usually re- stricted to a few important concentration points, such as Medina del Campo, Segovia, and Burgos. Not until the close of the Mid- dle Ages were itinerant traders given any consideration or security under the ordinances of the more remote towns and villages of Castile. This attitude was not altogether unjust, for the smaller communities felt a not altogether umnerited suspicion about the title of wandering merchants to the goods which they offered for sale.2 The expulsion of the gypsies and of the Moors after the capture of Granada had freed the country of many roving ped- dlers, whose dealings had given a most unsavory reputation to aU trading in rural districts. Another step which had greatly facil- itated the wayside trading of the Mesta members was the or- ganization in 1476 of the national Hermandad, the ' brotherhood ' of rural police, which exterminated most of the lawlessness of the ' Arch. Ayunt. Cuenca, leg. s, no. 98 (1498); Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 17 (1498). 2 The Navarrese law required that proof of ownership should be given by any stranger offering sheep for sale in local markets. Nov. Recop. Leyes Nav. (Pam- plona, 173s, 2 vols.), lib. I, tit. 20, ley 21. MARKETING 43 country districts. For the first time in Castilian history the thinly populated southern plains were safe for honest migrating traders.^ There was evident, then, for the first time, the development of a distinctly national marketing, as contrasted with the older, more restricted trading in metropolitan or large city centres. The domestic commerce of mediaeval Castile was largely con- centrated in a few widely scattered urban districts, which were almost completely isolated from one another, except during the brief periods of their annual fairs. The evolution of the wool and sheep trade from this more or less irregular activity into an un- hindered, nation-wide traffic, binding together the various com- mercial centres, was the outcome of the nationalizing policy of Ferdinand and Isabella. They made full use of the Mesta, its itinerant attorneys and entregadores, in order to sweep aside the obsolete restrictions by which local prejudice and suspicion had prevented the entrance of the migratory traders into town markets. In spite of this assistance, however, the wool trade continued to be largely an export business because of the lack of a native cloth industry, and the shipments were still concen- trated very largely in Burgos and the north coast ports, as described above. The conspicuous feature of this newly stimulated domestic trade in pastoral products was the sale of Mesta sheep in the markets of towns along the canadas. Hitherto the herdsmen had displayed little interest in this traffic in live animals. Because of the encouragement given by Ferdinand and Isabella, however, sheep trading became so general that a new term came into use to designate animals offered for sale in wayside towns by the Mesta shepherds. These market sheep were called merchaniegos, in contrast to the cabaniles, which were animals of the cabanas or flocks en route to pasture.^ With the vigorous support of the ' On the activities of the mediaeval town hermandades and the constitution of the national body, see Merriman, The Rise of the Spanish Empire, ii (1918), pp. 100-104. 2 One of the earliest instances of the term merchaniego is in Arch. Simancas, Mss. Diversos Castilla, no. 117 {ca. 1480): " merchaniegos que se mercare en las ferias et en los otros lugares fuera de los tenninos " — a definition showing the use 44 TEE MESTA sovereigns and the active cooperation of the corregidores — ad- ministrative and judicial officers representing the crown in the towns — the Mesta secured written guarantees from many towns allowing the unrestricted and untaxed sale of sheep in the local markets.! But the most important concession in this connection was not from the towns but from the crown. In 1495 a decree was issued exempting Mesta members from payment of the alcabala, which was a bUghting tax on sales and one of the chief sources of income for the royal treasury.^ This proved to be one of the most helpful of all the measures enacted by Ferdinand and Isabella to encourage the marketing of pastoral products in Spain. The results of this systematic campaign were soon evident. The number of sheep marketed in various towns along the canadas and near the southern pastures rose steadily from about 10,000 a year at the beginning of the sixteenth century to 96,000 in 1535.' These animals were used, for the most part, to improve local non- migratory herds and to build up the estante or sedentary pastoral industry. The latter increased steadily in importance during this period and eventually became as formidable a rival and opponent of the special privileges of the Mesta as were the agricultural interests.^ Similarly, the foreign wool trade had grown with great rapidity and reached its height during the reign of Charles V, when, according to contemporary observers, it was six times the trade of the previous reign ^ — not a very definite estimate, it is true, but one which adequately indicates the expansion of the marketing aspects of the industry. of the name to indicate animals taken to market away from the home land of the owner. Arch. Mesta, C-6, CastUbajoiela, 1482, brings out the same contrast be- tween the cdbaniles or migrants and the merchaniegos or market animals. 1 Arch. Mesta, A-9, Avila, 1484; S-4, Segura, 1487; S-4, Segovia, 1488; G-i, Granada, 1501. * Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 13. ' Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, Aug., 1533. * See below, pp. 342-343, for a discussion of the extension of enclosures for the benefit of these estante flocks. ' " A treatise conceminge the Staple and the commodities of this Realme," an anonymous account {ca. 1519-36), probably by Clement Armstrong, of the rivalry between EngUsh and Spanish wool merchants in Flanders, reprinted by Reinhold Pauli in Alhandlungen der Gesellsch. der Wissensck. zu GSttingen, xxiii (1878). MARKETING 45 Charles undertook to follow the policies of his illustrious grandparents by continuing the promotion of the wool trade. In this he was encouraged by many interested and influential court- iers, especially Flemings and north Italians. By 1542, in fact, the Genoese had practically gained a monopoly of the wool export trade.^ This was not long retained, however, and the older arrangement of marketing through the Burgos Consulado and its foreign ofl&ces was soon revived. Internal marketing, both be- tween the kingdoms of the peninsula and between the various towns, was likewise promoted by cutting down tariff barriers and local taxes on merchaniegos, or Mesta sheep offered for sale.^ Charles was particularly anxious to weld his peninsular kingdoms into one economic unit; and to accompUsh that purpose he issued a series of twelve measures during the years 1529-50, intended to facilitate the marketing operations of the Mesta in Navarre and Aragon. Tari£[ajwere lowered at the puerlos secos, or inland cus- tom houses, and the registration of migrants at the border was made as perfunctory as possible.' The culmination of this policy came in 1598 with the removal of some of the custom houses on the CastiUan-Aragonese frontier.* The last tariff barriers between Aragon and Castile were not removed, however, until 17 14, when they were wiped out by Philip V in the course of his Bourbon programme of unification. The operations of the middlemen (revendedores) were carefully watched throughout the sixteenth century to prevent specula- tion.* TJie-grpat rigp in prirpg, Hup primarily to thp inflny of Ameiic ap gold and silver, was a.t it s height i n_Spain- during, the closing years of Charles's reign (ca. 1540 ff.). Frantic efforts were-made-thxough legislation to check- the increasing costs of w ool and woolen cloth l middlemen were further restricted; town taxes on sheep were curtailed; and many hasty experiments were » Haebler, op. cit., p. 168; Ansiaux, op. cii., p. S44- » Ansiaux, op. cit., pp. S37, S4S; Colmeiro, ii, pp. 179, i8i- ' Arch. Mesta, Provs. i, 26, 28, 29, 36-39, 63, 66, 67, 71, 76; see also Colmeiro, ii, p. S42. * Nueva Recop., lib. 9, tit. 31, ley 4, art. 6. ■■ Las premdticas que Su Mageslad ha mandado hazer (Alcali, 1552); see above, p. 6s, note. See also Ulloa, Privs. de Cdceres, p. 370. 46 TEE MESTA made by the Cortes. In 1548, for example, foreign cloth was allowed to come in without payment of duties and the exporta- tion of native goods was prohibited. In 1555 this policy was suddenly reversed; foreign woolens were excluded, and the manu- facture and export of the native product encouraged in every way.i -^ The decline of the wool trade, both external and internal, began to set in as an inevitable accompaniment of the gradual weaken- ing of the Mesta. Evidences of this became conspicuous during the first two decades of the reign of Phihp II, as will be indicated below.2 The wool trade itself was well on the downward trend by about 1577.' TraveUers through the wool markets of Segovia, VaUadoKd, and elsewhere noticed the stagnation and the unmis- takable signs of disorganization.* Philip attempted to exploit the wool trade as he had the other aspects of the pastoral industry, and the results were equally disastrous. In 1559 he had reac- quired the royal diezmo del mar or seaport customs duties, which in 1469 had been alienated from the control of the royal exchequer by Henry the Impotent. Phihp promptly undertook to exploit this new source of income by levying a series of heavy export duties on wool.^ These were administered by a corps of energetic officials, the alcaldes de sacas or export judges, who realized keenly that their income would be commensurate \i(ith their zeal. It was not long before they became notorious both for their wealth and for their ruthless shortsightedness in taxing the wool trade practically out of existence.^ /^The marketing activities of the Mesta during its later years / , rapidly declined with the general weakening of its influence and ' power. It stood steadfastly, however, for the removal of local restrictions upon trade, and worked persistently, though unfor- ' Ansiaux, op. cit., pp. 550-651- ' See pp. 114-115, 286-288. ' Enrique Cock, Jornada de Tarazona (1592), ed. by Morel-Fatio, p. 46. * Brit. Mus., Hari. Ms. 3315, p. 39. ' Arch, de Fomento, AlcaU de Henares, leg. 1704: an invaluable coUecrion of decrees covering the wool export duties from 1559 to 1758. Other documents bear- ing on the same topic may be found in the Acad. Hist., B-i 28, Papeles Varios Econ. Hist., doc. 4. • Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 71 (1560). MARKETING 47 tunately with few results, against the hampering consumos or octroi t axes which obstructed the movement of sheep and wool into the various local markets.' Even the much mistrusted mid- dlemen, or revendedores, were encouraged by the Mesta leaders, during the latter half of the seventeenth century, in the hope of reviving the wool trade.'' In the last dark decades of the or- ganization, before the storms of Campomanes's attacks of 1770- 85 broke against it, the expedient was proposed of organizing a company to handle the wool trade, both export and domestic. A monopoly concession was to be secured, and the whole trade was to be carefully administered through warehouses scattered about in the upland headquarters of the Mesta and agencies at the coast ports and abroad. This plan was, in fact, simply an elab- oration of the old Consulado of Burgos, which had handled the traffic so effectively during the time of the Mesta's greatest pros- perity.' When an imposing industrial organization called the Company of the Five Gilds was founded in Madrid in the middle of the eighteenth century with a capital of 16,500,000 reales and a programme for world-wide commercial operations, it was hoped by the Mesta that the wool trade might be developed by the new enterprise. Unfortunately, however, the abilities of the exploiters were not of the sort to succeed in such an undertak- ing, and the Company never achieved its great ambitions.* As a final himiiHation to the Mesta, and to its long cherished hopes for a continued monopoly of the high quality wool trade, there came the. first considerable exportation of merino sheep from Spai n. The successful establishment^orSocks in Sweden In 1720, and later, on a larger scale, in Saxony and at Rambouillet, France, made inevitable the doom of the Mesta with its anti- ' Arch. Hist. Nac, Consejo Real, Expedientes, leg. 48 (1627); Arch. Mesta, Provs. ii, 2 (1627), IS (1637); iii, 41 (1726). ^ Arch. Mesta, Provs. ii, 5, 14 (1630 ff.). ' Larruga, Memorias, xxviii, pp. 1-87: records of debates on this topic at Mesta meetings from 1673 to 1707. Arch. Hist. Nac, Consejo Real, Expedientes, leg. 48 (1703): tentative plans of such a company drawn up by a President of the Mesta for the approval of the Royal Council. ' Brit. Mus., Add. Mss. 10,255, PP' ^~T- " varios papeles tocantes a los Cinco Costa, Colectivismo Agrario (Madrid, 1898), p. 399. 2 See below, p. 299. ' An account of one of the few Castilian examples of such an organization is described in L6cea y Garcia, La Comunidad y Tierra de Segovia (Segovia, 1893). lOO THE MESTA decision, though there are instances of his having expressed in writing his dissenting views in certain litigations. The entregador usually sat in the town hall in the court-room of the alcalde, and the presence of the latter on the bench with the visitor was appar- ently intended to hold the Mesta magistrate in check to some extent. The alcalde was particularly zealous in advising the entregador of local privileges and interests quite as ancient and revered as those of the Mesta. In the earKer centuries this arrangement for cooperation be- tween Mesta judiciary and town officers was more of a reahty. Close association with the alcaldes was regarded by the entrega- dores as one of their first duties, particularly in the determination of the boundaries of the canadas. As the Mesta became stronger and its alliance with the crown grew closer, this procedure of recognizing the importance of local dignitaries and their privileges came inevitably to be regarded more and more as a formality of no real consequence. During the sixteenth century the com- plaints in the Cortes against this growing laxity on the part of the entregadores became more frequent. By the time the following century was well under way, however, it was apparent to the towns that the entregadores were losing strength and were vulner- able to attack and even disarmament by exemptions purchased from the crown, and especially by appeals to the chancillerias. Thus the practice of having local officials accompany the visiting justices fell into disuse. Having in mind these dominant features of the relations be- tween entregadores and alcaldes, we may turn to a brief examina- tion of some of the more important episodes and details in the history of those relations. Perhaps the earliest instance of fric- tion occurred in 1292, when the citizens of Alcocer made a formal complaint regarding the numerous unjust charges brought against them before the entregador, and the hardship wrought by the sentences of the latter. In answer to their petition, the king ordered that all such cases should be heard " before one of the entregadores with an alcalde of Toledo." ^ This was probably the ' Arch. Osuna, B6jar Ms., caj. i, no. 5: c6dula of Sancho IV, 24 Nov., 1292. Alcocer lay witMn the diocese of Toledo. THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS lOI first occasion when a local official exercised authority in the court of an itinerant magistrate. The original Mesta privileges make no such provision; nor do the recurrent complaints of the Cortes record any such safeguard until the following year, 1 293 , tvhen the deputies asked that " the alcaldes of the towns be present to pass upon cases with the entregadores." 1 Not only was this granted, but in addition it was ordered that the Mesta judges should sup- ply the various locaHties on their itineraries with copies of their commissions " so that if the entregadores are incHned to exceed their powers, they shall not be allowed to do so." The latter clause indicates the function of the local alcalde in this connection : he served, not as a companion judge, but as a check upon the entregador to prevent any illegal extensions of his powers.^ One of the frequent and obvious sources of difficulty was the entregador 's effort to exercise jurisdiction over cases between citizens of the town where he happened to be sitting. He did this on the theory that the matters in question involved the rights of the Mesta; but the local authorities were nearly always able to check such encroachments by citing the specific limitations of the visitor's letters of appointment, which restricted him to litigation between the migratory shepherds and the occupants of the land.' Many towns enjoyed such royal protection as that given to Cuenca by Ferdinand IV in 1306, when the entregadores visiting that section were ordered " not to hear any complaints made by one vezino (of Cuenca) against another; said complaints are to be heard by the officials of Cuenca only." * It was clearly 1 Cortes, Valladolid, 1293, pet. 7. See a similar provision in a priviUgio to Pla- sencia, 1293, in Acad. Hist., Ms. 12-19-3/38, fol. 50. 2 There are instances where sentences were drawn up as coming from the two jointly, but these were confined to cases where the town belonged to some powerful noble or military order; cf. Acad. Hist., Ms. Salazar, I-41, fol. 89: a case between the town ef Miguel Tierra, of the Order of Calatrava, and the Mesta, dated 1308. Similarly there was a conlrata between Ciceres and the Mesta, made in 1378, pro- viding for joint sitting of the entregadores and the town alcaldes : Bib. Nac. Madrid , Ms. 430, fols. 103-108. ' See above, p. 80. * Arch. Ayunt. Cuenca, leg. 3, no. 19, 20 April 1306. The definition of vezino given in the fuero of Soria (ii9o-i2r4; Acad. Hist., Ms. r2-i9-2/36, par. 277) ^;onforms in substance with that given in other instruments of the lime, and may be taken as the usually accepted one: " Vezino de Soria es el que ha raiz [stock] en 102 THE MESTA established, then, that before an entregador could pass upon a 'case it must directly concern the Mesta itself or one of its members. Although the laws required cooperation between the itinerant and the local judges, the difficulty of estabhshing it in actual prac- tice became greater each year, as the Mesta grew stronger and more aggressive. The first outbursts of complaints in the Cortes against this growing menace to local autonomy occurred late in the reign of Ferdinand IV and during the minority of Alfonso XI. In that period, from about 1305 to 1325, the domination of an unscrupulous cHque of nobles over centralized administrative affairs, including the Mesta, made the latter thoroughly obnox- ious to the municipafities. The attempt was first made to abolish the entregadores altogether, as being hostile to the ancient fueros and privileges of the towns. In 1307 the deputies of the Cortes asked " that there be no more entregadores, and that the local justices should hear all complaints made by shepherds." ^ This petition was not granted, but it was provided that the towns should name special ofl&cers to look after their interests in the courts of the entregadores. The new arrangement was apparently not satisfactory, and the above request was repeated in 13 13, with the insistence that the entregador was an upstart interloper whose office was less than sixty years old, and therefore a gross innovation.^ It soon became evident, however, that the judicial protector of the Mesta could not be so easily disposed of. As the towns gradually realized the futility of their efforts to destroy the office, they concentrated their protests upon the demand that the laws be enforced regarding the association of the entregador with the local alcalde upon equal terms : " that they should hear cases together, the two as one." * Soria 6 en su termino, maguer que sea morador en otro lugar. Otrosi, aquel as vezino de Soria que maguer que no hai ahi raiz, que es morador en Soria 6 en su termino por siempre." This interpretation of vezino, implying property ownership, especially the ownership of stock, is indicated by the appearance of the word in the title of the Mesta at times in the seventeenth century : ' Honrado Concejo y Vezinos de la Mesta.' 1 Cortes, Valladolid, 1307, pet. 19. ^ /Jj,;.^ Palencia, I3r3, pets. 38, 40. ' Ibid., Burgos, 1315, pet. 33; Valladolid, 1322, pet. 63. THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 103 For nearly two centuries, or until the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella, this arrangement seems to have given mutual satis- faction both to the Mesta and to the local interests. The Cortes were silent upon the subject; and the many documents of that period on file in the archive of the Mesta indicate ohly harmony and regularity in the relations between the entregadores and the local justices. Their cooperative functions gradually became fixed into a set formiila, which, though not recognized by any of the laws of the Mesta, or even by the instructions of the crown to the entregadores, was none the less strictly observed by both parties concerned. As an example of this procedure, we may trace the successive stages of a typical mojonamiento, or examination of the boundaries of a Canada.^ The town concejo (assembly) having been summoned by the ringing of the church bell, the alcalde, regidores, and other local officers formally received the entregador and his staff. The credentials and royal letter of appointment of the visitor were examined and certified to by the local notary. The procurador, or representative of the Mesta, who accompanied the entregador, then made certain charges of trespasses committed by land- owners along the canada within the limits of the town. The Mesta magistrate then requested the concejo to name " six good men, the oldefet inhabitants of the place," who should go with him to examine the caiiada and determine its ancient and proper limits. This having been done, an oath was administered to the six, who thereupon joined the entregador in his work of gathering evidence of the alleged offences. On the basis of this evidence the sentence was drawn up by the Mesta magistrate; and was then handed over to the town alcalde, who formally gave it his approval. This was in substance the method of transacting the business of the entregador in every town along his itinerary. The concurrence of the local judge in the sentences soon became a mere formality, probably because it was felt that the town inter- ests were sufficiently protected by the six ' good men ' who ac- companied the entregador on his investigations. ' Arch. Mesta, V-4, Villafranca de la Puente, 1457. I04 THE MESTA In view of this virtual elimination of the town alcalde, one can understand why no objection was raised by the municipalities when Ferdinand and Isabella began to substitute the corregidor, the crown representative in the towns, for the alcalde as the associate of the entregador. The change was made very grad- ually, and at first no ulterior motive appeared. It soon became evident, however, that the inevitable effect of the new procedure was well understood by the Catholic Kings; and it became one of their most effective measures for the strengthening of the power of the crown in the scattered municipahties remote from the court.* In the succeeding reign the towns awoke to the danger confronting their ancient liberties through the mtenacing coopera- tion of these agents of the central government, the entregador and the corregidor. When the forces of separatism and nationahsm finally resorted to violence in the uprising of the Comuneros in 1520, the entregadores catne in for a large share of denunciation in the Cortes, courts, and public meetings generally. This outburst of hostihty toward those officials is to be explained quite as much by their growing arrogance, which was largely in- spired by the strongly centralizing policy of the crown, as by the newly born opposition of the towns and country districts to that poHcy. Throughout the sixteenth century there were repeated demands that the various town governments should be allowed to appoint specially delegated officers to sit with the entregador and to check him in his rulings.^ The repKes of the crown acknowl- edged that the law required the presence of the local alcalde in the court of the entregador, but no further assurance wafe given that matters would be improved, other than that the Royal Council would take up the question through its senior member, the President of the Mesta. The evil continued, and the protests likewise. The eagerness of the entregadores to hear cases having no con- nection with the canadas deprived the local officials of a good portion of their income, and thus aggravated the friction between ' Arch. Mesta, C-i, Ciceres, 1490, contains several documents on this point. ^ Cortes, Burgos, 1515, pet. 26; Madrid, 1528, pet. 155; Segovia, 1532, pet. 53; Valladolid, 1542, pet. 62. THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 105 the opposing interests.' The anger of the town justices was further provoked by the petty chicanery of the Mesta, which sought to secure the assignment of some well paid local bailiff for the business of accompanying the entregador. The vote of this official always conformed with that of the visiting magistrate, because he had no interest at stake to warrant his checking the entregador. The town justice, on the other hand, was always anxious to safeguard his own share in profits from fines, and in- sisted, therefore, that he was the proper official to accompany the Mesta judge. But the pressure of the great sheep owners' or- ganization was too strong for the local justices to overcome, and the Cortes protested long and earnestly, but in vain, against such brazen violations of local autonomy.^ Under the later Hapsburgs, however, in the seventeenth cen- tury, the Mesta no longer had the upper hand. It had suffered severely in the general economic decay for which it was itself partly responsible. Furthermore, the local interests were finding various means whereby they could thwart the efforts of the herds- men to maintain the old order of things. The century was crowded with drastic sentences of the high appellate courts re- versing those of the entregadores, and with exemptions bought from the crown by the towns. The Mesta led a most unhappily active Hfe in its attempts to have these grants of exemption rescinded. The aid which it usually invoked was that of its proverbial ally, the Royal Council, whose senior member was its own president. But even the prestige of that exalted body did not suffice to check the steady, determined rise of the opposition of the towns. The beginnings of that opposition to the intrusion of the entre- gador, and the success of certain attempts to nullify his prestige by securing exemptions from his jurisdiction, were, in fact, quite 1 CffTtes, Toledo, 1538, pet. 85. Cortes de Castillo, v (adic), pp. 599, 600 (1576) : a protest against the hearing of appeals from the decisions of local judges by entre- gadores, even though the question involved was one dealing with sheep. The Royal Council had upheld the entregador in this. Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 80, a, decree of 1569. 2 Cortes de Costilla, v (adic), p. 580 (1576); ix, pp. 261-265 (1587); xiii, pp. 322-330 (1594); xvi. P- 677 (1598). Io6 THE MESTA common in the earlier centuries of the Mesta's long history. In 1293 the Order of Calatrava secured such a privilege, by which its brood mares and their pastures were freed from any interference by the itinerant magistrates.' During the fourteenth century the towns of Buitrago, Plasencia, Caceres,^ Seville,' and many others were also favored with exemptions from entregador visitations in return for services or subsidies to the crown. The comparative docihty of the Mesta in the later Middle Ages, and its readiness to respect the rights of the municipahties, caused a lapse of interest in these exemption privileges. It was not until the molestations and extortions by the entregadores in the second half of the six- teenth century that the southern and western landowners resur- rected their ancient charters of exemption from the intrusions and abuses of their northern visitors. It is interesting to note that Badajoz, the chief city of the western pasture lands, was the first to take drastic action in this anti-Mesta campaign. The fight was waged with bitter enmity, and was only to end some two centuries later with the complete triumph of the towns, under the leadership of Vicente Paino y Hurtado of Badajoz. The campaign opened in 1554 with a stormy reception accorded to an entregador in that city, which had thus far not been honored with such a visit. A description of the event is interesting because the incident was the first of many similar ones which illustrated the attitude of the public mind toward the migrants and their magistrate. The first out- burst after years of smouldering hostihty marked the beginning of a long period of active assaults on the entregador and the institution which he represented. In the fall of 1554 there arrived in Badajoz an entregador, whose boldness in venturing into the long exempt capital of the 1 Acad. Hist., Ms. Salazar, I-41, fols. 232-237. * In Cdceres the entregador was checked by active participation of the local alcaldes in his court sessions. See above, p. loi, n. i. 3 Although the avdiencia or high court of Seville was forbidden to interfere in any way with decisions of the entregadores (see below, p. 112, n. 2), the itinerant magistrates were seldom able to hold court within the jurisdiction of Seville. It was only by the use of decrees of the Royal Council (e.g., in 1488, Arch. Mesta, C-io, Cumbres Mayores, a suburb of Seville) that the Mesta was able occasionally to enforce its privileges in the Andalusian capital. THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 107 pasture districts was in itself the best proof of the growing arro- gance of the Mesta and its judiciary. He was received, not by the usual ringing of church bells and the assembled dignitaries of the town government, but " with much fury and with most offensive words, by bailiffs and other town retainers bent upon ejecting him from the place." Being unable to accompKsh this, " they took him to the public jail, surrounded by a great jeering crowd, which rained blows upon him and shouted ugly words at him, molesting him in many other ways unmentionable." ^ All of this was quite true, said the city in its reply to the charge brought by the Mesta before the Royal Council, and a repetition of the performance was cheerfully assured to any other entregador who might undertake a similar violation of the ancient privileges and exemptions of Badajoz. The whole incident was subsequently repeated in substance in other towns, though with less violence and more legal, but none the less stubborn, resistance. Townspeople and of&cials were beginning to take courage and to rise against constant intrusions of the entregadores in local affairs. The chief alcalde of Burgos even insisted upon bringing suit against the entregador who visited that city, but was checked by the Royal Council.^ The campaign of denunciation continued in the Cortes throughout the reign of Philip II. Protests were made against ' the thousands of retainers in the staffs of the en- tregadores, whose devastations totalled over a hundred million maravedis a year.' ' The deputies asked that the local officials be given at least some powers in the regulation of this wholesale tax-gathering,* but no satisfactory reply was ever made to these demands. The statutes and the Mesta codes were not revised, probably because the excesses of the entregadores had not yet been given a legal basis. When, however, such a basis was given to them, in the reign of Philip IV, the towns had found other 1 Arch. Mesta, B-i, Badajoz, 1554- ' Ibid., B-4, Burgos, 1567. " Cortes de Caslilla, xiii, p. 387 (1594). In 1587, the Cortes (ix, pp. 261-265) had asked that the powers of the entregador to name his bailiffs be restricted. * Ibid., xiv, pp. 446-455 (iSQ6); i, P- 3S6 (1563): complaints that the Mesta's notaries deprived the local ones of much business in the court of the entregador. See also Concordia de 1783, ii, fols. loi, 204, 295. I08 THE MESTA means of circumventing the annoyances of the itinerant justices and no further protests were made. One of the most insistent and repeated demands from the towns was that for the residencia of the entregador. This was the name apphed to the reckoning which every pubHc servant had to give of his official acts at the close of his term of office : an opportu ity for the presentation of complaints against him in the presence of a superior authority. In the charter of 1273, the entregadores had been instructed to attend at least one of the Mesta meetings each year to give an account of their actions and to answer complaints brought against them by the members.^ This mandate was re- peated with some emphasis in subsequent charters and in the agreement made in 1499 between the Count of Buendia, pro- prietary entregador, and the Mesta. By this contract of 1499 the entregadores were forbidden to leave the meeting place until the sessions were concluded and justice done to every complaining member.^ These arrangements were, however, only intended to provide for the hearing of charges by Mesta members against their judicial protectors. It was not until the anti-Mesta outbursts of the six- teenth century that the towns demanded hearings at which all complaints against entregadores might be presented. Beginning as early as 1528, there were regular petitions in the Cortes that the entregador be made to hold such hearings in the presence of the town alcalde of each place along his itinerary.' It was alleged, and probably correctly so, that the majority of the complaints against the Mesta's judge came from wayside peasants who had little or no opportunity to appear at the Mesta meetings in order to complain to the President of the Mesta, the general supervisor of the entregadores.^ In 1595, after many futile petitions, the Cortes took matters into their own hands and elected one of their members who should attend the Mesta meetings each year, "in 1 Quad. 17 31, pt. 1, p. 4- 2 Ibid., pt. 2, p. 257. ' Carles, Madrid, 1528, pet. 155; Segovia, 1532, pet. 54; Madrid, 1551, pet. loi. Further details on the residencia of the entregador are given in Quad. 17 31, pt. 2, pp. 149, 153, 273, 292-293, and in the Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley s, cap. 32. * Corlts de CasHlla, xiii, pp. 487, 504-506 (1595). THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 109 order to sustain the causes and charges of poor peasants, and to report to the Cortes immediately whether they are being given justice." 1 This practice of delegating an inspector to represent the national assembly and to protect the interests of the peas- antry was continued from that date down to the abolition of the office of entregador in 1796. The Cortes were thus enabled not only to keep close watch upon the itinerant judges but also to exercise a most effective supervision over the enactments of the Mesta itself .2 As the attacks upon the Mesta became more aggressive, the distance from which an entregador could summon culprits and witnesses was also the subject of continued protest. In earher years there seems to have been no fixed limit to the size of the entregador's audiencia or district around the point where he was holding court at any given time. There were complaints in the fourteenth century that he frequently summoned persons forty or fifty leagues. As a check upon such abuses of personal hberty, it was proposed by the Cortes that no one be required to leave the jurisdiction of his home town to answer the summons of an entre- gador. This was granted by the crown, with the qualification that citizens of larger municipalities (those having jurisdictions extending more than sixteen leagues) could be compelled by the entregadores to come as far as twenty-four leagues in answer to smnmons. In the cases of inhabitants of smaller towns, the en- tregador's subpoenas were not effective outside of the sixteen league radius.' This arrangement appears to have been satisfac- torily carried out for nearly two centuries, for there were no further complaints either as to the location of the courts of the entregador, or as to the extent of his jurisdiction, until the out- break of the widespread agitations of the sixteenth century. In the course of those agitations, the opponents of the Mesta demanded that the entregadores should be allowed to hold court only in the chief cities along their itineraries. It had long been * Cortes de Costilla, xiii, pp. 487. S°^-5°1 U5°s)- 2 Concordia de 1783, ii, fol. 26 V. The delegate of the Cortes sat at the right of the President at all sessions of the Mesta, whether secret ones or not, and had access to all of its papers. ' Cortes, Soria, 1380, pet. 22. no THE MESTA evident that the opportunities to overawe the local ofl&cials and peasantry in a small country town were very tempting to the entregador and his numerous assistants, and therefore, dangerous to the ends of justice.' This particular reform was not secured, however, until it was introduced as one of the conditions of the subsidy of 1650.2 As a further restriction, the extent of the juris- diction of an entregador around the point where he was holding court was cut down to a radius of five leagues, and the Cortes were particularly watchful that this limit was not exceeded.' The frequency of the visits of the entregadores to any one lo- caUty did not escape the attention of the sixteenth century re- formers. The earlier appointments of the proprietary entregador were for life, and no Hmit was placed upon the number of visits made in a given period by his subordinates. The term of ofl&ce of the latter was usually two years,* until the opening of the six- teenth century when it was reduced to one.^ This remained the law until 1589, when it was determined that the four entregadores should be named every two years.^ This matter of the period of the entregador's incumbency did not concern the towns so much as did the intervals of peace which they enjoyed between the visits of the Mesta judges. To the many denunciations of the entregador which have just been noted, there was added another regarding ' the almost perennial nature of that office, which had lost completely its proper intermittent or occasional activity at any given point.' ' In view of this, it was asked that his visits to any one place be hmited to once in six years. This was modified in the Cortes of 153 1 by a plea for a four-year interval, which met with no satisfactory response from the crown at that time or at ' Cortes, Burgos, 1515, pet. 26; Cortes de Costilla, viii, p. 263 (1587). ' Escrituras . . . de Millones (1734), fol. 90. Arch. Mesta, B-3, Bitigudino, 1749, gives the details of a curious dispute between two towns, each of which in- sisted that the other was the larger and more important, and therefore the proper place for the court of the entregador. ^ Cortes de Castillo, xix, pp. 232-234 (1600). Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 14 and 29, royal decrees of 1692 and 1722 confirming this. The same, iv, 7, gives the list of the twenty-six audiencias of entregadores; Concordia de 178 j, ii, fols. 192-199, 2or-203, gives similar data for 1761 and 1779. * Arch. Mesta, B-i, Baeza, 1432. ^ Arch. Ayunt. Cuenca, leg. 12, no. s (1509). ' Concordia de 1783, i, fol. 75 v. ' Cortes, Madrid, 1328, pet. 126. THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 1 1 1 any of its later repetitions. There does not appear to have been any effective reform of this difficulty, for there are numerous in- stances of annual visitations along the caiiadas down to the last years of the office of entregador. Indeed, the regular succession of evasive answers on the part of the crown to aU of the above protests regarding the residencia and the frequency of visitations, and the other lesser complaints which were repeated over and over during the reigns of the first three HapsburgSj leads one to ask why these complaints began to fall off during the first decade of the seventeenth century. The ex- planation is surely not to be found in the satisfaction given to the complainants by such repHes as " the Royal Council wiU take up the matter with its senior member, the President of the Mesta," or " such action will be taken as seems necessary." The reports of the Cortes sessions of the time give indications, it is true, of various steps taken to adjust the differences between that body and the Mesta, such as the appointment of commissioners, inves- tigators, and arbitrators to make the necessary reforms for the betterment of the relations between the towns and the migratory sheep owners. The most important force, however, which calmed the stormy protests of the local interests, the most effective agency for the adjustment of their complaints, was not the legisla- tive power of the national assembly, but the appellate jurisdiction of the two high courts of justice, the chancillerias of Valladohd and Granada. We have already observed how the centraHzing pohcy of Ferdi- nand and Isabella had deprived the proprietary entregador of any appellate jurisdiction over his subordinates, and had made the crown and its well organized high courts, the chancillerias, the sole judicial superiors of the entregadores. This step was intended at the time to concentrate even further the control of the Mesta and its affairs in the hands of the central government. As a mat- ter of fact it had precisely the opposite effect; it proved to be the first move toward the alienation of that control from the hands of the crown and the Royal Council. It meant the creation of a rival power, to which the opponents of the Mesta were later to turn in their search for an ally of sufficient prestige and authority 112 THE MESTA to check the obnoxious arrogance of the entregadores during the absolutism of the Hapsburgs. The origin of the first of the two chancillerlas, that at Valla- dolid, goes back to the appellate court, organized by Henry II in 1371, which John I made into a quarter-sessions court in 1387, with Madrid, Olmedo, Medina del Campo, and Alcala de Henares as its itinerary.' It was the successor of this body, the chancil- leria, which became fixed at Valladolid, in 1442, was remodelled by the Catholic Kings in 1489, and came to be one of the two regular courts for appeals from the decisions of the entregadores. The companion court to this was the chancilleria which was established at Ciudad Real in 1494 and transferred to Granada in 1505.2 Although legally entitled 'audiencias' as well as 'chan- cillerlas,' contemporaries usually designated these two by the latter title, in order to distinguish them from the lesser audiencias; which, though not subordina;te to them, were smaller and partook more of a local nature. In 1532 we find the first interest expressed by the Cortes in the reform of the methods of appeal from the decisions of entrega- dores. The deputies asked that cases involving less than six thousand maravedis be carried to the town assembly (concejo) of the place where the decision was rendered, instead of to the Royal ' See Merriman, Spanish Empire, i, pp. 230 f.; ii, pp. 121-124; and the schol- arly " Investigaciones acerca del Origen, Historia, y Orgamzaci6n de la Real Chancilleria de Valladolid," by Mendizibal, in the Revista de Archives, Bibliotecas, y Museos, January-July, 1914. Brief notes are also given in Colmeiro, Derecho Politico, pp. 563-564; Antequera, Hist, de la Legislacion Espanola (1895), p. 394; Sempere, Derecho Espanol (1894), pp. 390-398; Marichalar and Manriqae, Hist, de la Legislacidn, iii, p. 329; Altamira, Hist, de Espana, ii (ed. of 1913), pp. 47-48. These citations cover the development of the CastUian audiencia and chancilleria. The general topic of appeals in the Castilian judicial system is outlined from the codes in Asso and Manuel, Instituciones del Derecho Civil de Castilla (ed. of 1792), PP- 315-325- ^ They divided the realm between them roughly at the Tagus, but as the differ- ent audiencias were created — Seville, Estremadura, Burgos, etc. — the chancil- lerias' jurisdictions were greatly cut down. The audiencia of Seville was not al- lowed to hear appeals from entregadores' decisions [Quad. 17 31, pt. 2, p. 266, 1562) ; and on the other hand, practically all efforts of the entregadores to hear cases within the jurisdiction of the city of Seville were frustrated by the city officials. Arch. Mesta, A-6, Algarrobo, 1680; C-io, Cumbres, 1560; and Prov. iv, 23. TBE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 1 13 Council, or to the chancillerlas, which were at that time well under the control of the monarch and his council. The crown treated this petition with the same impatience and disregard which characterized the royal repUes to the many previous requests of the assembly for Mesta reforms.^ By an interesting coincidence, the year after this attempt by the Cortes to thwart the chancil- lerias, namely 1533, brought the first decisions of a chancilleria against an entregador and the Mesta. In that year the towns of Belalcazar and Fuerte Escusa (near Cuenca) won appeals in the chanciUeria at Granada, in cases involving the taxation of migra- tory flocks which violated local ordinances regarding trespasses in fields adjoining the canadas.' A few years later, in 1546, the same court again rendered a decision hostile to the Mesta and its judiciary. On that occasion the chancelleria supported a local ofl&cer, the subordinate of the corregidor in the town of Avila, in his contention that the entregador had no right to interfere with him.' In the meantime, the city of Murcia had gained a chancil- leria verdict against an entregador, and the court at ValladoHd had refused the Mesta and its judges permission to lay out a new Canada within the jiuisdiction of Segovia.* Shortly before the accession of Philip II, there came another decision of the Granada court against the Mesta, but this was altered at a rehearing.^ The above instances are given as illustrations of a significant change which was just becoming noticeable in the attitude of the two chandUerias. Throughout the reign of Charles V these high courts were handing down six or seven decisions each year on ' Cortes, Segovia, 1532, pet. 53. This was repeated in 1537 (pet. 29) and in 1538 (pet. 81), with the same result. Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley s, cap. 14, enforces this restriction of appeals from entregadores to the chancUlerias, instead of to the local bodies. 2 Arch. Osuna, Bfijar, caj. 6, nos. 53, 59; and Arch. Mesta, F-2, Fuerte Escusa, 1533- ' Arch. Meste, A-9, A\ala, 1546. ' Ibid., S-5, Segovia, 1537. This case is further interesting because it is one of the few occasions when the chancilleria acts as a court of first instance instead of appeal. Others are to be found in C-2, Camarena, 1523; F-2, Fuente el Sauco, 1511; F-2, Fuerte Escusa, 1533; G-i, Granada, 1547; M-2, Majambrez (To- ledo), 1543; T-4, Toro, 1524; and Z-i, Zaias, 1519-24. ' Arch. Mesta, A-7, Ahnodfivar, 1559: a case tried during 1555-56- 114 THE MESTA appeals from the sentences of entregadores. During the latter half of the reign — beginning about 1535 — this change in the attitude of the chancillerias gradually become apparent. Whereas the earlier decades of the century showed them to be quite sub- servient to the wishes of the crown and its council in favoring the Mesta by regularly upholding the sentences of the entregadores, none of the later years passed without one or two decisions which were either complete reversals of the sentences of entregadores, or else serious modifications of them. Year by year the rulings against the entregadores grew in number. By the opening of the reign of Philip II, it was becoming evident to the antagonists of the Mesta that a method had at last been found for securing a fair hearing of their cause. The chancillerias, probably because of their isolation from the newly made capital,^ became bolder each year in their refusal to abide by the expressed desires of the Royal Council that the ancient privileges of the Mesta and the increasingly arbitrary sentences of the entregadores be invariably upheld. We have here the beginning of the rivalry between these two elements of the government, the executive and the judiciary, the Council and the high courts — a rivalry which was to last nearly two centuries and was to take on many different forms.^ This new alignment of forces was of the gravest importance for the Mesta, which was thenceforth to see the Council, its staunch ally and protector, checked and harassed at every turn by the new sponsor of local as contrasted with centralized interests. The court at Granada was the one to which most of the appeals from entregador de- cisions were carried by the towns, because its jurisdiction com- prised most of the southern pasture lands. The heavy costs of fighting an appeal against the elaborate legal machinery of the Mesta made the procedure impossible for any save the more important landowners, military orders, great nobles, cities, and ecclesiastical bodies. For the smaller villages there was at first no recourse from the molestations of the entre- ' Madrid was made the ' unica corte ' in 1560. ^ Jos6 G6mez Ceiituri6n, Jovellanos y las drdenes Militares (1912), pp. 28-32, points out other phases ol this rivalry. THE ENTREGADOR AND THE TOWNS 1 1 5 gadores. The increased activity of these magistrates, however, at last impelled the weaker opponents of the Mesta to concerted action. Before the reign of Phihp II was half over, we find them occasionally forming alliances for the purpose of carrying appeals through the chancillerias. As many as forty-five or fifty towns sometimes joined forces to defend the pasture lands used in common by them. Counsel was engaged and cases were fought out successfully in the high courts. Had these temporary unions possessed that solid, permanent basis so characteristic of the Aragonese comunidades, to which in some respects they were strikingly similar, the history of the Mesta and its entregadores would probably have been a much shorter and less conspicuous one.^ Unfortunately, however, the Castilian towns, accustomed though they were to their hermandades or brotherhoods for the maintenance of order, were nevertheless quite ignorant of the possible advantages of any economic leagues, save in a few isolated instances. The contrast between the two kingdoms in this regard is explained in part by the relatively stronger position of the cities in the Aragonese poUtical machinery. As the chancillerias persisted in their intentions to give the landowners at least a fair hearing, the Royal Council found it increasingly necessary to act in behalf of the Mesta and the en- tregador. As early as 1550 the Council had deemed it necessary to warn these two courts that they were not empowered to hear cases concerning perpetual leases of pasture lands. A few years later, in 1 561 and 1563, two more decrees were issued forbidding the chancillerias to hear appeals from entregador decisions in cases involving pasturage.'' The two high courts had become bolder in their aggressive attitude toward the entregadores, and had begun to go beyond the mere reversal of the decisions of the Mesta judges. They frequently issued injunctions commanding the itinerant magis- trates not to hear cases in certain towns and upon certain subjects. Repetitions of such mandates brought forth two angry decrees from Madrid in 1569, ordering the courts at Valladolid and ' See above, p. 99. « Quad. 1731, pt. I, pp. 124-125: Pt- 2> P- 242- Il6 THE M EST A Granada to keep to the functions assigned them and not to inter- fere with the management of such purely administrative affairs as those of the Mesta.^ The now thoroughly independent attitude of the courts soon found expression in even more aggressive steps, such as the exer- cise of jurisdiction over appeals from decrees of the President of the Mesta. The latter innovation brought forth a vehement protest from the crown against this " gross interference with the purely executive powers of the Royal Council's senior member." ^ In 1577 the Council made an unsuccessful attempt to curb the court at Granada by ordering it to refrain from tampering with any entregador's decision involving such administrative functions of the Council as the regulation of pasturage and of sheep high- ways.' Two years later came another decree which forbade the courts to interfere with the entregadores in the hearing of cases on the extension of arable lands.'* It is hardly necessary to follow further the details of the strug- gle. By the time that the troubled reign of PhiUp II had come to a close in 1598, every decision handed down by the high courts at Valladohd and Granada regarding the Mesta showed the bitterest hostihty toward the entregadores. The whole episode is of especial interest as an illustration of the strength of popular government in Castile in an age of supposedly triumphant autoc- racy. The Cortes and the chanciUerias were defending the ancient rights of the CastiUan third estate — the townsmen and the rural population — in the face of the institutions of absolut- ism — the Mesta and its corps of entregadores. ' Arch. Mesta, V-i, Valladolid, 1569; G-i, Granada, 1569. 2 Ibid., Granada, r572. 2 Ibid., 1577. * Ibid., 1579. Some of the above decrees are printed in the Ordenanzas de la . . . ChanciUeria de Granada (1601) and Rccopilacidn de las Ordenanzas de la Chancilleria de Valladolid (1765). See also Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley s, caps. 22, 27. CHAPTER VII DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR Hostility of the Cortes in the seventeenth century. Appeals to the chancillerias. InefiScacy of royal aid to the Mesta. CoUapse of the entregador system in the eighteenth century. The Mesta, working through its President and the Royal Council, continued its attempts to hold back the steadily rising tide of opposition. These efforts, continued through the first decades of the seventeenth century, were all centred around one object, the maintenance of the ancient traditions of the judicial and ad- ministrative supremacy of the crown and its Council, especially in matters concerning the Mesta. The crown itself, to which the sheep owners had been so largely indebted for their great privileges in times past, had degenerated almost to impotence. The impecunious later Haps- burgs were quite as ready to dicker with the opponents of the Mesta for subsidies, as they were to bargain for ' loans ' from a scarcely solvent organization whose chief asset in such bartering was its protestation of past loyalty to the crown. In 1602, by a fundamental revision of the entregador commissions, the king's share in the profits of that oflSce was greatly increased. This was obviously an effort on the part of the Mesta to secure a revival of its old favors from the crown. Even more was it intended to give warning of the losses which the royal exchequer would suffer if the rapidly increasing opposition to the Mesta in the Cortes and the chancillerias was not stopped. This measure of 1602 was the first of a long series of increas- ingly frantic endeavors on the part of the Mesta to secure, by royal favors, a continuance of the dominant position which it had long enjoyed under its ancient but now quite antiquated priv- ileges.* The dire financial straits of the crown made it a willing * The confusion of this question of the distribution of the profits from the office of entregador was finally cleared up, after considerable legislation, by the acuerdos (resolutions) of the Mesta in 1637 and 1644, by which the king was given one-third 1 1 8 THE MESTA ally, though a far from effective one. Judged by the formal Mesta privileges of the time, the first third of the seventeenth century was the zenith of that organization's power, with the climax reached in the sweeping concession of 1633 } The mass of material, however, introduced in the sixteenth-century litigations cited above, gives ample evidence that the prestige of the Mesta and its entregadores was on the wane long before the death of Philip II in 1598. The attempts of the crown after that time to revive the Mesta's power as an asset to the country, and par- ticularly to the royal treasury, were more and more obviously selfish efforts to gain immediate profits regardless of any ultimate improvement in the welfare of the realm. The Cortes, ever eloquent in the interest of the towns and of the scattered landowning classes,^ became steadily stronger in their contest with the Mesta and its judges. In 1600 they began the practice of appointing committees to investigate charges brought against individual entregadores. The deputies thus took over a function which had long since been the acknowledged right of the President of the Mesta and his associates in the Royal Council.^ This was followed up by more elaborate arrange- ments for the supervision and control of the meetings of the Mesta through highly paid and specially commissioned delegates, who were named by the Cortes shortly before each meeting of the sheep owners. These appointees made full reports and recom- mendations to the national assembly at each session of that body.* of all such profits. Within a few years this had become a fixed sum, which, with other royal incomes from the Mesta, amounted to about 1,700,000 maravedis annually. The Mesta received the remaining two-thirds, which it shared, in the case of penal- ties for enclosures, with the entregadores. Those ofiScers had been receiving a fixed salary of 500 ducats a year, during the latter part of the sixteenth century, as a substitute for the irregular income from shares in many fines. In 1688 this figure was cut to 300 ducats, but was raised to 400 two years later, at which it was kept until the abolition of the office in 1796. Quad. 1731, pt. 2, p. 288; Nov. Recap., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley s, cap. 32. ' Usually bound with the 1639 edition of the Mesta laws; see below, p. 413. ' The procuradores, or deputies, from Soria and Segovia usually defended the cause of the Mesta in the Cortes debates. ' Cortes de Caslilla, xix, p. 56r (1600); xxvii, p. 241 (1612); xxxiii, p. 215 (16T9). * nid., xix, pp. 121, 525, 537, 659 (i6co); xx, pp. 157, 264, 377, S47 (1602). DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 1 19 The rigors of this campaign drew frequent protestations of in- nocence from the Mesta, and pleas that its entregadores be allowed to perform their ancient duties in protecting the welfare of the herdsmen, which had always been the first need of this, the greatest industry of the country.^ Its bid for crown favors with the new grants to the royal exchequer from entregadores' profits, introduced in 1602, had secured a few liberal renewals of the old privileges, the most extreme being that of 1633. However, these concessions were only powerful on paper, whereas the Cortes, though sadly lacking in constructive ability, were thoroughly active, and awake to their own power to overturn. The determined hostility of the deputies, which was displayed in the debates on the question of Mesta reform, and the proposals which the Cortes were entertaining for the drastic investigation of that body and its affairs, so startled the sheep owners that they held no meetings in 1603 . This was the only gap in the long series of Mesta sessions for over three centuries.^ A few years later the Cortes sent to Simancas for certain documents bearing on the Mesta,' and, shortly afterward, shrewd attorneys of the herds- men secured a writ from the Royal Council and the king, au- thorizing the transfer of aU documents in the archives at Siman- cas dealing with the Mesta to the latter's own collection.'' Here they were carefully guarded for three hundred years, untouched save for purposes of litigation in defence of the ancient privileges of the herdsmen. Another aspect of the aggressive intentions of the Cortes to- ward the Mesta was revealed when the former refused to grant concessions to the pastoral industry except in exchange for modi- fications of the subsidies to be paid to the crown by the cities of the reahn. Such subsidies were to be voted only in conjunction ' Cortes de Costilla, xx, pp. 615-616 (1602). ' Arch. Mesta, Acuerdos and Cuentas (1604). ' Cortes de Castilla, xxiii, p. 456 (1607). * The titles of the documents removed at that time fill seventeen manuscript volumes, now in the Mesta archive, and comprise about three thousand items. This accounts for the fact that, with the exception of a small collection of documents on taxes there are less than half a dozen manuscripts now at Simancas which deal at any length with the Mesta. I20 THE MESTA with stipulated restrictions on the Mesta. A series of conferences was begun, in 1602, between commissioners representing the Cortes and the sheep owners, to agree upon the agrarian reforms which were to be embodied in the condiciones de millones. Under those conditions the Cortes gave its consent to an extraordinary- subsidy of eighteen million ducats to the crown.' Practically the only references to the Mesta in the Cortes debates from that date onward were in connection with this subsidy or later ones of the same type. During the later Middle Ages the CastiHan Cortes had by no means so effective a control over the crown through its powers over the purse strings as did the Aragonese parliament.^ Under the enfeebled monarchy of the later Hapsburgs, however, the abiUty of the CastiUan deputies to exact desired reforms as conditions for subsidies is well illustrated by the sad experience of the Mesta. The conditions of the grants of millones were fully discussed and reported upon by a board of arbitrators and commissioners named by both sides. To this body the Mesta sent frequent petitions, characterized by the same humility which marked all of its communications to the Cortes at this time.* At the first of these conferences, in 1602, the representatives of the Cortes made it plain that they proposed to secure every pos- sible curtaihnent of such powers as stiU remained to the eutre- gadores. The same pohcy was pursued at each of the succeeding conferences in 1607, 1611, 1620, and after.* As a result the Mesta ' Cortes de Castilla, xxi, pp. 45-48; see Escriluras, acuerdos, administraciones, y suplicas de los servicios de veinte y quatro millones (Madrid, 1734), which contains condiciones attached to various millones voted during the seventeenth centiuy. Cf . Quad. 1731, pt. I, pp. 239 fE. Cos-Gayon, in his article on the Mesta in the Revista de Espaiia, ix, p. 358, erroneously describes the millones as being in reales, instead of ducados; cf. Gallardo, Rentas Reales, i, p. 47. The millones were first voted in the Cortes of 1388, as a source of revenue for the equipment of the Invincible Ar- mada. They were usually granted at six-year intervals, and the funds were raised by taxes on such staples as oil, vinegar, meat, wine, etc. An excellent unpublished history of the millones by Antonio de Castro exists in the Acad. Hist., Ms. Salazar 41, no. 7 {ca. 1656). ' Cf . R. B. Merriman, " The Cortes of the Spanish Kingdoms in the Later Mid- dle Ages," in the American Historical Review, April, 1911, p. 489. ' Cortes de Castilla, xxii, pp. 26-32, 54-56, 69, 76, 95 (1603); xxiii, pp. 514-515, 524 (1607); xxiv, pp. 284, 785-789 (1608); XXV, pp. 42, 51-55, 660 (1609-10). * Escrituras, acuerdos . . . de Millones, fols. 34-44- DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 121 representatives were forced to sit meekly by and endorse what amounted to the complete emasculation of their nearly impotent itinerant justices. Without the Cortes' vote of the millones the crown was in dire straits; and without the crown's effective assistance, the Mesta was helpless. The Cortes thus adroitly secured the upper hand by its control of the subsidy, and it pro- ceeded at once to dismantle the last antiquated bits of the en- tregador's armor. Any attempt on his part to hold court outside a few specified places was to be punished by a fine of 20,000 ma- ravedis. He was to hear no cases involving enclosures, except in a few unimportant instances. If he assessed costs of litigation in any case when the Mesta was the plaintiff, he was to lose his office. As a final blow he was forbidden to retain any part of such fines as he might levy — a measure which, of course, obHterated practically all of his income. The condiciones de millones thus inaugurated the first formal obsequies for the prestige of the entregador. In the meantime, in its regular sessions, the Cortes calmly took it upon themselves to determine what salary the entregador should be paid, how large a staff he should have, and other details regarding the regulation of the office.* In 1608 the legislature voted that the sedentary flocks (estantes) were in no way to be subject to or affected by entregador decisions.^ Petitions from the Mesta, asking that the entregadores be at least partially relieved from the vexations of local officials, were at first dis- missed by the Cortes with the reply that they' saw no reason why such a request should be made.' ' Later it was agreed that the royal corregidor in a given district should hold court jointly with the entregador. This insured a measure of protection to the Mesta against local officers, for the corregidores were chosen by the central government for their intelligence and legal training, which often proved useful to the entregadores in the interpreta- tion of local fueros and ordinances.* At the same time careful > Cortes de Costilla, xxv, pp. 47-SS (1609). 2 Cdrdenas, Propiedad territorial (Madrid, 1873-75, 2 vols.), ii, p. 277. ' Cortes de Castilla, xxv, p. 47; xxviii, pp. 396-398 (i6is)- < Ibid., xxxii, p. 19S (1618). See above, p. 84, on the cooperation between corregidor and entregador as early as 1488. These were all steps which led ulti- 122 TEE MESTA provision was made by the Cortes that no corregidor should regard this as a pretext for visiting any given locality in his dis- trict more than once a year to make investigations of the ad- ministration of Justice or to levy penalties. ^ A striking feature of the documents of this period is the willing- ness shown by the Mesta to go more than half way to meet the Cortes in the work of reform. This attitude was very different from that of two generations before; it was, in fact, expres- sive of the change which had been wrought in the standing and influence of that body.^ Occasionally the Cortes were checked by the crown when the proposed reform seemed too drastic. This occurred when the suggestion was made by some deputies that the residencia or examination of a retiring entregador be held by one of the openly hostile high appellate courts at Granada and Val- ladohd. The king and his Council were able to persuade the legislators to retain the practice of residencia by the President of the Mesta accompanied by a delegate of the Cortes.' The nobles, clergy, and other great landowners had already been participating actively in the concerted attack upon the entregador. In 1634 the powerful Duke of Infantazgo had been given full assurance by the President of the Mesta that the en- tregadores would have due respect for the ancient exemptions which forbade the Mesta judges to enter the towns under the Duke's suzerainty.* Furthermore, the large migratory herds of certain ecclesiastical bodies had occasionally been given priv- ileges which were distinct from and in opposition to those en- joyed by the Mesta.^ The archbishopric of Toledo, for example, had long regarded its flocks and pastures as superior to the laws of the Mesta, but was compelled to submit to that body during mately to the substitution of the corregidores for the entregadores when the latter were abolished in 1 796. ' British Museum, T. 91 * (4); decree of 15 Sept., 1618; see also Massachusetts State Library, Catalogue of the Laws of Foreign Countries (Boston, 1911), p. 278. ' Cortes de Castillo, xxvi, pp. 4, 21 (1610); xxviii, pp. 267, 380 (1615). ' Ibid., xxviii, p. 193 (1615). * Arch. Osuna, Infantazgo, caj. 2, no. 18. Earlier evidence of a similar nature is found in the same archive, Belalcizar, caj. $, nos. 29, 32, and 33 (1456). ' Cortes, Cordova, 1455, pet. 13. A few monastic orders had regular member- ship in the Mesta, notably the monastery of San Lorenzo at the Escorial. DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 123 the latter's golden age under the first Hapsburgs. In 1540 the Royal Council had ordered the cardinal-primate of Toledo to with- draw the excommunication and censures which he had imposed upon an entregador who had been opening certain lands of the archbishopric to the Mesta flocks. The pressure of the autocracy- had brought the primate to accede; but in the early seventeenth century, when the attacks of the Cortes were proving so successful, all of the great ecclesiastical landowners joined in the movement against the Mesta and shared in the triumph over that body.^ The attitude of the church toward the Mesta and its judiciary soon took on a more aggressive tone. By 1640 the herdsmen were appealing to their staunch protector, the Royal Council, to aid them in stopping the inroads which were being made upon the jurisdiction of the entregadores by ecclesiastical judges. The only response to these appeals, however, was a timid warning to the bishop of Avila that certain of his subordiaates had no right to hear cases involving Mesta pasturage privileges, even though the pastures involved were the property of his cathedral.^ At about the same time the entregadores visiting the vicinity of Salamanca found their jurisdiction greatly curtailed by mandates issued " by authority of the maestro de escuela and other eccle- siastical judges of the university and of the cathedral " of that city,' who enforced their decrees by the excommunication of any entregador disobeying them. The Mesta appealed again and again to the Council to check this ' atrocity ' ; but the decree of 1644, which was intended to accomplish that purpose, did not have any permanent effect.^ The impotence of the entregadores at this time was quite as noticeable in their relations with the titled and ecclesiastical landowners as it was in their deaUngs with the towns and their defenders, the Cortes and the chancil- lerias. As the seventeenth century wore on, the two chanciUerias re- mained firm in their support of the local interests as opposed to > Arch. Mesta, T-2, Toledo, 1540 ff. ^ ibid., A-g, Avila, 1640. » Ibid., S-i, Salamanca, 1668. * Arch. Mesta Prov. ii, 32: " Para que los provisores, vicarios, y demas jueces ecclesiasticos se inhivan del conocimiento de ciertas causas tratadas por los entre- gadores." 124 THE MESTA the Mesta, and no appeal from the sentence of an entregador was brought before either of them without the assurance of fair and probably favorable consideration. If the sentence was not act- ually reversed it was greatly modified, the usual form being " that the defendant stands convicted as foimd by the entre- gador, but the penalty is withdrawn." By this simple expedient the sting was deftly removed from the once dreaded decrees of the itinerant magistrates, who soon heard the ridiculing jibes of every peasant landholder along their once absolute domain. Another typical activity of the chancillerias, during the crucial decades at the opening of the seventeenth century, was the recog- nition of all forms of exemptions from the visitations of entre- gadores. Some were based on ancient privileges, as we have seen above. Others had been recently purchased from the sovereign, whose sore financial straits made such transactions common at that time.i StiU others had as their foundation the fact that no entregador had visited the locaUty in question for many decades,^ or that the lord of the town in question had been granted such an exemption from entregador visitations in another section of his domain.' These exemptions sometimes covered only the harvest months, or applied to certain districts, which sought to be re- lieved of entregador fines in order to use their funds for such laudable objects as building churches or maintaining militia com- panies. The latter was a prevalent excuse for exemptions during the Portuguese wars of 1640 aiid following.* The Mesta protested that these temporary or limited curtail- ments of the entregador's activities tended inevitably to become permanent and more extensive. Nevertheless, the crown was forced by its need of funds to continue granting them; the friends of the Mesta on the Royal Council went through the forms of withholding them; and the recipients forthwith put them into 1 Arch. Mesta., B-4, Bureba, 1648, and Arch. Hist. Nac., Consejo Castilla, leg. 4S, Benavente, 1664. * Arch. Mesta, Alcald. de Henares, 1617: the recognition of such an exemption by the court at Valladolid. ' Arch. Osuna, B6jar, caj. 56, no. 16 (1627). * Arch. Mesta, Prov. ii, 37. DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 125 effect against the entregadores regardless of Mesta or Council.i It mattered not how dubious the basis for such an exemption might be; the high courts were always ready to concede the benefit of the doubt to the agrarian petitioners, unfairly so in some instances, perhaps, but thoroughly in keeping with the tendency of the times. However essential to the country the great sheep owners' organization may have been in the past, it had outlived its usefulness, and aU CastUe was rapidly coming to realize that fact. The aggressive steps taken by the chancillerlas against the en- tregadores steadily continued. About a score of decisions were handed down each year restricting the activities of these now thoroughly discredited magistrates. The bitter denunciation of this situation in 163 1 by Leruela, a retired entregador, is indica- tive of the despair of the Mesta: "The chancillerlas are taking all business pertaining to the Mesta as a huge joke; its cases are passed upon and the sentences of entregadores reversed without consulting any part of the doaunents submitted except the ru- bric." 2 The sweeping decree of 1633, the last and most reactionary con- firmation of the antiquated claims of the Mesta, was inspired largely by the hope of checking the chancillerlas. By this meas- ure the Royal Council wished to impede the steadily growing prestige of its adversaries, particularly in the matter of their hearing cases involving pasturage leases, a question which it had long regarded as being reserved to its own jmrisdiction.' This and 1 In 1646 the Council attempted to cancel one of the most important of these local exemptions from entregador visitations, namely that long enjoyed by Seville. The vehement protest of that city, whose control of the trade with the Indies proved a powerful lever against the Council, soon brought a reconsideration of this action. ' Miguel Caxa de Leruela, Reslauracidn de la Abundancia de Espana (Madrid, 1632), p. 192. The author was an entregador from 1623 to 1625; and this classic defence of the Mesta as the chief basis of Spanish prosperity was the result of his observations during that service. His later experience as an official in Naples, where the first edition of his work appeared in 163 1, gave him much material for a comparative study of the problems arising from the migratory pastoral industry in the two countries. ' See below, pp. 339-340; also Concordia de 17S3, i, fol. 70. In 1595 the Royal Coimcil had been made the court of last appeal in all cases of despojo de posesidn: the ejection of a Mesta member from a pasture in violation of the ancient privilege 126 THE MESTA Other decrees of the Council and the unbroken flow of plaintive protests from the Mesta had, however, no permanent effect against the popularly indorsed campaign of the chancillerias. In 1629 they upheld the town alcaldes of Belalcazar in an important test case against an entregador. The high court forbade the latter to try gypsies and other wandering miscreants of uncertain domicile, whose thefts of cattle and sheep had been acknowledged without question hitherto as bringing them under the jurisdiction of the entregadores.i Petitions of the Mesta to the Cortes, asking that the entregadores be empowered to expel gypsies from the coun- try, were sarcastically denied, with the implication that the towns were quite able to take over one more of the functions of the en- feebled itinerant magistrates.^ The last important attempt by the Royal Council to obstruct the complete triumph of the chancillerias over the Mestg, and its judges came in 1677. In that year the maximum entregador 's sentence from which there could be no appeal to the higher courts was raised by the Council from 1000 maravedis to 3000.' This mandate, like so many of its predecessors, was received at Val- ladoHd and Granada with expressions of profound respect and of implicit obedience, and then calmly ignored. Whether we ascribe the success of the two high courts in frus- trating and discrediting the Mesta and its entregadores to popular support, to the triumph of the ancient Spanish separatism over the decadent Hapsburg centralization, or to the characteristic maladministration of otherwise excellent laws, the fact remains that those courts did accomplish their object. The reform move- ment of Charles III and Campomanes in the succeeding century was occupied, so far as the entregador was concerned, only with the disposal of the last rehcs of a few perfunctory powers exer- cised by that dignitary. of posesidn or right of perpetual tenancy in lands once occupied by the Mesta. This jurisdiction of the Council, as opposed to the chancillerias, was confirmed in 1603, 1609, 1633, and 1640. ^ Arch. Osuna, B^jar, caj. 16, nos. 16, 22, and 25. See also above, p. 89, n. 2, on the marauders known as golfines. ' Cortes de Castilla, xxviii, p. 396 (1615). ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 3. DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 127 Before we take up the details of those last rites of the entrega- dor, there remain for brief discussion a few points concerning the President of the Mesta and his duties as superintendent of the entregadores. After the Mesta had purchased the control of the entregadorships in 1568, the President of the sheep owners' or- ganization had exercised a general supervision over its itinerant judges. He issued instructions to them, fixed their routes, heard the complaints presented against them at the Mesta meetings, and in general brought them more directly under the control of the sheep owners.^ These functions had given his associates on the Royal Coxmdl, to whpm he regularly reported, an increased interest in the welfare of the entregador. We have already ob- served how this interest had found ample opportunity for expres- sion in the long struggle between the Council and the chancil- lerias during the latter part of the sixteenth century. In a similar manner the Presidency of the Mesta under the seventeenth-cen- tury Hapsburgs brought the Royal Council to the side of the Mesta during the struggles of the latter with the Cortes. In fact, the President of the Mesta was frequently delegated to represent that body and also the Royal Council in the arbitration confer- ences with deputies of the national assembly.^ This close alliance of the Mesta with the highest political ofBcials of the realm proved to be of little avail to the herdsmen; nor was the Mesta the only party of the alliance to suffer a loss of power. The Council like- wise felt the rapacity of the chancillerias, notably when the latter proceeded to try cases involving the lands of the old military orders, in spite of the fact that such cases had always been handled by the Consejo de las Ordenes, a body closely allied with the Council. The decrees of the Council and of the President of the Mesta ^ sternly forbade such transgressions, but the chancillerias ' Occasionally the entregadores refused to be guided by the wishes of the Mesta; cf. Arch. Mesta, C-4, Caracena, 1752: a notable case in 1522 when the Mesta was unable to induce an entregador to accept its recommendations. ' Ibid., Prov. i, 87 (1593). The gradual emergence of the President as the domi- nant force in the Mesta during this period prepared the way for the coup by Cam- pomanes, when, in his capacity as senior member of Charles's Council, he succeeded to the presidency of the Mesta. From this vantage point he directed the investi- gations of that body which practically put it out of existence in 1783. » Ibid., A-6, Almod6var, 1615; and A-6, Almagro, 1616. 128 THE MESTA calmly disregarded all threats and extended their jurisdiction whenever and wherever they chose. In a similar manner they ignored the long standing and well recognized functions of the council of the royal exchequer, which was another branch of the Royal Council.! The President of the Mesta frequently called upon his fellow councillors for aid in the protection of the entre- gadores against such systematic transgressions.^ These appeals were, however, of no avail, for the high courts ,and the towns easily found means of securing the desired restrictions upon the Mesta and its judiciary. This happened most frequently during and after the Portuguese wars, when the crown found it expedient to be liberal with exemptions from the entregador's visitations. ' The activity of the chancUlerias continued unabated. " In spite of the oft repeated decrees of the Council and the protests of the President," complained the Mesta, in 1694, " the courts at VaUadolid and Granada continue to harass the ancient assembly of sheep owners by nullifying the sentences of their protecting entregadores." * The exasperated President was even able at times to rouse his associates of the Royal Council to such out- bursts as " the local alcaldes are to obey the entregadores in aU matters," ^ or " the chancillerias' ruHngs in no way affect the entregadores." ^ The efforts of President and Council, however, were ahke futile. The Mesta was being reduced steadily to further extremities. Early in the reign of Charles II it began to have recourse to the help of another organization, which was closely allied to the Royal ' Arch. Mesta, B-2, Benadalid, 1628. ' Ibid., Prov. i, 105 ri62i); C-4, Carcabuey, 163Q. » Ibid., Prov. ii, 37 (1647); 4i (1652}; 12 (1654); 53 (1655); B-4, Bureba, 1648; C-2, Calahorra, 1650; A-8, Amedo, 1650. Prov. iv, 30, is a document of forty-five manuscript folios, dated 1763, in which is given an exhaustive review of local exemptions from Mesta laws and entregador's visitations in all parts of Castile, with special reference to those granted in the seventeenth century. By it the Mesta and its President, under whose direction the data for the document were gathered, attempted to prove the widespread violations of its privileges through the unlawful extension and perpetuation of these exemptions. * Ibid., Prov. iii, 17. ' Ibid., B-i, Ballecas, 1683. " Ibid., Prov. iii, 21 (1699). The decrees immediately following this one are Uberally sprinkled with many such outbursts. DECLINE OF TBE ENTREGADOR 129 Council, namely the Sala de Mil y Quinimtas. This was a special court of last appeal, which had jurisdiction over matters of gravest importance. Its distinctive feature was the deposit of " mil y quinientas (1500) doblas de oro cabeza " ' which was made by the appellant as evidence of the good faith of his appeal. The sum was forfeited in the event of an adverse decision. The origins of this court go back to the famous ' law of Segovia ' of 1390, by which John I decreed that " in cases which are very grave or of serious importance, parties who wish to ask for a rehearing shall give security to the amount of 1500 doblas, which shall be forfeited if the appeal is found groundless." ^ Mendez de Silva and other authorities have accepted this as the origin of the Sola de Mil y Quinientas.^ Whether the Sala was organized at that early period or not imtil the edicts of 1502, 1532, and 1565, is not important for our present purpose. The significant point is, that although this high court had been open to the Mesta for many decades, the latter did not turn to it until the darkest days of its long history. The value of the lands involved in the litigations between the sheep owners and the cities, bishoprics, and military orders was frequently large enough to warrant appeals to the Sa,la. However, it was not until every other haven had proved of no avail against the stormy attacks of the Cortes, the chanciUerias, and the other defenders of the towns, that the Mesta finally turned to this court as the last and highest sanctuary to protect the dignity of its entregadores. The earhest important edict of the Sala concerning the Mesta was issued in 1642. It confirmed with considerable emphasis the sentence of an entregador regarding the right of access of the herdsmen to certain lands in the bishopric of Cuenca.* During the succeeding generation the Mesta did not appeal again to the Sala, but intrusted its forlorn hopes to the Royal Council. Un- > This kind of dobla was valued at 51 reales, which would make the total deposit equal to about 19,500 francs. Cf . Pedro de Cantos Benitez, Escrutinio de Marave- dises y Monedas de Oro Anliguas (Madrid, 1763), cap. 15, no. 20. » Nueva Recop., lib. 4. tit. 20, ley i. ' CaUOogo Real y Genealdgico (Madrid, 1656), fol. 112. See also Escolano de Arrieta, Prdclica del Consejo Real (Madrid, 1796), ii, p. iii. * Arch. Mesta, C-io, Cuenca, 1647. 130 THE MESTA fortunately for the herdsmen, that body was quite helpless, as has already been noted. Finally, in 1670 a new device was tried; the Council ordered the Chancilleria at Valladolid to hand over immediately to the Sala all important cases pending on appeals from entregador decisions.* The VaUadolid court quietly ignored this mandate and several similar ones which were issued at regular intervals during the next two decades. It would have required much more pressure than was then at the disposal of the Royal Council, or, for that matter, of any institution in Castile, to com- pel the chancillerias to relinquish their jurisdiction over appeals from cases tried by entregadores. The attorneys of the Mesta were able to bring a few cases up to the Sala; and this newly found protector gave the sorely tried sheep owners almost the only comfort they had had for many decades. In 1675, for example, there was jubilant elation among the herdsmen after the Sala had handed down an important pasturage decision in favor of the Mesta and against the corregi- dor of the city of Leon.^ Similar decisions followed, which re- newed the almost abandoned hopes of the Mesta for a revival of its ancient strength and inspired it with a new confidence in the efficacy of the Royal Council and the Sala. As a result of these new aspirations seven decrees were issued by the Council in the period 1677-1719. These edicts were intended to strengthen the jurisdiction of the Sala over cases involving the Mesta and its judges and to place every possible hindrance in the way of the high courts at Granada and VaUadolid.* It was stipulated that there should be no appeal from entregador sentences involving less than 3000 maravedis. Should the disputed claims be in ex- cess of that amount, the Mesta was given the privilege of appeal- ing directly to the Sala without the intercession of the chancil- lerias. The latter were to be eliminated at all costs; but these costs were proving to be very heavy. The burdens of continuous litigation in every high court of the land were too much for the decrepit old organization. The Mesta accounts for 1684 show a ' Arch. Mesta V-i, Valladolid, 1670. 2 Concordia de 1783, ii, fol. 171. ' Ibid., ii, fols. 173 v-180. DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 13 I deficit for the first time in nearly two hundred years; for over a century the annual net profits had varied from fifteen to thirty nulHon maravedis, but in the year mentioned the treasury was over seven millions in arrears.^ This was the lowest point in the financial history of the Mesta during the three centuries covered by its extant accounts. Its corps of attorneys at Valla- dolid was discontinued and that at Granada diminished because of the futility of fighting cases there. Such humihation was bitter indeed for an institution which had been so intimately associated with the proud sovereigns of Castile for four hundred years. The effective work of the chancillerias against the Mesta and its judiciary continued relentlessly. For eight years, 1708-16, the entregadores did not hold court at all, and the consequent loss of income from fines brought the feeble exchequer of the Mesta to lower and lower depths of insolvency. The crown, however, suffered a corresponding loss, for it had received a third of the yield from the sentences of the itinerant nagistrates. In order to regain this for the royal treasury, which was hopelessly depleted after the war of the Spanish Succession, the entregadores were commanded in 1 716 to renew activities and to see that the income of the new Bourbon monarchy was not stinted because of moder- ate fines. Encouraged by this and by assurances of further sup- port from the Royal CouncU, the Mesta renewed its demands that " the long recognized rights of the entregadores be reaffirmed, and that they be given full and final jurisdiction directly under the Sala, to the exclusion of all local judges on the one hand, and all chancillerias, audiencias, and provincial courts on the other." ^ Thanks to the sore financial straits of Philip V and Ferdinand VI, the entregadores were given vigorous support and encouragement by the crown and its ofl&cials, and the result was a temporary in- crease in the amounts annually turned in by them.' Fortified by * Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, 1510-1836 (17 large folio volumes and portfolios). ' Brit. Mus., Ms. 1321 k6 (cc. 1732) ; a similar declaration in Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 29 (1722). ' The totals of their sentences rose steadily during these reigns to about six million maravedis a year, but began to fall off as soon as the drastic investigations were started by Charles III. Cf. Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, 1717-81, passim. 132 THE MESTA further decrees issued by the Council in 1746, 1751, and 1752,* the entregadores were able for a time to bid defiance to the chanciUerias, but their day of reckoning was not far off. The accession of Charles III in 1759 opened the final chapter in the history of the entregador. The NeapoUtan reign of that enhghtened monarch had given him ample experience in handling the perplexing problems arising from the conflicts of a large-scale migratory pastoral industry with agricultural and local interests. On coming to Castile, he found the Mesta weakened after two centuries of strenuous hostilities, but with its itinerant judiciary still intrenched behind its ancient privileges, which his unprin- cipled predecessors had just been rehabilitating. The mainstay of the Mesta had ever been the crown and its Council, the one the creator and the other the unfailing protector of the entregador. The indispensable prerequisite of the whole system of such a highly organized migratory institution was the superiority of the centralized national authority over the separate local units, whether provinces, towns, or individuals. Therein lay the explanation of the supremacy of the Mesta under the aegis of the early Hapsburg absolutism. By a curious anomaly, this very reliance upon the crown was destined to bring about the downfall of the entregador and the complete disruption of the Mesta. That organization now found itself in the hands of a monarch, who, though not at first openly hostile to it, was quite ready to give a full hearing to its opponents, a favor which no previous sovereign had ever dreamed of granting. Even more distressing to the Mesta was the discovery that after he had given this hearing, and had become convinced of the grave need for re- form, the king was quite willing to forgo the immediate profits which he received from entregador fines and to work unselfishly for the ultimate good of the agrarian interests of the country.^ ' Varios Decrelos . . . mandados agregar d las Ordenanzas de la Chancilleria de Valladolid (1765), p. 134; Concordia de 1783, ii, fols. 178V-179; Arch. Mesta, B-3, Biloria, 1751-83. None of these documents is given in Matlas Brieva, Coleccidn de Ordenes perlenecientes al Ramo de la Mesta (1828), the official and supposedly com- plete compilation of all Mesta documents of importance tor the period 1731-1828. ^ The agrarian policy of Charles III has been carefully examined by Rudolf Leonhard, Agrarpolitik und Agrarreform in Spanien unter Carl III. (Munich, 1909). DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 133 The details of this final campaign against the Mesta need not concern us. We may only observe that it falls into two parts : the exhaustive preliminary charges by the province of Estremadura, which comprised the chief southern and western pasture lands; and the subsequent hearing of both sides of the case before Campo- manes, the great reform minister.^ In the course of these pro- ceedings, which covered some twenty years, every important point in the long and varied career of the Mesta was touched upon. Most attention, however, was devoted to the question of pastur- age — public lands, enclosures, and commons. The entregador, though frequently discussed in the citations of historical evidence, came in for less mention because he was by that time only a figure- head. A large part of the attention given to him was spent in the examination of the innumerable cases of systematized bribery of entregadores by towns. The widespread evidence of this or- ganized backmail was used by the prosecution as one of its most effective arguments to prove the utter inefficacy of the itinerant magistrates as ofl&cers of justice.'' In the final polemic of the the prosecution, the reform leaders took the same view of the entregador as did Acevedo, the great jurist,' who had main- tained that the Mesta judiciary was " an enemy of the towns," an opponent of that ancient heritage of every entity of Spanish population — be it village, city, province, or kingdom — namely, its independence from outside interference in the management of its local affairs. This procedure under Charles III was, strictly speaking, not a trial of the Mesta. It was simply an exhaustive hearing of the whole agrarian problem, a siunming up of the centuries of discord, accusations, denials, and evidence. The real object of the inves- tigation was not to pass formal sentence upon the Mesta, but rather to discredit that institution in all its functions, including its system of itinerant judges, before the eyes of the nation. Cam- pomanes felt that the most effective method of accomplishing the desired reforms was to subject the actions of the Mesta and the ' See below, p. 414, for the titles of the published results of these proceedings. = Concordia de 17S3, ii, fols. 234-282. ' See edition of the iVwena Reto^. (1612), lib. 3, tit. 14, ley 3. 134 THE MESTA obsolete character of its privileges to the greatest possible public- ity; subsequent events proved the wisdom of his judgment.* Fundamentally, his view coincided with that of Acevedo just cited, namely that vecinos or townspeople had exclusive right to enclose common land and to administer justice within their town Hmits as against any intruders such as the migratory herds or itinerant justices. This reservation of local matters for local oflBicers had been the keynote of the long struggles against the entregadores in the chancillerias and the Cortes. We have al- ready seen how the Mesta had been gradually forced to give way before this pressure of particularism or separatism. In each set of instructions sent out to the entregadores by the President, notably those of 1757, 1779, and 1782, there was further recogni- tion of the precedence of local interests over those of the sheep owners.^ These preliminaries led inevitably to the last step, the abolition of the ofl&ce of entregador by the decree of August 29, 1796, and the distribution of its functions among various officials, chiefly the corregidores.' Campomanes reflected the intelHgent opinion of his times re- garding the Mesta and its judiciary in his summary of the charges made by Estremadura against the sheep owners in 1764.'' In this document he pointed out the analogy between the rights and privileges granted in the twelfth century by grateful Castilian monarchs to the Christian conquerors of that province, and the similar privileges given out some four centuries later in the re- partimientos of the new world conquistadores. The sixteenth- century pioneers, many of whom were Estremadurans, such as Cortes and Pizarro, had, like their mediaeval ancestors, received certain hberties in recognition of their services as conquerors for their lord the king, and as warriors of their faith against heresy and heathenism.^ These hberties took the form of a large measure ' The copy of the Concordia de 1783 in the Bibliotheque de Sainte-Genevifeve in Paris (Department des Manuscrits) has two interesting pages of manuscript notes in a contemporary hand, giving data from the French ambassador at Madrid re- garding Campomanes' purposes in conducting this investigation. ^ Concordia de 1783, ii, fols. 38 v, 183 v-189, 222. ' Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley 11 (43 caps.). * Expediente de 1771, pt. 2 (Respuestas de los Fiscales), fols. 40 flf. ' Ibid., pt. 2, fol. 45 V. DECLINE OF THE ENTREGADOR 135 of autonomy and independence from outside interference, as was usually the case with all frontier and border settlements. This cherished heritage of the settlers in the reconquered lands of old Spain and in the conquered empires overseas was incorporated in all of their fueros and other charters. It was against this an- cient and highly prized prerogative that the Mesta and the en- tregadores waged their long and, for them, disastrous campaign. The migratory pastoral industry may have been inevitable be- cause of geographic and climatic conditions in the peninsula; but pohtically the whole force of tradition was set against it. No more convincing evidence of this could be cited than that which is revealed in the history of the alcalde entregador. PART III TAXATION CHAPTER VIII SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION Significance of sheep dues as a pre-feudal tax on movable property. Town or local sheep taxes in North Africa, Provence, the Pyrenees, Aragon, Valencia, Navarre, and Portugal. Royal or state sheep taxes in southern Italy, Aragon, Valencia, and Navarre. To the herdsman the nomad flocks were a means of livelihood; to the sheep owner they meant an income; and similarly to the government of the towns and of the nation, they represented a legitimate object of taxation, and — all too frequently — of ruth- less extortion. The assets of the wandering herdsman were quite visible; and, friendless stranger that he was, the tempta- tion to make him pay heavily for his ' privileges ' and ' tres- passes ' can readily be understood. At first the coming of the migrants aroused among the wayside communities the hostile query, " How can we prevent or hinder the devastating intrusions of these unwelcome strangers ? " But as the migrations con- tinued from generation to generation in spite of heavy fines and restrictions, the attitude of local and later of national officials became rather, " How can we capitaUze the fiscal possibilities of this ebb and flow of movable property past our city gates ? " A survey of the experience of various Mediterranean peoples with the taxation of migratory flocks brings to hght two aspects of the question. First, there was the problem of town or local finance, which involved the ancient social conflict between the wandering herdsman and the sedentary husbandman, and the assessment of penal dues upon the former for his supposed trans- gressions against the latter. Secondly, in point both of origin and of importance, there was the question of national finance, the rise of a central power and its efforts to secure much needed revenues from the migratory flocks. It should be made clear at once, however, that these two fiscal aspects of the industry were not sharply separated from each other either chronologically or in subject matter. Although an attempt will be made below to 140 TEE MESTA examine the two separately, this should not be taken as an indica- tion that local sheep taxes were common during one period of pastoral history, and national imposts during another. In fact, there was never a period throughout the long annals of sheep mi- grations when we do not find friction between the herdsmen and the towns, with its invariable accompaniment of fines, penalties, and taxes. The second or national phase of this topic emerges from the local taxation of the industry with the growth of a strong central power, which, finding the towns reaping financial advantage from penalties on the wandering flocks, soon devised a method of accompHshing the same result for its own benefit. The struggles between royal and local officials over the judicial matters of the industry have already been discussed. The sub- ject of the sheep taxes, though analogous to the judicial question in that it too deals with national and local elements, is neverthe- less distinctive in that it presents not a struggle between the two, but a development, a growth of one out of the other. Whether we consider the crude form of the Algerian migratory pastoral industry, or the much more intricate organization of the Roman flocks in southern Italy, there appears the same striking fact of certain financial obUgations of the herdsmen to the land- owners. This feature is found in the earliest evidences of the in- dustry in the countries where it can best be studied: Italy, North Africa, southern France, and the Spanish kingdoms. ^ In each of these areas the first indications of annual sheep migrations show the towns undertaking to assess damages and penalties upon the intruders on their commons. Then too, there were frequent violations of local laws by the strangers, trespasses on forbidden pastures, and illicit passage over toll bridges. These and many other points gave the local officers ample opportunity to exact fees, dues, and taxes from the passing herdsmen.^ ' There are ample evidences of the existence of this form of sheep industry in Roumania, Scotland, Switzerland, Chile, and elsewhere (O. Densusianu, Pas- toriiul la Popoarele Romanice, Bucharest, 1913; Duke of Argyll, Scotland as it was and as it is, Edinburgh, 1887, 2 vols., i, pp. 255 ff.; Geographical Review (New York), Oct., 1918, pp. 370-371); but the materials upon the fiscal aspects of the question in those countries are very meagre. ' The taxation of the herdsmen and their products when they appeared in the SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION I41 The significance of this question of local sheep taxes lies not only in its importance in the fiscal history of the industry itself. More especially to be noted is the evidence given upon the an- tiquity of the taxation of movable property in Mediterranean countries. The prevalence of such taxation long before any feudal land taxes contradicts the commonly accepted opinion, which had held that such feudal dues were the predecessors of assessments upon movable and personal property.' The taxation of migratory hve stock — in every sense a movable property — was by no means a mediaeval device created to supplement in- adequate and antiquated feudal dues. The appearance of such pastoral taxes came wherever and whenever the industry itself occurred — in the Roman Empire, in Visigothic Spain, in the Algerian hinterland, in mediaeval Provence, in present-day Chile — quite regardless of any precedents in the form of feudal taxation. This fact qualifies considerably the usual assertion that taxes on movables were introduced only with the growing inadequacy of the old feudal land taxes. In southern Italy, for example, the earliest evidence of the taxation of migratory sheep occurs with the first indications of the industry itself, namely in the days of JuUus Caesar and his immediate suc- cessors. The pubHc officials of that region have continued to collect such taxes from the early days of the Roman Empire down to the present day, with scarcely an interruption. It is true that there were countries, such as Catalonia, where the growth of migratory sheep raising, and the consequent increase of revenue from it, aided the government in dispensing with the old feudal aids. This fact, however, does not modify the above con- clusion as to the relative positions of these two forms of taxes. The appearance of migratory flocks in the Mediterranean coun- tries brought on, as an inevitable consequence, the perennial struggle between pastoral and agrarian interests. This hostihty local markets will be taken up later, in the examination of the efforts of the towns to restrict any outside or nationalizing influence upon local affairs. This takes up the important question of the growth of the national market as opposed to the local one. 1 William Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce (4th ed., Cambridge, England, 1905-07, 3 vols.), i, p. 152. 142 THE MESTA naturally took the form of penalties levied by the latter for tres- passes and transgressions by the former. At first the object of these assessments was purely punitive; but constant repetition of the offences, and the persistence of the sheep owners in their visits, led to the gradual hardening of a once elastic schedule of penalties into a fixed rate of tolls and dues. The primitive economy of the present day North African tribes affords an illustration of the nature of this change from fines to fees, as it very probably took place in the early stages of the in- dustry in other and economically more advanced areas. In the pastoral hinterland of Algeria and Tunis the local chieftains still exact from the migrating flocks a toll of one sheep for every hun- dred, which is collected " partly as a penalty for intrusion, and partly as a guarantee against other fines." ^ This point of view regarding sheep dues was representative of the primitive period when the punitive object of sheep tolls was still conspicuous. It is interesting to note, however, that the oldest source materials on this subject, namely those from southern Italy during the early Roman Empire, reveal a more advanced development of the fiscal aspect of the industry than.that in present day Algeria. In other words, although the ItaHan flocks of classical times were being fined and penalized by the towns to a limited extent, never- theless the financial obligations of the herdsmen had gone beyond that stage, since they were being assessed primarily by the central government for purposes of imperial revenue. The traditional hostihty between local interests and nomadic sheep owners still found expression in the fines and penalties collected along the Apulian highways; nevertheless, the organization of the in- dustry for state protection and state taxation was its conspicuous feature.^ An excellent illustration of the local taxation of migratory flocks is found in the pastoral history of southern France and the Pyrenees. The sheep industry of these regions was without any such carefully planned organization as that in southern Italy. In Provence and the uplands of the Pyrenees the fiscal aspects of ' Bernard and Lacroix, L'&oolution du nomadisme en Algerie (Paris, 1906), p. 56. ' See below, pp. 254 fE. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 43 the industry involved simply the question of local dues levied upon the passing herds by the town officials. There probably was some sort of primitive organization among the sheep owners, which was for the sole purpose of protection against unjust ex- actions by the towns. It lacked altogether that element of facili- tating taxation by national or royal authorities which was so conspicuous in Italy. In Provence the annual march was made over the carraires, or special highways, with some rudimentary agreement among the herdsmen for cooperation against aggressive local officials along the way.i In the neighborhood of Aries, this custom of defensive agreements dates back at least to the thirteenth century, and quite probably to a much earlier period. In fact, it has been sug- gested that the sheep highways of southern France, which ante- date the Roman roads in that region, were maintained and used primarily because of the need for concerted movements by the flocks to frustrate the overzealous town bailiffs.'' This is a theory not without foundation, and one which is strikingly similar to that advanced by some Spanish scholars to explain the origin and purposes of the canadas, the Castilian sheep routes.^ With regard to the fiscal obligations incurred on their highways by the Pro- vengal shepherds, there are no evidences of taxes being paid by them to any but local officials. No higher fiscal agents mo- lested the migrants, though there may have been a tribute or ' gift ' paid in 1232 to Raymond Berenger IV, count of Provence, for guaranteeing to the Arlesian herdsmen a free passage across the country to their simmier pasturage without the payment of certain unjust local dues {pasquerages, peages). If this payment was an annual one thereafter, it might be taken as the beginning of some centralized influence or control over the fiscal matters of the industry. There is, however, no direct evidence of this prac- tice; on the contrary, the documents on Provengal pastoral life 1 Foumier, " Les chemins du transhumance en Provence et Dauphine," in Bulletin de geographic historique et descriptive, 1900, pp. 237-262; Remade, in Renme de Paris, 1898, p. 843. 2 Comte de Villeneuve, Statistique du departement des Bouches-dur-Rhone, iii, p. 642. ' See pp. 18-20. 144 THE MESTA of the thirteenth century and after give exclusive attention to tolls and dues paid to the towns, with no direct mention of tax collectors for superior authorities, save for certain temporary forced loans and exactions by the overlords of the region toward the close of the Middle Ages. Chief among these municipal sheep taxes of mediaeval Provence was the puherage, which is frequently mentioned in the old account books of the hailes or chief herdsmen.! jj- ^^^g j^q^ abolished until 1766, after it had gradually drifted out of the hands of the local ofl&cials and into the control of the provincial and national authorities. The local taxes upon migrating flocks in southern France covered many different purposes: punishment for trespasses upon cultivated or enclosed lands, tolls for crossing bridges, fees for protection against marauders, dues for the use of the town commons or of stubble. Occasionally these exactions were paid in kind, as for instance in the Couserans district on the slopes of the Pyrenees, where tolls in cheese were regularly collected from the passing shepherds.^ The assessment sometimes was accom- panied by a stipulation that the herds should fertilize the arable land of the town by travelling about over various fields during their sojourn in a given jurisdiction, and by being folded in dif- ferent places at night.' The isolation of the valleys of the Pyrenees lends interest to the pastoral history of that area. Just as those highland com- munities evolved pecuhar pohtical institutions — ' repubhcs ' and ' confederations ' — inspired by unusual local conditions and ideas, so too in the regulation of the sheep migrations there was developed a purely local, almost primitive, economy, with prac- tices and procedures unaffected by external influences. In this respect, therefore, the pastoral institutions of the Pyrenees differ 1 Foumier, op. ciL, pp. 241-242, citing references to the archives of Aries. 2 Cabannes, " tes chemins de transhumance dans le Couserans," in Bull. giog. hist, et descrip., 1899, p. 200. The payment of dues in cheese by sheep owners was also common in Spain; cf. the bounties on wolf scalps paid in Madrid in 1495 out of an assessment of one cheese on every fifty head of sheep in the district. Palacio, Docs. Arch. Madrid, iii, p. 405. ' Chevalier, ' ' La transhumance dans les valines d' Andorre, ' ' in Revice des Pyrinies 1906, pp. 604-618; Amalbert, Le Mouton ArUsienne (Montpellier, 1898). SHEEP TAXES IN TEE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 45 from those in most other Mediterranean regions. The latter were guided to a large extent by the experiences of their neighbors. Southern Italy influenced Castile; the Spanish kingdoms looked to each other for suggestions in dealing with the common prob- lems; but the Pyrenean pasturage lands were remote, and the practices which became common in the relations between these isolated landowners and herdsmen were often unique. Agreements were frequently made between the people of the different valleys of the Pyrenees regarding pasture rights and the dues to be paid by their respective flocks while on their annual migrations. The conception of these mountains as a barrier be- tween France and Spain dates only from the comparatively recent times of rapid transit. From the thirteenth century down to the eighteenth there are numerous evidences of the unifying influence of these mountain valleys upon the people of the two slopes.^ The chief factor in these relations was the migratory pastoral in- dustry. One of the invariable stipulations in the inter-valley agreements was that regarding the tolls to be levied upon the flocks when on the march. Trespass in forbidden pasturage, especially in fields enclosed for town purposes, was punished by a fine caUed carnal or carnau. The right to collect this penalty was carefully guarded as one of the chief privileges of the valley peo- ples. Their agreements of the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries carefully specify the amounts to be levied and the pro- cedure to be followed in the collection, so as to protect the given communities against the possible claims of any outside overlord. This practice was temporarily interrupted, however, when the strong hand of sixteenth-century French royalty intervened in these inter-valley pastoral agreements. The high tariffs of Louis XII on imports of Spanish wool and sheep played havoc 1 CavaillSs, " Une f6d6ration pyr6n6erme sous Tancien regime," in the Revue historique, cv, pp. 1-34, 241-276 (1910): an exhaustive study of the political and economic ties between southern France and northern Spain by way of the Pjrrenean valleys. See also Blad6 in Bull. giog. hist et descrip., 1892, pp. 301-315 ; and in the Reeue des Pyrhiees, 1894, no. 5; Fabre, L'Exode du montagnard et la transhumance en France (Lyons, 1909). A significant geographic factor in the Pyrenean migra- tions is the uniformly north and south direction of these valleys, which naturally encouraged communication between the two adjoining countries. 146' THE MESTA with the reciprocity conventions of the mountain people. The latter promptly asserted the ' ancient highland hberties,' and drew up a new federation, the passerie du plan d'Arrem of 1513, which successfully bade defiance to any national interference with local fiscal agreements. This episode is an instance of the difficulties encountered by the migrating flocks when their routes lay across tariff boundaries. We shall later have occasion to examine the troubles of the Mesta in the fifteenth century and after, when its members took their flocks into Aragon, Navarre, and Portugal. The more fortunate situation of the Castilian organization as a powerful ally of royalty enabled it to circumvent any national customs barriers. In this respect the Mesta was even more effective than was the loosely organized pastoral in- dustry of the Pyrenees in its conflict with the kings of France. In spite of national restrictions, these mountain communities continued to observe certain mutual obligations in the form of payments for the use of each other's pastures. These dues tended, of course, to become fixed customary payments, which had been more or less standardized by various inter-valley treaties of the period from 1314 to 1390.1 An interesting present day survival of these ancient dues is found in the tribute still paid by the herds- men of Beam who migrate each year into Navarre. Their stay is limited by agreement to twenty-eight days, beginning on a speci- fied date, during which time they enjoy certain pasturage and water rights upon pajonent of an annual tribute of three two- year-old heifers. The fiscal history of the migratory pastoral industry of Aragon presents illustrations of both phases of this subject, namely taxation by local as well as by royal authorities. The antagonism between the agrarian and the pastoral interests was made more acute in that kingdom by the strong organization of the contend- ing parties: on the one hand, the comunidades or leagues of the towns in the pasturage districts, and on the other, the royally ' Cavailles, op. cii., pp. 12-24. The extent of the migrations of French sheep into Spain is shown by the provisions of the Ordenanzas de la Comunidad de Daroca (Saragossa, 1 741), pp. 26-27, which date back to 1270, 1336, and 1441-45, and regu- lated the movements of " French, Gascon, Basque, and foreign " herdsmen who came down the Ebro valley and wintered in southern Aragon. SHEEP TAXES IN TEE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 47 indorsed Casa de Ganaderos, or ' house of the stock owners ' of Saragossa. Because of this feature, it is more difficult to isolate the original taxes, namely the strictly local fines and penalties collected from the wandering flocks. That there were such local dues, and that they not only preceded but far outweighed in importance the royal ones, cannot be doubted. It is true that the strong kingship of certain Aragonese sovereigns asserted itself in the creation of royal taxes upon the flocks, as will be shown later; but it is none the less true that the predominant feature of pas- toral taxation in that kingdom was the assessment of ancient toUs by the towns and private landowners. Convincing evidence of the prevalence of these local taxes is to be found in the restrictions imposed by various royal charters upon the collection of such exactions. For example, the crown guaranteed to certain groups of migrating sheep owners, notably those of Saragossa, a free passageway throughout the realm, un- hampered by any local dues. The earhest of these privileges, that of 1 1 29, declared that the flocks of Saragossa were not to pay any of the fees usually levied upon passing sheep ; ' especially were they exempt from the lezda or portazgo, a tax assessed by the towns upon goods carried by the migrants to the local markets for sale.* This exemption of the flocks of Saragossa in the shape of local taxes was renewed and enlarged by the later royal charters of the Casa, notably by those of 1208, 1229, 1300, 1339, 144O) ^-^d 1494.' By these documents the migrants of Saragossa were as- ' A petition from the Casa de Ganaderos to the viceroy of Aragon, 1607 (12pp., 1672, n. t. p.), beginning " Excellentissimo domino locimitenienti . . .," gives the texts of this document of 11 29, and other charters, now in the archives of the Casa in Saragossa. ' Ibid. : " Quod non donetis lezdas tota mea terra, nisi ad illos portus sicut iam ante fuit praesum et taliatum inter me et vos per tali conditione. . . ." Other local taxes were similarly mentioned. Yanguas, Dice. Ant. Nav., ii, pp. 200-201, gives details on the lezda in Navarre. See below, p. 158, n. 3. Cf. Lopez de Ayala, Impuestos en Ledn y Costilla (Madrid, 1896), p. 651. The Ordinaciones de la Ciudad de QaragOQa of 1122 (ed. Manuel Mora y Gaud6, Saragossa, 1908), i, p. 283, cite a similar exemption from payment of the lezda granted to the Mozarabs of the city. » The texts of these are found in Arch. Casa Ganaderos, Saragossa, leg. privile- gios, nos. 3, 4, and 5; leg. Ms. v, no. i; leg. Ms. x, no. 45; Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 8702, tols. 33-36; Ordinaciones de la Casa y Cofadria de Ganaderos de QaragoQa (eds. of 1640 and 1661). By these charters certain town taxes levied at Epila, 148 THE MESTA sured an unhindered right of way across the unoccupied lands of all towns along their accustomed routes. Legitimate damage claims of landowners were to be paid, but the town officials were not to collect any tolls from passing flocks which enjoyed a brief rest on the town commons. In spite of the sweeping assurances of these exemptions, the sheep owners were compelled to recognize the long established right of many locaHties to collect certain dues. This is made evident by certain ordinances of the Saragossan Casa instructing the members to report all cases of payment to town officers for the use of monies hlancos y communes (unoccupied and common woodlands), so that ' any unjust exactions might be prosecuted.' ' Under no circumstances was any member of the Casa to make an agreement with a town as to any sheep dues to be paid by him. Such individual bargaining broke down the efficacy of the organization and was " the cause of great inconvenience to the city of Saragossa, to this Casa and its members." ^ This strict insistence upon unified action was the result of much experience with the strong comunidades, or town leagues of the pasturage districts. There were four of these associations, with headquar- ters at Daroca, Teruel, Calatayud, and Albarracin, respectively. They were able to impose heavy penalties upon trespassing herds- men, though the latter were consoled by the assurances of their Casa, which stood ready to "reimburse members to the extent of all damages, costs, and losses resulting from any excessive fines for the use of commons." With the rise in power of the Casa during the sixteenth century, these penalties were graded down and stabiKzed as regular and mutually recognized tolls.' The most important of these local sheep taxes in Aragon was the montaticum or montazgo, which will be discussed in detail Alcaniz, Teruel, and various points in Valencia are specified as illegal, but the constant repetition of this in successive documents indicates the inefficacy of the prohibition. 1 Ibid. (ed. of 1640), pp. 50-51. 2 ji^^ p j^. ■'' Instances of these tolls and of local ordinances regulating the passage of sheep through the town lands in charge of a local guide are to be found in the Ordenanzas de la Junta de Goviemo y Pueblos de la Comunidad de Calataytid (1751), pp. 41-42, and in the Ordenanzas reales de la Comunidad de Daroca (1741), p. 27. These regulations date back to 1270 and 1336. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 49 below.i For the present we may note that it was the ancient penalty used by the towns to punish intruders in the local monies or wooded commons. The montazgo was much older and more widespread than any royal or national tax on migratory sheep; references to it occur in the earHest mediaeval ordinances of nearly every inland town in the peninsula. Curiously enough, the exist- ence of this tax in Aragon has apparently been quite unknown to the acknowledged authorities on the economic history of that kingdom,^ though there is an instance of it in that region, probably as the equivalent of the French tax montagium or montage, as early as the ninth century.' The common assumption on this subject has been that the Castihan montazgo was the same as the Aragonese earner age.'^ This is quite inaccurate; in fact the only characteristic in common between these two taxes was that they were both paid by migrating shepherds. The montazgo in Castile, as in all other parts of the peninsula, was always a local penalty for trespass, whereas the carnerage, a tax seldom found outside of Aragon, was a royal toll collected, as wiU be shown later, purely for revenue purposes. If a coimterpart of the Aragonese carne- rage is sought in Castile, it can be found in the serncio y montazgo. The carnerage corresponds exactly to the latter, which should be carefully distinguished from the ordinary montazgo just described. The montazgo in Aragon, as elsewhere, was a penalty levied by town officers for trespasses on the town commons. Its proceeds were turned over entirely to the local treasury.^ ' See below, pp. 163 ff. Monies were not forests, but rolling country with scat- tered trees. Basques were the more densely wooded areas. In the eighteenth cen- tury the term montazgo was also applied, especially in the forested north coast provinces, to certain parts of the trees used for naval construction. This was, however, only a provincialism. Cf. Jordana, Voces Forestales, p. 178. ' Asso, Historia de la Economia Politica de Aragon (Saragossa, 1798); Lopez de Ayala op. cit.; Cohneiro. * Ducange, Glossarium, s.v. montaticum, citing a document of about the year 880. * Asso, op. cit., p. 480; Lopez de Ayala op. cit., p. 650; Colmeiro, i, p. 492- ' Ducange, I. c, besides giving the illustration for ca. 880, referred to above, which is from the Spanish March, cites another for the year 1164 of the Spanish era, from a charter issued by Alfonso the Emperor. Similar cases are found in the fuero of Teruel, dated 11 76 {,Forum Turolii, ed. F. Aznar y Navarro, Saragossa, 190S, tit. 477), and in the ordinances of Daroca, cited above, p. 36. The laws of I50 THE MESTA In Valencia, as in Aragon, we find the montazgos and other local taxes which antedate the Reconquest and give evidence of the migration of sheep from the towns of Christian Aragon into Moorish Valencia.^ Using these ancient local taxes as models, James the Conqueror created in 1245 a system of royal sheep tolls. 2 Thus he introduced the second or national stage of the fiscal history of this industry. This did not mean, however, that local sheep taxes thereupon disappeared in Valencia; on the con- trary, they were continued in spite of all efforts of the crown to interfere with them.' With the coming of the strong monarchy of the sixteenth century the royal sheep taxes were extended in Valencia as they were in the other kingdoms of the peninsula. The gradual spread of economic and political disintegration gave the zealous town officials their opportunity; they proceeded to take full advantage of the distress and impotence of the higher authorities in Valencia, and bought up or preempted the royal dues.* In this manner the fiscal interest of the central govern- ment in the pastoral industry of Valencia was largely eliminated, and the tax obligations of the sheep owners reverted to their primitive form of local penalties upon the intruding sheep. The inviting and accessible upland grazing ground of Navarre made that kingdom a favorite summer rendezvous for Castilian Albarradn of 1234 specify that " if any strange sheep come into the town pas- tures, they are to be fined with the montazgo and expelled without injury. This montazgo belongs to the townspeople " (Acad. Hist., Traggia Colec, Ms. vi, fol. 11). Later ordinances of Albarracin renewed this provision; cf. Suma de Fiieros de las Ciudades de Santa Maria de Albarrazin y de Teruel (Valencia, 1531), fol. viii; Insaculacidn y Ordinaciones de la Ciudad de S. M. de Albarrazin (Saragossa, 1655) pp. 82-83, S'lid the same (Saragossa, 1666), p. 86. ' Ordinaciones de la Mesta de Albarrazin (Saragossa, 1740) outline the organi- zation of a typical Mesta or sheep owners' gild of one of the towns whose flocks moved down into Valencia each year. These ordinances give the usual details as to the ancient montazgos. " Vicente Branchat, Tratado de los Derechos y Regalias que corresponden al Real Patrimonio en el Reyno de Valencia (Valencia, 1784-86, 3 vols.) i, pp. 217 ff. ' As, for example, when James I created new town commons, or boalares, on which sheep might pasture free from all taxes, local or royal (Branchat, op. cit., i, p. 211); or when James II, in 1320, undertook to exempt various Aragonese herds- men from Valencian town taxes (Arch. Corona Arag., Escrituras Jajone II, reg. 184 ff., 245-246). * Branchat, op. cit., i, p. 228: documents of 1630 and 1658. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 151 and Aragonese flocks. In spite of this opportunity for rich harvests in tolls and taxes, the Navarrese were unusually liberal and friendly toward their visitors. The ancient fueros, or codes, of the kingdona provided that " strange sheep which pass a town are to be given a place to rest one or two nights if necessary, and the town is not to charge for this service." ' Later legislation con- firmed this attitude. Access to the mountain pastures of Andia, Encia, and Urbassa was not to be hampered by tolls levied along the way.^ In case of damages, migratory flocks were to be as- sessed exactly as though they were natives, " since the sheep of Navarre go into Aragon and Castile quite .as much as those of the latter kingdoms visit their neighbors." ' The earliest records show only royal taxes on the flocks, probably because the Bdr- denas region, where most of the migrants congregated each year and where the annual meeting of the owners was held,^ had from time immemorial been part of the royal demesne. If any records should be found antedating the crown's control of that region, they will undoubtedly show the same local taxes and penalties which appeared in the early experience of other peoples with this problem. The only evidences of local sheep taxes in Navarre are found toward the close of the Middle Ages, when they appeared in the usual form of schedules of damage charges for trespassing.^ During the early part of the modem era this local share of the taxation levied on the wandering herds was gradually increased at the expense of the ancient royal sheep dues. As will be pointed out later, the taxes levied by the central government were in course of time bought up by the towns in or near which they were collected, and in their stead a fixed annual tribute was paid by the local authorities to the crown. This process, which began during the period 1400-1450, was at its height during the financial em- ' Fueros del Reyno de Naiiarra (Pamplona, i8is), lib. 6, tit. i, cap. 6. 2 Nov. Recop. Nav., ii, p. 129 (1580), lib. 2, tit. 4, leyes 40-41. ' Ibid., i, pp. 701, 70s (1565, 1585), lib. i, tit. 17, leyes 19, 26; ii, p. 134 (1608), lib. 2, tit. 4, ley 47. * Compare the amiual Mesta meetings in Estremadura, cited above, p. 50. ' Nov. Recop. Nav., ii, pp. 691-^95, lib. 4, tit. S, leyes 1-4 (i547 SO- Alonso, Recop. de fueros y leyes de Navarra (Madrid, 1848, 2 vols.), ii, p. 359, describes the tolls collected in mediaeval Navarre for guides supplied to the passing flocks by the towns. 152 THE MESTA barrassment of the Spanish crown in the seventeenth century, when one city after another bought up the royal taxes levied near its gates or on its migratory herds.^ The Cortes made several futile attempts, notably in 1678, to check this wholesale disposal of the royal income, but to no avail. By 1755 the great Bardenas region yielded no further revenue to the crown, all of it having been alienated to the towns during the preceding centuries.'' We have, therefore, in Navarre, as in Valencia, a completion of the cycle : the elimination of royal sheep taxes and the restoration of the old original condition of widespread local tolls and penalties which prevailed at the beginnings of the industry. One more illustration from another part of the peninsula will suf&ce to round out and conclude this summary of the local taxa- tion of migrating flocks in countries adjoining Castile. In Portu- gal, as in the regions discussed above, there was an ancient sheep tax or penalty levied by the towns as one of their exclusive priv- ileges. A royal charter of 1166 stipulated that " all who stopped over in Elbora (Evora ?) with their sheep, should pay a monta- digo of four head from every flock." ' In 1518, the town ofl&cers of Villa Nova de Gaia, near Oporto, resolved that " in accordance with ancient custom, there shall be collected from all strange cattle visiting the town's jurisdiction a montadgo, because this land was given originally for the use of the townspeople and their animals." * We may briefly summarize, then, the experience of these coun- tries with the question of local taxes on migratory sheep. First, these taxes afford early evidence of the ancient conflict between the agrarian and pastoral elements of society. Secondly, they were originally intended as penalties, not as sources of revenue, 1 Yanguas, op. cit., i, pp. 94-9S. gives a list of these transactions during the period indicated, with the prices paid by the towns in each case. 2 Ibid., ii, p. 671. Alonso, op. cit., ii, p. 286, cites the unimportant pontage as the only sheep tax remaining to the crown in the time of Charles III (1759-88). ' Portugaliae Monumenta Historica, Leges et Consuetudines, i, p. 392. Many other instances of the montalicum in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries occur in this collection. See also Ducange, Glossarium, s.v. montalicum (Alcajonas, near Evora, saec. xii). * Foraes de Villa Nova de Gaya (Porto, 1823), p. 31. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 53 though they tended to assume the latter character as time went on. Thirdly, they continued without interruption, in spite of the subsequent development of the fiscal relations between the crown and the industry; and in two instances, in Valencia and Navarre, there occurred a curious reversion to primitive conditions in the widespread prevalence of local assessments and penalties, and the disappearance of royal sheep dues. With these general outlines of local sheep taxation in mind, we may turn to an examination of the taxes collected from migrating flocks by the central government in each of the Mediterranean lands. The rise of a central power came as a boon to the sorely harassed sheep owners, for it gave them an ally and defender against the constant exactions of the local tax collectors. The sovereign, Uke the migratory herdsman, found his only hope in centralization and unity, as opposed to the independence of- the towns. In some of the countries under consideration, such as France and Portugal, the beginnings of state taxation of the mi- grants are obscure because of the lack of materials on the pastoral industry during the early period. In other regions, however, especially in southern Italy and to a less extent in Aragon and Navarre, the earUest evidence shows the industry well organized under the patronage of a strong central government, to which it was paying an aimual tax. The old sheep highways had been , taken over by the state, and at fixed toll points a pro rata tax was levied each year on the passing sheep. This system was intended partly as a substitute for many local taxes and fees levied along the way, and partly as a guarantee of protection against abuses by collectors of such sheep tolls as were still levied by wayside towns. The best example of the operations of this form of state taxa- tion to be found, outside Castile, was that developed in southern Italy. There the earhest traces of the industry date back to the times of the Roman republic, and show that even then there was a well estabhshed system of state taxation of roving flocks. The pastio agrestis described by Varro was evidently a pastoral or- ganization designed to facihtate the state regulation of the lands 1 54 2^-E MESTA I and highways used by the migrating sheep.^ For this service the j herdsmen were naturally understood to be under a financial obli- -Igation to the government. Consequently certain state sheep ; taxes were devised, a special sheep magistracy was created in 192 B.C. or thereabouts, and sharp distinctions were intro- duced in, the Sempronian laws between assessments on pastoral and on agricultural lands. Incidentally it may be noted that whenever public lands found their way into the hands of private individuals, the fees or taxes previously paid to the state for their use by the flocks were converted into regular rentals paid to the new owners.^ During the first century B.C. the censors were leasing tracts of public pastures to publicani, who sublet them to sheep owners upon payment of a scriptura or head tax on the animals. This toll was collected at wayside stationes, which were the predecessors of the dogana of the Middle Ages and modern times. Under the later empire the scriptura became the pensio, a fixed charge for the privilege of grazing on imperial lands.' By the twelfth century this tax was being administered under the direction of the balivus civitatis, a state officer who usually sup- plemented his fixed income from the tax by ilUcit bargains with sheep owners for more pastures than could be secured through strictly legal channels. The royal sheep taxes of modern times in southern Italy are thought by some to have had their origins in the operations of the messari, or lessees of royal tolls, under Frederick II in the thir- teenth century.^ It is more probable, however, that the respon- sibility for these taxes is to be found in the close poUtical tie be- tween Aragon and Italy. Alfonso I of Naples (1435-58) as ^ H. F. Pelham, Essays (Oxford, igii), pp. 300 ff. The Licinian law of 367 B.C. had laid the groundwork for legislation on the use of public pastures by private indi- viduals. Acquisition by conquest of large tracts of public lands where the migrants had previously been accustomed to feed and to pay local taxes probably brought about this step by the state. ^ Ibid., pp. 303-304. ' Codex Theodosianus, vii, 7; Codex Justinianus, xi, 60, cited by Pelham. At- tention will be called later in this chapter to the analogy between these stationes and the Castilian puertos reales, where the Mesta paid its annual taxes to the crown. ' Sombart, Die romiscke Campagna (Leipsic, 1888), pp. 43-48, 83-87; Bertaux and Yver, " LTtalie inconnue," in Le tour du monde, 1899, pp. 272-274. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITEJIRANEAN REGION 1 55 Alfonso V, ' the Magnanimous,' of Aragon was intimately ac- quainted with the afifairs of the Saragossan Casa de Ganaderos. He was undoubtedly the one who erected upon the ruins of the old Roman stationes an elaborate system of toll houses — the so-called tribunale ddla dogana della mena delle pecore di Puglia — for the assessment of the sheep that frequented the pastures of ApuHa.i Under this organization bridge tolls were regulated, the tratturi, or sheep walks, maintained, and resting places and winter pasturage in public lands carefuUy administered. In exchange for these services, the sovereign was paid eight Venetian crowns for every hundred migrating sheep .^ By 1500 the income from this source was of such proportions that Louis XII of France and Ferdinand III of Naples (II of Aragon) made careful stipulations as to its division. The subsequent attempt of the French to stop the migrating flocks at San Severo roused the Spaniards and was one of the causes for the launching of those memorable ItaHan campaigns of the ' Great Captain,' Gonsalvo de Cordova, and his famous Spanish infantry. In the eighteenth century the toUs on migrating sheep had become " one of the richest mines of wealth belonging to the crown of Naples." ' In fact, the long continuance of an organized pastoral industry in southern Italy is to be explained to a con- siderable extent by the large revenues which it brought to the crown. The Infante Charles of Naples began here in the middle of the eighteenth century the same reforms which he was later, as Charles III of Spain, to inaugurate against the CastiHan Mesta. He announced his readiness to forgo the immediate profits of this tempting revenue in order to buUd up a firmer, though for a long time much less lucrative, type of rural economy. This declaration he proceeded to make good by the establishment of agricultural colonies in the pasture lands. With much of the ' Swinburne, Travels in the Two Sicilies (London, 1783-85, 2 vols.), i, pp. 140 fE.; Craven, Excursions in the Abruzzi (London, 1838, 2 vols.), i, pp. 264-270. 2 In 1556 this figure was raised to twelve crowns, and in 1709 it was further in- creased to thirteen ducats and twenty grana. ' Swinburne, op. cit. He gives the following as the royal returns from this tax: 1536, 72,214 ducats; 1680, 1551863 ducats; 1700, 272,077 ducats; 1730, 235,072 ducats; 1780, 400,000 ducats. IS6 THE MESTA antiquated machinery of state sheep tolls thus cleared away, it was natural for Murat to issue, as part of the whole system of Napoleonic reforms, a decree dated May 20, 1806, abohshing the whole system of state taxes on migrants, together with the attend- ant guarantees of protection. The subsequent edict of November 26, 1808, was intended to confirm this reform, " to compensate the state for the loss of these revenues by the more lasting and beneficial incomes from husbandry, and to assure the rural popu- lation of Apulia of that protection to their property upon which depends the amelioration of agriculture and the consequent aug- mentation of national riches and population " — a thoroughly mercantilist pronouncement in every way. The reaction and return of the Bourbons in 18 15 swept all of these reforms away, and brought back the flocks with their large fees for a short-sighted royalty. It was not until after i860 that improvements, in many respects similar to those introduced by Charles III a century before, permanently put an end to the system of state taxation of migratory sheep. Royal taxation of migratory herds in Aragon consisted of the one tax, the carnerage, which was probably adapted from a local sheep tax of the same name by the strong founder of Aragonese centralization, James I (1213-76). During the expulsion of the Moors, the crown had secured extensive pasture lands which had long been frequented by the sheep of the northern highlands.' Local sheep taxes were already common there, and suggested to the conquerors the fiscal possibilities of the industry. As a result, there was soon estabHshed a series of royal toll gates along the principal sheep highways for the collection of the carnerage.^ In some cases it was levied in money, as in the collection of three sueldos and four dineros ^ from every hundred head coming down from Ribagorza. The usual practice, however, was an assessment 1 Asso, Hist, de la Econ. PolU. de Aragon, pp. 479-480, lists these lands and indicates the taxes collected near each tract. 2 The marked difference between the carnerage and the Castilian montazgo has been described above, on p. 149. Such minor taxes as the royal bridge tolls, for example the pontage collected at Saragossa, will not be taken up here. Cf. For. Reg. Arag., lib. 4, tit. 646 (1528). ' Asso, op. cit., pp. 429-472, discusses Aragonese money at length; see also Swift, James I of Aragon (Oxford, 1894), pp. 275 £f. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 57 in kind. In the thirteenth century this amounted to ten head out of every flock, but this exorbitant rate, due to James the Con- queror's heavy war expenses, was cut to five by James II in 1326. ' By the middle of that century the royal sheep toll had become definitely fixed as to rates and collection points, which were form- ally announced by an edict. This act also stipulated that any local tax purporting to be a royal one should be forthwith dis- continued.^ Numerous later decrees and ordinances outhned the details of the system, protected the sheep owners from abuse at the hands of the crown's collectors, granted the flocks ample ac- commodations near the toU gates, and insured them free passage over the pubHc highways as well as over their special routes.' Royal sheep tolls were maintained in Aragon until the agrarian reform edicts, drawn up in 1773 and after by Charles III along the lines of his earlier Neapolitan measures, threw open to cultivation most of the public pastures in southern Aragon. Royal incomes in Valencia benefited very materially by the fact that the inviting lowland pastures of that kingdom made it a favorite winter grazing ground for most of the Aragonese and many of the CastiHan transhumantes. In 1245, seven years after the capture of the city of Valencia from the Moors, James I an- nounced his royal title to the herbage and carnerage, taxes which had been levied by Valencian towns on sedentary and on migra- tory flocks respectively.'* As a further means of increasing the royal revenues from sheep migrations into Valencia, PhiHp II introduced into that reahn the CastiHan royal sheep tax of ser- vicio y montazgo.^ * Arch. Cor. Arag., Escrituras Ja3Tne II, no. 247 (1339), is a degree exempting flocks of the town of Daroca from all royal dues save the payment of six head out of every thousand. 2 For. Reg. Arag., lib. 4, tit. 587. ' M. Dieste y Jimenez, Diccionario del Derecho Civil Aragonis (Madrid, 1869), p. 263 (1488 decree); Fueros y Ados de Carte de . . . Aragon (Saragossa, 1678), fol. 14. * Branchat, op. cit., i, pp. 217 ff.; Bull. Ord. Milit. Alcant., p. 734: an exemption from the Valencian herbagium granted in 1268 by James to the flocks of the military Order of Alcantara. Subsequent confirmations of the decree of 1245 are found in Branchat, ii, pp. 125-132. Cf. Llorente, Noticias Histdricas, ii, p. 159, on the use of herbage in the northern provinces of Castile. ' Branchat, 1, pp. 226-227. IS8 TEE MESTA The situation in Navarre, so far as royal taxes on sheep were concerned, was dominated by the fact that the Bardenas region, which comprised practically all of the pasture lands frequented by the migrants, had from time immemorial been part of the crown demesne.^ These lands were accessible upon payment each year of taxes called pechos or cameras. Occasionally, as a reward for special service, a limited exemption was granted to the herds of some locahty or monastery. Instances of this occurred during the turbulent times of the Reconquest and the later wars." UsuaUy these grants were in the form of restricted favors, such as the right to cut green wood for making corrals, or to pasture a certain number of sheep free of charge. Even in these cases the tax on a whole flock was seldom cancelled altogether, but was commuted into a small fixed annual tribute — a practice which seems to have had its beginnings during the first half of the fifteenth century. The ordinances of 1499 governing the use of the Bardenas pas- tures establish clearly the absence of sheep taxes levied by way- side towns, but such exactions began to appear soon after that date.' The process of alienating the royal tax on migrants by concessions and sales to towns and villages was in full swing by about 1650; and by 1755 the local officials in and near the Bardenas region had bought up all such crown levies.^ This survey of the taxation of migratory sheep in various western Mediterranean countries presents three conclusions. First, and most important from a general point of view, we are here confronted with a distinctly non-feudal fiscal system, which is based upon a tax on movable property. The widely accepted theory which undertakes to explain the appearance of taxation on movables as an aftermath and solution of the growing inadequacy ' Yanguas, op. cit., ii, p. 418. ^ Ibid., i, p. 85; ii, p. 421: instances of 1092, 1117, 1329, 1350, 1412, and later. ' Ibid., i, pp. 87-92; ii, pp. 414, 595, 626. The crown also levied numerous taxes {lezda, peaje, saca, chapitel, etc.) upon the importation, exportation, and sale of supplies to transients, especially to migratory floclcs. Ibid., ii, pp. 596, 618, 629- 630. Compare with the Castilian poriazgo (below, p. 164) and alcabala (p. 260). * See above, p. 152. SHEEP TAXES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN REGION 1 59 of the old feudal land taxes is, therefore, of dubious value, so far as these countries are concerned. Secondly, we note the widespread local taxes and penalties upon migratory sheep. These were the earliest manifestations of any financial relations between the towns and their annual visitors. Indeed, these assessments ap- pear with the first traces of the industry itself; they are the fiscal expression of the ancient social conflict between pastoral and agrarian interests, and they are to be found whenever and where- ever that conflict occurs. Thirdly, as a consequence and develop- ment of the local taxes, there came the taxation of the flocks by the central government. This phase simply expresses the growth of national out of local economy, a process, let it be repeated, which was in no sense a substitution of the new order for the old, since both national and town taxes continued to be levied upon the migrating flocks. In two instances, Valencia and Navarre, we observed the disappearance of the royal taxes through their reversion to the towns. The royal or state assessments differed from the local ones in that their object was not penal but strictly fiscal, being intended only as a source of revenue. These national tolls are notable, furthermore, because they made necessary an elaborate system of state maintenance of sheep highways, pasture lands, toU stations, and rate schedules: in other words, a con- siderable piece of administrative machinery, which soon developed into a thorough organization of the industry. This was notably the case with the dogana of Italy and the Casa de Ganaderos of Aragon. With these details in mind regarding the fiscal relations between the sheep owners and the governments, both local and central, in other lands, we are prepared to approach the same questions in Castile. Are there evidences in that kingdom of a pre-feudal tax on nlovable property on any considerable scale ? How early and in what form do local taxes and penalties on migratory flocks make their appearance ? Does the unusual wealth of materials available on the history of this industry in Castile enable us to follow closely the evolution from local to royal taxes, from town to national economy ? Does the Castilian experience estabhsh l6o THE MESTA the rise of a closely unified national sheep owners' organization out of the fiscal machinery of the central government ? In a word, does the financial history of the Mesta enable us, through the use of its abundant source materials, to explain and perhaps to answer the questions suggested by the fiscal aspects of the same industry in other lands ? CHAPTER IX MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE Early local taxes. The montazgo and the portazgo. Effect of the Moorish wars. Beginning of large scale sheep migrations, standardized taxation, and fixed toll points. After the disaster at the Guadalete in 711 and the flight of Roderic's battered warriors into the mountains of Asturias, there followed three disordered centuries of uncertainty for the fugitive bands of Christian refugees, centuries of intermittent conflict either with the infidel invaders to the south, or with one another. The events of this turbulent formative period, especially those concerned with so unwarlike a subject as the present one, left but scanty records, and even these are swept aside by some authori- ties as spurious.! Whether this conclusion is accepted or not, it is interesting to observe that the few documents purporting to give evidence on the taxation of migratory sheep in this early period all bear a striking resemblance to the first records of the same prac- tice in other lands. These early financial obligations of the Castil- ian flocks were local tolls, as were the first taxes paid on migrants elsewhere; but in Castile the evidence supplements with many new and important data the oldest documents found in other countries. Although the obscurity which clouds these opening centuries may detract from the value of the documents, the fact remains that their chief features accord in every way with the well authenticated source materials of other lands. They carry the origins of this form of local taxation back into the traditional beginnings of Castilian history. The earliest of these records, like those in some of the regions already considered, appear in the form of royal exemptions from local sheep taxes. The practice common in all parts of mediaeval Europe of granting special privileges and immunities from such 1 Notably L. Barrau-Dihigo of the Library at the Sorbonne. 161 ^62 THE MESTA taxes, in exchange for loyalty and support to the crown,' was especially prevalent in Castile, because of the constant pres- sure which the frequent wars put upon the royal prestige and treasury. This circumstance has given us a full series of such exemptions, which, be it noted, synchronize closely with the chief campaigns against the Moors, and we are, therefore, in a position to make a thorough survey of the local sheep taxes of the period. Fifty or more of these documents cover the period from the reign of Sancho the Great (970-1035), the first king of a united Spanish Christendom, down to the founding of the Mesta in 1273 or thereabouts. They fall into three groups: first, those granted during the campaigns of the first CastiKan Alfonso and his illustrious companion in arms, the Cid, whose successes came to a climax with the capture of Toledo in 1085, only to be fol- lowed by the inglorious disaster at ZaUaka in 1086; secondly, those issued in the turbulent middle decades of the twelfth cen- tury, during the rise of the newly estabHshed military orders; and thirdly, those bestowed as rewards for aid in the triumphant campaigns from Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) to Cadiz (1262), which swept the Moors out of Andalusia and thus estabHshed Castilian dominion over the whole of the southern pasturage area.^ In the earlier years of the Reconquest there was a frequent tendency to qualify these concessions to the flocks of the favored town or monastery. This qualification sometimes took the form of a limitation of the number of sheep to be exempt from local toUs; ' but more frequently the area for untaxed migrations was ^ Although this was the usual cause for such exemptions, it was by no means the only one. Religious zeal and work in the propagation of the faith were frequently rewarded by such privileges. The migratory sheep of herdsmen and owners living in Salamanca were so favored ' because of the fame of that city as the home of one of the four great centres of learning in the world, and its consequent eminence as one of the unique things {cosas singulares) of the Spanish kingdoms.' Gonzilez, V, pp. 546-551 (1465)- ^ A study of the dates of some fifty similar exemptions, selected from the two centuries after this period, will reveal a like tendency to appear during times of stress, notably in the civil wars of Peter the Cruel and Henry of Trastamara. ' GonzSlez, v, pp. 218-220: a royal privilege to the town of Pineda, dated 1287, exempting 15,000 sheep of that town from local tolls in all parts of the realm. MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 1 63 restricted.! In every case the obvious intention was to modify the ancient and widespread taxation of these herds so as to favor certain conamunities which were loyal to the crown. Among the more common taxes of migratory sheep in Castile during the Middle Ages, two were prevalent throughout the king- dom from the earliest times: thq_wioM/flzgrandTEe^ortozgo. These deserve special comment, not only because of their antiquity, but because of the influence which they had upon the whole fiscal his- tory of the migratory pastoral industry in Castile, as well as in other parts of the peninsula.^ -^ Th e montazgo, .a s we have seen, was originally a fine for tres- pass upon the monies, or wooded pasture lands, and the assess- ment of it was a privilege attached to the ownership of such lands J A\Tien the lord of any given montes happened to be the king, the montazgo was a royal income. For reasons that will be later explained, however, Castilian royalty did not capitalize its opportunities in this connection until the middle of the twelfth century, when the first organized efforts were made to collect montazgos for the royal exchequer. By that time the towns had acquired jurisdiction, largely as rewards for services in the Moor- ish wars, over large tracts of montes, and consequently over the title to collect montazgos. ^ Munoz, pp. 292-293: the famous fuero of N^jera (ca. 1020), which gave its herds exemption from local toUs in all woodlands between the Ebro and Anguiano, a radius of about a day's journey from the town. Ibid., p. 429: the fuero of San- giiesa (1122), which established a similar free zone for its flocks " in circuitu San- gossa quantum potueritis in uno die andare et tomare." See also the fuero of Cdceres of 1229, in Ulloa, Privilegios de Cdceres. A privilege of Alfonso X to the town of Briones (1256) exempted sheep of that town from montazgos, provided they returned to Briones at nightfall. Acad. Hist., Ms. E-126, fols. 79-95. ^ Ducange, Glossarium, s.v. montaticum, gives illustrations from Sicily, France, and Portugal. He notes the early French montaguim, which has sometimes been confused with montazgo (cf. J. Lopez de Ayala, Contribuciones ( Impaestos en Le6n y Costilla, p. 127). Occasionally the term was applied to a tax for ferrying. Besides the usual Latin montaticum, the Sicihan montitium, the Portuguese montadego and montado (J. de Santa Rosa de Viterbo, Elucidario das palawas, Lisbon, 1798-99, ii, p. 151), there was also the Castilian montanera, though this was more uncormnon than the montazgo (cf. Revista de Archiws, n, p. 174). Colmeiro, i, p. 95, suggests that the montazgo and similar taxes may have originated as early as the Roman period, but the evidence on this is by no means convincing. 164 TEE MESTA Though originally they were fines for trespass upon a particular kind of land, the montazgos gradually became fixed charges for access not only to montes but to other tj^esof town commons. In fact, by the jime the Mesta was established in 1273, the name had come to be apphed-toahnest any toti upon passing flocks, re- ■gardless of their trespassing on the montes. A few illustrations will sufl&ce to establish the character of this important tax in its earher phases. A fuero which was granted in 804 to the town of Valpuesta by Alfonso II of Leon and Asturias gave to the townspeople " full liberty to cut wood in the royal forests, to build houses and churches or for fuel, and to enjoy un- hampered access to pastures and springs on going out and return- ing [with their flocks] without payment of any montazgo or por- tazgo." ' In 824 Count Munio Nunez gave a charter to the in- habitants of Branosera, by which it was stipulated that " from all men who come from other towns to pasture their animals in the town montes, the townspeople are to levy a montazgo." ^ In a like manner, some villeins of Berbeja and Barrio received exemp- tions from certain taxes at the hands of their lord, ' because they had to pay the montazgo, but could not collect it from cows or swine [coming on their lands] ' ' In a grant of lands to the mon- astery of Santa Juliana, dated 1045, Ferdinand I expressly quali- fied the jurisdiction of the monks over their new possessions by specifying that " they were not to levy any montazgo on those who hunted there." * A trial over some property of the monas- tery of Sahagun in 1055 was settled by the agreement that the unsuccessful claimants to certain montes were to pay montazgos for their use of those lands. ^ 'The Bflitay.gg appeared quite as early as the montazgo, and, like it, was a tax the title to which was vested in the owner of certain real property; in this case the property consisted of the 1 Gonzalez, vi, p. u. There was a similar privilege granted to the cathedral of Oviedo in 853. Espana Sagrada, xxxvii, p. 319. ^ Munoz, p. 17. ^ Munoz, p. 32. lUd., p. 38: An exemption from montazgo in favor of the town of Castro Jeriz, in 974. * Gonzdlez, v, pp. 15 £f. ' Arch. Hist. Nac, Docs. Sahagtin, no. 969. MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 165 highways and gates, whence the name of the tax. The portaticum, portagem, portadigo, or portazgo was, therefore, levied upon all goods and animals using these means of communication. Theo- retically the king, as the lord of the land and protector of peaceful > travellers and merchants, was the proper recipient of such a tax, just as his theoretical title to the montes gave him the montazgo. But although the crown occasionally claimed a share or even the whole of the portazgo, such claims were never enforced,' and from the earliest records of the ninth century onward this tax was collected at the gates of towns, wayside castles, or monasteries by the owners of such gateways.^ The only evidence of royal control | over the portazgo was evidenced by an occasional insistence on ,' the part of stronger monarchs that royal authorization was neces- sary for the collection of the tax; though even this was rare, and the portazgos were assesssed as a rule quite regardless of the crown's permission.' In the course of time a royal tax developed 1 Part, s, tit. 7, leyes 5-9, Pari. 3, tit. 28, ley 11, and Part. 2, tit. i, ley 2, give the thirteenth-century view as to the theoretical share of the crown in the portazgos. The rate was then one-eighth of the value of the animals or goods, and the king was to have two-thirds of the yield, the town's share being used to repair roads and walls. It is interesting to note that in this code the ' Scholar King,' Alfonso X, exempted from portazgos " the books, clothing, and other necessities brought in by students." Porlugaliae Monummta Historica, Leges et Consuetudines, i, p. 487, gives a charter of CentoceUas, 1194, awarding two-thirds of the local portazgo to the lord of the town. Cortes, S. Maria de Nieva, 1473, pet. 5, mentions the ancient theory that portazgos belonged to the crown. "^ Lopez de Ayala, op. cit., pp. 128-130, citing documents of 804 ff.; Berganza, Antigiiedades de Espana (Madrid, 17T9-21, 2 vols.),ii, p. 59 (1129); Bib. Nac.Mad., Ms. 714, p. r83 (ri79) ; Herculano, Historia de Portugal (Lisbon, 1863), iv, p. 420; Acad. Hist., Indice Docs. Monast. Suprim., p. 18 (1232). ' A good example of one of the few portazgos of which the crown received a share was that of Plasencia, to which the Mesta flocks were the heaviest contributors. The CastiUan sovereigns retained two-thirds of the Plasencia portazgo down to the close of the fourteenth century, when obligations incurred during the wars of Peter the Cruel and Henry of Trastamara necessitated the disposal of this income. Bena- vides, in Remsta de Extremadura, iii (1901), pp. 172, 433; iv (1902), p. 189; v (1903), p. 219, presents documents illustrating the history and administration of this tax. Illustrations of royal concessions of portazgo privileges are found in Arch. Osuna, Bejar Mss., leg. 351, no. i (1237); Pantigoso, Memorial . . . de Segovia (1523), reprinted in Boletin Acad. Hist., xiv, p. 219 (1889). An interestmg schedule of por- tazgo rates of the twelfth century is found in the fuero of Zorita de los Canes, ed. Urena (Madrid, 1911), PP- 399-414- A similar table from the fuero of Sepfilveda ^thirteenth century) is in the Acad. Hist., Mss. Fueros Privs. y Ords. Municip., i, 1 66 THE MESTA to take the place of the theoretically royal but actually local portazgos, namely the alcabala, a tax on sales, which became common in the fourteenth century.^ Although the portazgo was supposedly levied upon goods and animals en route to a neighbor- ing market, the destination of those paying the tax was quite likely to be remote from the point where it was paid, since the jurisdiction of the mediaeval Spanish town frequently included many square leagues of rural districts and scores of villages. There are even instances of portazgos being collected by Castilian towns and churches from shepherds on their migrations across the southern borders into the Moorish kingdoms. For the Mesta, therefore, the local portazgo lost its original meaning of an octroi on sheep or wool en route to the local market; and, like the mon- tazgo, it came to be but another wayside toll on the migratory herds.2 In theory, then, and according to some of the earlier codes, such \as the Partidas, the collection of these two imposts was an attri- /bute of the sovereign; but in actual practice, since their earliest I appearance, they had been levied by local or private authorities, pp. 73-79. The rates are all given in money, and they give an excellent idea of the diversity of internal commerce in mediaeval Castile. They include food stuffs, iron, copper, lead, Moorish slaves, shoes, mirrors, and woollen cloth from Segovia, one of the Mesta's headquarters. ' See below, p. 260. The lezda of Aragon and Navarre has been sometimes con- fused with the portazgo, but it, hke the alcabala, was a crown tax, though it re- sembled the portazgo in that it was levied upon goods brought to the town markets for sale. Cf. Yanguas, Dice, de AnligUedades, ii, p. 603; Arch. Hist. Nac, Floranes Mss. 1 2-24-1, B-io. ^ In 1200 the bishop of Cuenca was levying a portazgo on sheep being taken to the lands of the Moors to be sold, " et quod ganatum in terram Maurorum non vendidit portaticum illud reddat." Acad. Hist., Ms. 25-i-C 19, fols. 483-484. This clause brings out clearly the theory that the portazgo was levied upon animals to be sold, but the fruitless protests of the Mesta in later years gave evidence that the portazgueros were seldom particular as to the objects or destmations of their victims. Further evidence of sheep migrations and trade between Christian and Moorish territory is found in Munoz, ColeccUn de Fueros, pp. 375 (1137), 417 (1115), 464 (1131). Other instances of portazgos upon migrants going long dis- tances are found in Arch. Osuna, Bejar Mss., leg. 351, no. i (1237); Acad. Hist., Ms. 12-19-1, fols. 172 ff. (1217). Reductions or removals of portazgos were one of the common devices employed by Castilian towns in the Middle Ages to promote trade on certain market days, or in certain commodities. Cf. Arch. Osuna, B6jar Mss., leg. 33, no. 15; leg. 44, no. 18. MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 167 sometimes with, but more often without royal consent. This inconsistency between the general law of the realm and the actual administration of the tax seems to have escaped the majority of investigators who describe both the portazgo and the montazgo as royal incomes.' This divergence of accepted custom from the written law regarding the ownership and administration of the tax was due to the obvious fact that the king of Castile was not an autocrat. The powerful monarchy was distinctly the excep- tion in mediaeval Castile. The Moorish wars, as well as certain geographic and linguistic factors, had given the dominant influence to local units: to the towns, with their tax and other privileges acquired in exchange for mihtary support; the rich churches and monasteries, with their crusade exemptions and ecclesiastical prerogatives as leaders of a nation devoted to war against the in- fidel; and the great barons with their cliques and military orders^ It was inevitable, then, that the portazgo and montazgo should have become, in fact, local taxes, and that the development of their various characteristics, as indicated above, should have been governed by the general poUtical history and social evolution of the country. A new era had dawned with the union of Castile and Leon under Ferdinand I (1037-65), an era of consolidation which was soon to lead to conquests. The capture of Toledo (1085) marked the permanent estabhshment of Christian sway over a large part of the plains of southern or New Castile. It is true that the triumph was marred for a time by the disaster at Zallaka (1086), and that the two kingdoms were separated again for over seventy years (1157-1230), during which period the Moors won another great victory, that at Alarcos (1195). Nevertheless, the twelfth cen- tury was notable for the steady extension of Christian domination over the great southern pasture lands,^ to which the migrating flocks had probably obtained access in the earher turbulent cen- 1 Cf . Altamira, ii, p. 58; Piemas y Hurtodo, ii, p. 43 ; Colmeiro, i, p. 470; Mari^jol, L'Espagne sous Ferdinand et Isabelle, p. 217. 2 The more notable of these early Christian victories were achieved at Toledo (108s), Talavera (1085), Colmenar de Oreja (1139). Coria (1142), Calatrava (1147), Alcintara (1166), Cuenca (1177), and Plasencia (1189): all in regions highly valued for pasturage by the northern migrants. 1 68 THE MESTA turies by payment of tolls and fees for protection. These regions were now laid open by the conquering sovereigns without pay- ment of taxes. We find, therefore, a long series of fueros and privileges exempting the sheep of the favored towns from taxation at the hands of local authorities.^ In all of these, as well as in many other town charters of the same type, there was the guaran- tee that the favored sheep were not to pay local taxes in a large part, and frequently throughout the whole, of the reahn. Exemptions from local montazgos and portazgos were, then, 1' common means of rewarding the loyalty and services of cities, i);^onasteries, and sometimes even of individual sheep owners among the nobility, for their aid to the crown in the work of the ^econquest.^ The sovereigns now felt themselves capable of M&suing mandates of a more definite and comprehensive scope than the vague and timid ones of their predecessors. The exemption embodied in the fuero of Plasencia, for example, clearly defined the montazgos and other local taxes in question, especially certain tolls levied at points along the Tagus River. In most of the town charters of this period there was the same tendency to qualify the sweeping exemptions by specifying localities where the flocks of the favored town were most likely to be accosted by tax collec- tors. We have, then, a considerable body of negative, but none the less conclusive, evidence of the early prevalence in Castile, well before the conquests of 1212-62, of local taxes on migratory flocks. There are also certain positive indications of these tolls, namely the confirmations of ancient privileges to collect such taxes from passing sheep. Illustrations are readily found in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries of such royal acknowledgments of municipal title to taxes from migrating sheep, and it is important ' As examples of these may be mentioned the fueros and privileges of Alquesar (1069) (Acad. Hist., Ms. 25-1-0 9, fol. i), Sanguesa(ii22) (ibid., p. 31, no. 58), Carcastillo (1129) (Munoz, p. 470), Guadalajara (1133) (Munoz, p. 509), Balb4s (1135) (Gonzalez, vi, pp. 84-89), Toledo (1137) (Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 714, fol. 10 v), and Plasencia (ir7o) (ibid., fol. 183); see also Ducange, Glossarium, s.v. mon- talicum (1173); ^^d Gonzalez, vi, p. 93 (1231)). '' Colmeiro, ii, pp. 474-479, discusses the unequal distribution of the tax burden as a result of the granting of such favors as these. MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 1 69 to observe that many of these acknowledgments were granted long before there were any royal taxes of this type.' The great \dctory of the Christians at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1 21 2 marked the beginning of a half century of triumphs over Moorish strongholds.^ A wide expanse of southern pasture lands was won for the unhampered use of the flocks from the north; though, as has been pointed out, these lands were by no means ^ The fuero of Calatayud of 1131 (Mufioz, Coleccidn, p. 463) fixed a montatico for " toto ganato forano . . qui post tres dies steterit in termino de Calatayub." A concession of jurisdiction over part of the revenues of Salamanca, granted by Urraca and her first husband, Raymond of Burgundy, in the year 1140 of the Spanish era, was accompanied by a recognition of the right to levy taxes of this form " in quocunque loco, vel quolibet modo." Ducange, s.v. montaticum. A similar recognition was shown in an instrument of the year 11 64 of the era from Alfonso VII, ibid. The monastery of OSa received from Alfonso VIII in 11 76 a lengthy confirmation of its ancient charters, including its right to collect toUs from passing sheep: the rate was one head from migrants passing by day and four from those passing by night. Arch. Hist. Nac, Docs. Ona, no. 96 a. Night toUs were invariably higher, probably in order to discourage migration when conditions were favorable for evasions. In 1200 the bishop and chapter of the cathedral of Cuenca were guaranteed the continuance of their long standing privilege of levying a toU upon all sheep and cattle taken southward into the lands of the Moors to be sold, with the proviso that the simis collected on animals which returned were to be refunded. Acad. Hist., Ms. 2S-1-C 19, fols. 483-484. This is one of the few positive indications of regular migrations of sheep from the Christian highlands of the north over the southern frontiers, long before the Reconquest had brought the pasture lands of those regions under the control of the Castilian kings. Political boundaries, even those strengthened by sharp racial and religious antagonisms, were quite inefifective as hindrances to the activities of this industry. (See above, p. 145, on the sheep migrations over the Pyrenean boundary.) In 1208 Valladolid secured royal confirmation of its right to collect a montazgo of two rams from every herd entering the jurisdiction of the city. Agapito, Privs. de Valladolid, p. 28. The town of B^jar had obtained a similar recognition in 1 2 1 1 . Arch. Osuna, B^jar Mss., caj. 30, nos. 1, 2, 6, confirmations of 1265 and 1314. The royal con- firmation of the toU rates of Burgos, granted in 1237, declared that all sheep were to be assessed according to a fixed schedule, " even if they belonged to the king or to the queen or to the monastery of Las Huelgas." Acad. Hist., Ms. 12-19-1, fols. 172 ff. ^ Chief among these may be noted the following: Alcintara (1214, regained in that year after the loss following the first capture in 1166), Badajoz (1228), M6rida (1230), Castell6n (1233), Cordova (1236), Valencia (1238), Murcia and Cartagena (r243), Jaen (1246), Seville (1248), Jerez de la Frontera (1254), and Cadiz (1262), This imposing list of notable victories reflects the vigor with which Ferdinand III and his companion conquerors swept across the plains of Andalusia and crowded their thoroughly beaten foes behind the mountains of Granada. 1 7° THE MESTA Strange ground to them. The conquest simply made this region more readily accessible, and made migrations possible on a larger , scale and with longer marches. This period of reconquest, the sixty years preceding the found- ing of the Mesta, put an end to the vague generalities in which both the privileges to collect sheep taxes and the exemptions from such taxes had been expressed. The question had hitherto not come to a clear issue between the opposing parties, because the grants were made as isolated instances of compensation for services rendered. The origins of these local dues appeared at least as early as the dim records of the darkest period of the Christian kingdoms. There had always been sheep migrations; and in consequence there had always been local tolls and penal- ties. With the estabHshment of a condition approaching peace over a large area of pastoral country, there followed naturally a considerable increase in the activity of the industry. This re- sulted in the crystallization of the various laws concerning mi- grants. More especially was this true of the local regulations of sheep taxes. We may now review in detail the salient features of the local tolls, and their estabHshment upon a fixed, recognized, and systematized basis, a step which was a natural accompani- ment of the organization of the sheep owners into the Mesta. The first characteristic of the local sheep dues of this period is to be found in the tone of the royal restrictions laid upon their too extensive prevalence. As was noted above, the earlier exemp- tions from these tolls were limited in their scope, for the crown felt itself capable of safeguarding the flocks only within restricted areas.i The triumphs of the new crusade of 1212-62 against the Moors gave a different tone to these exemptions. The migrants ^ One of the few survivals of this old restricted form in the period under discus- sion is to be found in the fuero of CSceres of 1229 (renewed in 1231). In this the sheep of the town inhabitants are exempt " from montazgo only as far as the Guadiana River," which gave the flocks a free zone of but a few leagues beyond the town's jurisdiction. Ulloa, Privs. de Cdceres (1676?), p. 3; Gonzalez, vi, pp. 91-95. See also a similar survival of a restricted montazgo exemption in the privilege from Alfonso X to Briones in 1256, favoring only such sheep as return from their migra- tions at nightfall. Acad. Hist., Ms. E-126, fols. 79-95. GonzAlez, vi, pp. 156- 158 (1272), has a grant of exemption for the sheep of Alcazar de Baeza from local toUs as far as the Tagus River. MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 171 were now assured that ' they might move umnolested through all parts of the realm, pasturing wherever the royal flocks them- selves had access, and on no account was any harm to be visited by any town upon the shepherds, nor was any tax to be levied upon the sheep.' '■ Furthermore, there appears in the available documents of this period the first detailed specifications of the rates of these local taxes and the definite establishment of fixed points for their col- lection. Instances of the old vague indications of exemption from ' all montazgos in all parts of the reahn ' are, of course, stiU fre- quent, and continue to be so for centuries.^ The new and striking development is evidenced by such specifications as those laid down in the royal privilege of the Order of the Temple, granted in 1237, for faithful service to the warrior Ferdinand III.' By this instrument, the towns under the jurisdiction of the Order were authorized to collect " one horse for every five thousand sheep on their way to southern pastures, and one horse for every five hun- dred cows; and of those with fewer animals the rate was one maravedi for every five hundred sheep and one for every fifty cows." This was to be vahd for aU migrants, whether from Castile or Leon, a clause which for the first time Hnks the two , kingdoms as the joint sources of these flocks, just as they were later to be linked in the ' Mesta of Castile and Leon.' By far the most important piece of evidence upon the early codification or standardization of the hitherto haphazard collec- tion of local tolls on passing flocks is to be found in the famous code of ' the lands of Santiago de Compostella ' of 1253.^ This document prescribed certain rules for the collection of the mon- tazgo, which subsequently appeared in most of the important ^ Acad. Hist., Mss. Docs. Monas. Suprim., no. 20: an exemption of the mon- astery of S. Pedro de Gusniel de Izan, dated 1232. ^ Acad. Hist., Ms. 25-i-C i, fol. 2 r.: an exemption for the flocks of the cathe- dral of Oviedo, dated 1236, from montazgos in all parts of the realm. See Gonz41ez, V and vi, passim, for others of the same period and import. ' Cf. Arch. Osuna, B6jar Mss., leg. 351, no. i; and ibid., Gibrale6n, caj. i, no. 2 (1267-68) : two curious agreements among four towns, Niebla, Huelva, Gibrale6n, and Aymarte, exempting one another from montazgos in their respective public pastures. * A. L6pez Ferreiro, Fueros Municipales de Santiago, i, p. 365. 172 THE MESTA charters and privileges on the subject. The following are its cnief clauses: (i) All sheep and cattle which migrate to the frontier {& estremo) are to pay but one montazgo in the jurisdiction of any one town. In all the lands of the Orders of Calatrava, of Ucles, of the Temple, of Alcantara, of the Hospital, or of any other Order, there is to be collected but one montazgo. The Temple is to collect its montazgo for Castile at Capiella [probably the present Zarza CapiUa], and for Leon in Burgos or Alcocher [Alcocer]. Al- cantara shall collect for Castile at Benquerenga [Benquerencia], and for Le6n in Alcintara. [No points of collection are named for Ucles, Calatrava, and the Hospital.] (2) The rate of collection shall be thus: Two cows for every 1000 cows, and the value of every cow shall be reck- oned at 4 maravedis; and if it is preferred to pay the maravedis, the cows shall not be taken. Two rams for every 1000 sheep, each ram being valued at half a maravedi; and those desiring to pay in money shall be allowed to do so. Two pigs for every 1000, each being valued at 10 soldos de pipiones;' and if money is offered, the animals shall not be taken. For less than 1000 head, the rates shall be in proportion.^ 5 The principle of Unaiting the montazgos to one for every juris- diction crossed by the sheep is here expressed for the first time, and it was subsequently incorporated into all of the notable Mesta charters on the subject. Most worthy of note in connection with this restriction is the rule that each military order should collect but one montazgo within its jurisdiction. This point assumes special significance when it is remembered that the largest single owners of pasture lands in the southern wintering grounds of the sheep were these mihtary orders, which had been rewarded with liberal grants from the crown for their services during the Reconquest.' Except for Burgos, all of the toll points ' The sueldo de pipiones was a silver coin, probably of Aragonese origin, in cir- culation during the first half of the thirteenth century. It was rated as one-fifteenth of a gold maravedi. Cf. Saez, Demonstracidn HistSrica de Monedas de Enrique III (Madrid, 1796), pp. 54-64; Salat, Monedas de Cataluna (Barcelona, 1818, 2 vols.) i, pp. 70-81; Cantos Benitez, Escrulinio de Maravedises (Madrid, 1763), p. 30; Vicente Argiiello, Memoria sobre el Valor de las Monedas de Alfonso el Sahio (Madrid, 1852), pp. 18-19. ^ Reducing these values to maravedis, the resulting montazgo per thousand head was one and one-third maravedis for pigs, one maravedi for sheep, and eight maravedis for cows. ' See Map, p. 19. MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 1 73 enumerated in this document are in the Serena and Badajoz region, the Estremadura district, which since the earliest times has been the chief grazing ground for the naigratory flocks from the uplands of Le6n and Castile. It is highly important that careful note be taken of this scheme for systematizing and con- centrating the local tolls in a set of duly authorized centres of administration and collection, because this was the model which was used as the basis for the system of puertos redes, or royal toll gates, along the sheep highways. The royal servicio y montazgo took not only its name but its administrative machinery from the local montazgo. An even more significant feature of this document is to be found in the fact that, although it was only a code of laws for Santiago and its lands, it did not restrict its scope to the sheep of that city, as did all of the earHer exemptions granted to favored towns. On the contrary, the law of 1253 viewed the montazgo from the opposite point of view: not prescribing the privileges of payees from a given city, but defining the rates and methods of collec- tion of that tax as one to which all migratory animals were sub- ject. The local taxes in the lands of the military orders were selected for first attention primarily because these lands made up the largest group of consolidated holdings in the pasturage most frequented by the migrants.* Then, too, the closer association of these orders with the crown doubtless influenced the latter in selecting them as the means for introducing the first reforms in the regulation and organization of the tangle of local taxes which hampered the flocks in their annual marches. That this law of 1253 did not dispose of the problem is certain. Alfonso's wisdom as a codifier far exceeded his abihty as an administrator. In his great code, the Partidas, nearly con- temporary with this law of Santiago, he undertook to lay down rules to govern the granting of privileges and exemptions to sheep owners. However, the constant reiteration of complaints and appeals from the herdsmen during the succeeding decades gives ample evidence of the inefiicacy of these provisions. The Partidas were not put to actual use until nearly a century after ' See Map, p. 19. 174 TEE MESTA their completion. In the same manner, the efforts of the learned sovereign to codify the countless local tolls did not achieve their intended results for many generations. He first prescribed the tolls to be collected in towns on the lands of the military orders, and then promulgated restrictions on those levied at other points along the sheep highways. In this respect, the rules were at first not so sweeping or detailed as those for the towns within the domains of the orders. They usually took the form of exemptions in the hitherto unlimited grants of freedom from all local taxes. One of the earUest of these was that granted in 1255 to Logrono, the central point of the sheep-raising districts in the upper Ebro valley. Its citizens were not to pay sheep tolls except in Toledo, Seville, and Murcia.' This was a common form of exemption,^ which seems to have singled out the three cities mentioned partly because of their ability to defend their titles to their ancient montazgos, and partly because they might serve as good points of concentration and administration for these local tolls, after the manner of the towns named in the Santiago code of 1253. This process of simpHfying the collection of the montazgos, and eliminating the obvious injustice to the herdsmen of repeated assessments in any one locaHty or jurisdic- tion, was carried further by a well known privilege granted to Toledo in 1255 by Alfonso. By that instrument, the city authori- ties were ordered to collect but two montazgos, one in Miraglo and the other in Ciara, instead of the many tolls to which the sheep had hitherto been subject when crossing various parts of the monies or wooded pastures of Toledo.^ The rates were fixed on the same basis as those specified in the code of 1253, with the same values for the different kinds of stock, and the same pri-vilege of payment in money instead of in kind, if preferred. The Cortes ' Gonzdlez, v, pp. 170 ff. In some of the exemptions of this type Burgos was added to these three. ^ Ibid., V, pp. 176-177: Castillo de Gormaz (1258); vi, pp. 150-152, 154-156: Cuenca (1268); v, pp. 254-256: G6mara (1299); v, pp. 258-259: Villalon (1303); V, pp. 273-274: Aguilar (1305); vi, pp. 235-237: Penas de S. Pedro (1309); vi, pp. 239-242: Alcaudete (1328). ' Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. Dd. 114, fol. 175. These two montazgos were later combined, in accordance with the principle of ' one jurisdiction, one montazgo.' MEDIAEVAL SHEEP TAXES IN CASTILE 175 which met at Valladolid in 1258 incorporated in their resolutions all of these details regarding the collection of not more than one montazgo in the jurisdiction of any one town or mlHtary order. This Cortes also estabHshed the same montazgo rates as those given above.i Both of these propositions were cheerfully ap- proved by the crown. It is evident, then, that by the time the Mesta was founded, and the industry thereby organized into some sort of national asso- ciation, the local taxes which its members had to meet were given at least a theoretical uniformity. The way had been pointed out for subsequent legislation and administration. It is true that much remained to be done. The crown still granted privileges to some towns, giving them the right to collect a montazgo from all sheep which passed by their limits.^ Occasionally the sovereign naively cleared himself from the obvious dilemma of conflicting exemptions to herdsmen and privileges to city tax collectors by assuring the one or the other that any apparently contradictory docmnents signed by himself were of no effect.' Certain cities did not even resort to the montazgo, but still followed the ancient practice of expelling all strange sheep entering their jurisdiction. In general, however, it may be said that by 1273 local tolls upon migrating sheep were being put upon a more or less systematic basis. We note, in fact, the beginnings of a recognized schedule of uniform rates and a reasonable restriction as to the number of toll points. 1 Cortes, Valladolid, 1258, pet. 31. In the manuscript in the Acad. Hist., Colec. Martinez Marina, vol. ii, no. 1, the petition is no. 30. ' Arch. Osuna, Gibrale6n, caj. i, no. 3 (,1267). ' Gonzdlez, vi, pp. 117-118: a privilege from Alfonso X to Badajoz, 1270, which assures the sheep of Badajoz full exemption from montazgos in all parts of the reabn, with a warning to the towns " que non se lo tomedes [i.e., los montazgos] por cartas que de mi hayades, en que mandase que ninguno fuese escusado de esto." ■■ Arch. Cuenca, Becerro, fols. 174-176 and leg. 3, no. 20 (1268) : " Todo ganado ageno que entrare en los pastos de Cuenca, que lo cuentan el concejo 6 que lo echen de todo su termino sin calumnia, salvo ende que lo non tomen por fuerza nin lo roben." CHAPTER X LOCAL TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA (1273-1474) Fiscal clauses of the charter of 1273. Policiesof Alfonso X (1252-84) andSanchoIV (1284-95). Aggressive fiscal administration of Alfonso XI (1321-50). Sheep taxes during the civil wars of the later Middle Ages. Extravagant tax concessions to the towns and liberal exemptions of the Mesta. Concordias or tax agreements. The earliest extant charter of the Mesta was issued by Alfonso X in 1 273.1 In its opening paragraph reference is made to the exist- ence of certain royal letters patent previously given to the herds- men, which had been violated and which were therefore to be sup- plemented and strengthened by a new charter. This document is divided into four sections, the first three of which discuss various practices observed by the herdsmen on their migrations and at their semiannual meetings. The fourth section is as long as the other three combined, and is devoted to the abuses suffered by the sheep owners at the hands of the local tax collectors. With reference to these exactions, the herdsmen are first assured that " they are not to pay any portazgos ^ on the cloth they carry from which to make clothes, nor on the provisions and other sup- plies which they bring with them for their flocks." Taxes were not to be collected ia the woodlands, or along the canadas or sheep walks, but only at certain specified town gates. In a supplement- ary privilege of 1276, this clause was extended by forbidding the towns to lay restrictions upon the purchase of grain {fan) ^ by the herdsmen for the use of their flocks. Furthermore, declared the privilege of 1273, the practice of taxing a shepherd who might take one of his animals to the town market to trade it for supplies ' Arch. Mesta, Privilegios Reales, no. i : printed with notes by the writer, in the Boletin de la Real Academia de Eistoria, February, 1914. * See above, p. 164. ' " El pan que los pastores ouvieren mester para sus cabanas." 176 TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 1 77 should cease. " Shepherds may take to the town markets for sale as many as sixty head from every flock without paying the por- ta^go on them." 1 The horses and other beasts of burden, used to carry the suppHes of the flocks when on the march, were not to be subject to any local taxes, whether montazgos or portazgos; nor were they to be preempted for temporary services by any monks or knights. This practice was quite common and " resulted in reducing the value of the animals by half." A fee of one maravedi a day ^ was to be paid to the herdsman for the use of any of his., beasts of burden. No montazgos were to be collected from the sheep owners vmless the right of such a collection was secured by a privilege from Ferdinand III (1217-52), and in no case was the rate to be more than two head per thousand,' a figure which was in keeping with those named in the documents cited above. It is significant that the first charter of the Mesta should give- as much space to the question of regulating and restricting the local taxes on migrants as to all other topics together. This was the subject which seems to have been of most significance to the sheep owners. It is interesting to note here that the dociunents devoted to it form by far the largest single group in the archive of the Mesta. Even the vital question of pasturage rights was a less frequent subject for htigation than this one of local taxes, though the two were often joined in the same case. It will be observed that the charter of 1273 made no attempt to specify the points at which the montazgo was to be collected, as did the Santiago code of 1253 ; not did it provide that only one such tax was to be levied in any one jurisdiction. The toll points of the mihtary orders, as named in the code of 1253, were not referred to. In other words, the first efforts of the Mesta were directed not so much to the^ restriction of the area in which its members were liable to taxation as to the limitation of the kinds of taxes collected. The measure struck at the more fundamental phase of the problem by defining the various dues, and especially by emphasizing the exemptions ' Quad. 1731, pt. 1, pp. 22, 26, 38. ^ This would be equivalent to the cost of two sheep, according to the ofi&cial assessment of the montazgo; see above, p. 172. 2 The migrations were usually made in flocks {cahams) of about rooo head. See ante, p. 24. 178 THE MESTA of the herdsmen from local tolls upon their supplies and pack animals and upon their transactions in local markets.^ We have, therefore, as a direct result of the creation of the Mesta, the first attempt to standardize the local taxes, just as the code of 1253 was the first attempt to locahze these taxes. This step came as a natural corollary to the unification of all sheep owners into the Mesta, for their first efforts were certain to be directed toward the estabhshment of some uniformity in the obligations which they were compelled to meet on their migra- tions at the hands of town of&cials. This standardization was by no means a carefully planned, intentional process; nor did the rise of the Mesta itself follow any skilfully designed, prearranged code. It will be shown, however, that with the first appearance of the Mesta, and with its gradual development on a more and more definitely organized basis, there appeared simultaneously an in- creasingly prevalent uniformity in the local taxation of the flocks. This process had its real beginnings in the charter of 1273, in which the first steps were taken toward the restriction of the two chief local tolls, the portazgos and the montazgos. Of these two, the latter is, for present purposes, the more important, be- cause of its appHcation specifically to migrating sheep. Instances of the montazgo previous to the foundation of the Mesta indicate clearly, as has already been pointed out, the essentially local character of that tax. Its collection was ob- viously a right which went with the title to the monies. This characteristic of the montazgo is evidenced in many of the later documents. It is necessary that these should be noted because of the appearance, early in the history of the Mesta, of the highly important factor of crown influence — a factor which soon be- came apparent in the fiscal matters of the sheep owners' organiza- tion, just as it did in the judicial affairs of that body. The failure to distinguish carefuUy between the local and the royal sheep taxes, between the montazgo and the very different servicio y montazgo, was to cause widespread litigation for the Mesta. This confusion even crept into the laws of that body, and, naturally 1 The activities of the Mesta members in the local markets are discussed above. Cf. pp. 43 ff. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 1 79 enough, has resulted in much obscurity in the views of recent writers on the subject. The greater part of the work of reconquest and of driving the Moors behind the mountains of Granada had been completed by the campaigns of 1212-62. A strengthened kingship had been estabHshed over Castile, a kingship whose intentions toward centralization soon found expression in the compilation of codes and the creation of institutions of more than local importance, such as the Mesta. In the face of this tendency the towns were moved at once to secure renewals of their early privileges, espe- cially those charters which embodied their right to levy taxes upon any supposed intruders, who, incidentally, were themselves now armed with royal privileges. The half dozen recognitions by the crown of such local tax prerogatives, which have already been cited from the period previous to the founding of the Mesta,i do not seem to have been inspired by any motives on the part of the recipients save the usual one of securing one of the customary royal confirmations of ancient fueros and privileges. The rise of the Mesta gave the towns ample cause for anxiety over their montazgos; the terms of the litigations and privileges thenceforth were concerned with the establishment of the local rights to levy montazgos as against the Mesta's exemption from them. An understanding of the factors in this question of monJ tazgo rights may best be obtained by an examination of some of the more notable controversies between various towns and the Mesta in their efforts to maintain their respective claims. The interesting phase of these early conflicts is the defensive and even cautious attitude of the towns, before the futility of Alfonso's pretensions at centralization had been proved. As soon as the feeble, vacillating character of the central government was demon- strated, there followed far bolder, more insistent, and much more frequent declarations of town rights regarding montazgos. The disorders late in Alfonso's reign, and under Sancho IV and Fer- dinand rV, were to give the towns their desired opportunity. The Mesta, under the protection of its royal patron, was not long in beginning its campaign to check the promiscuous exactions 1 See above, pp. 168-169. l8o THE MESTA of local taxes from its members. In his famous code, the Siete Partidas {ca. 1256-63), Miopso had already undertaken to regain for the crown a share ofme returns from the local portazgos.' Urged on by the sheep owners, he now took further steps, osten- sibly in the royal interest, to curtail the independence of the towns in certain fiscal matters which had long been exclusively local in administration. As was frequently the practice, Alfonso had farmed out various royal revenues to three Jewish financiers who acted as royal fiscal agents, especially in the collection of penalties from towns for violation of the newly granted tax ex- emptions of the sheep owners. Several of the towns had objected to the pretensions of the Mesta in the matter of this alleged priv- ilege of free access to monies and other commons, which had hitherto been regarded as exclusively for local uses. These claims of exemption from montazgos were at once put to the test, and the sheep owners vigorously demanded the enforcement of the clause in the Mesta charter of 1273 which provided that no montazgos should be collected, save those guaranteed by a royal privilege from Ferdinand III, Alfonso's father. The initial steps in this direction were taken in 1276, when the king, acting on the incita- tion of the Mesta, placed these three fiscal agents in charge of the campaign against unauthorized montazgos.^ The first of these agents, Don Zag (Isaac ?) de la Maleha, soon complained to his royal patron regarding the difi&culties encountered in the enforce- ment of the arrangement; whereupon the royal entregadores were ordered to assist in the task, a further indication of coopera- tion between crown and sheep owners against the towns. Eigthy thousand maravedis was the price paid by the contractors for the concession giving them the exclusive right to prosecute unau- thorized montazgo collectors during a two-year period. This figure, when interpreted by the prices of sheep and cattle cited above,' indicates the importance and prevalence of these sup- posedly Ulegal montazgos. ' See above, p. 165, n. i. ' Acad. Hist., Mss. Salazar, est. lo, leg. 21: printed in part in Memorial Hisldrico, i, pp. 308—324. ' Seep. 172. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA l8l The repression of these taxes was by no means so easy a matter as the above arrangement had presupposed. Contro- versies soon broke out, and it is interesting to note that the first of these should occur in the southwestern pasture region, the same Estremaduran district whence came the first successful efforts against the entregadores. Badajoz made the first attacks upon these itinerant justices in the mid-sixteenth century; but even in the first decades of the Mesta, that city was successfully mak- ing the pioneer stand for the towns against any modification of their ancient sheep-tax privileges. Badajoz had from time im- memorial exercised the right of levying montazgos " on aU ani- mals that came from outside to pasture within the limits of its jurisdiction." ^ It was this right which the Mesta sought to over- throw shortly after Alfonso X had given the sheep owners their first charter; but their royal patron died before that object had been achieved, and his rebellious son, Sancho, in May, 1285, but a few months after his accession, recognized the right of Badajoz to collect the montazgo.^ These times of internal disorders and uncertain central authority gave a favorable opportunity to the towns, and Badajoz, the leader of the pasturage-owning regions, had been the first to take advantage of Sancho's hostility toward his father, the founder and first patron of the Mesta. During the next two generations, while the crown lost much of its prestige and was sorely troubled by the factious ambi- tions of dissatisfied nobles, the cities and towns were eager to ex- change avowals of loyalty for recognitions by the sovereign of their montazgo privileges. The strong rule of Alfonso XI after he had attained his majority (1324-50) put a check upon this, and once more, gave the Mesta its opportunity. The two previous reigns, however, of Sancho IV (1284-95) ^.nd Ferdinand IV (1295-1312), as well as the minority of Alfonso XI (1312-24), were interspersed with numerous grants of montazgo privileges.' ^ Arch. Mesta, B-i, Badajoz, 1727: a lengthy and important suit regarding the montazgo question, in the course of which both sides introduced documents re- vealing the history of that tox from the earliest times to 1727. ^ Gonzalez, vi, p. 126. ' In 1285 Ciceres and Badajoz, important capitals of the western pasturage country, received confirmations of their montazgo rights and also of the exemption 1 82 THE MESTA It was but natural that these royal bids for local favor should have been sagaciously awarded to powerful cities and individuals whose support would be most helpful to the sorely harassed monarchy. Conspicuous among these were Badajoz, Caceres, and Cordova, and the ecclesiastical dignitaries of Coria, Car- tagena, and SevUle. The prevalence of local sheep taxes through- out Castile during the reigns of Sancho IV and Ferdinand IV may of their own sheep from all local taxes in other parts of the realm. UUoa, Prhs. Cdceres, pp. 127-128; Brit. Mus., 1321 k 6, no. 21, Badajoz: privilege to collect montazgos, 1285. This was confirmed by Ferdinand IV in 1301, and was sup- plemented by him in 1303 with a permit to collect another sheep tax, the ronda, a fee for maintaining on the outskirts of the city a mounted watch, or ronda, from whose protection passing flocks were supposed to benefit. A similar document, which was also typical of this period, was the privilege granted in 1284 by Sancho to the archbishop and chapter of the cathedral of Seville. This guaranteed, first, an exemption for the flocks of the chapter from montazgos in all parts of the realm, and secondly, the right of the chapter to collect tithes on all sheep visiting the juris- diction of Seville. Acad. Hist., Ms. 2S-1-C 12, fols. 432-433. See below, p. 242, on the Mesta and ecclesiastical tithes, or diezmos. A like guarantee was given by Sancho to the cathedral of Cartagena in 1292, which was confirmed in 1309 by Ferdinand IV. Ibid., fols. 462, 582-583. Another ecclesiastical beneficiary of this growing practice was the bishop of Coria, who in 1285 obtained from Sancho a noteworthy privilege. Ibid., Ms. 25-i-C 8, fols. 93 ff. Coria, like Badajoz and Cdceres, was an important town in the western pasture regions. It is deserving of comment, first, because it was one of the very few instances of an exemption in favor of the flocks belonging to a single individual, for the document was granted to the bishop himself as ' councillor of the queen ' and not as the representative of his chapter. Secondly, this document is worthy of attention because of the striking parallel between its terms and those of the Mesta charters of 1273 and 1276. The early privileges of the Mesta often supplied phrases and sentences for later documents on questions of pastoral rights; but the accuracy with which this grant to the bishop of Coria reproduces several of the more essential clauses of the Mesta's charters cannot have been purely fortuitous. It is true that certain general phrases in the law of the Pariidas [ca. 1256-63) regarding " the manner in which privileges to migratory sheep are to be granted " were frequently copied in subsequent docu- ments of this type. The Order of Calatrava received a sheep privilege of this type in r264, based upon the above mentioned law. Bull. Ord. Milit. Calat., p. 167. In the instance of this Coria privilege, however, certain clauses relative to exemptions from local taxes seem clearly to have been taken from the Mesta charter of 1273. The Coria privilege even goes so far as to assign the royal entregadores, the judicial protectors of the Mesta, as guardians of the favored bishop's interests. Further instances may be briefly cited as evidence of the unusual activity of the towns and great ecclesiastics in establishing their titles to local sheep tolls during this period. In 1289 the towns of Lara and Covarrubias agreed upon the use of certain monies l3ang between them and upon the montazgos which they were to pay each other. Fuentes para la Hisloria de Casiilla (1906-10, 3 vols.), ii, p. 134. In 1288 Cordova ob- TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 1 83 be best demonstrated by a partial list of the localities which re- ceived privileges involving the collection of montazgos: 1 1284 Seville 1294 tjbeda 1285 Badajoz 1295 Jaraicejo 1285 Aguflar del Campo 1297 ValladoM 1285 Cdceres 1297 Brazacorta 1285 Soria 1299 G6mara 1285 Bishop of Coria 1 299 Pineda 1286 Duenas 1301 Cdceres 1287 Brazacorta 1303 Villal6n 1287 Pineda 1305 Almazdn 1288 Cordova 1305 AguUar 1289 S. Pedro de Palmiches 1309 Septilveda 1293 Pareja 13 11 Cuenca 1293 Order of Calatrava 13 12 Ojacastro It will be observed that these twenty-seven privileges, granted during twenty-nine years, are almost equally divided between the two reigns. These figures acquire special significance when placed beside those for the succeeding reign of Alfonso XI (131 2- 50), when but five such documents appeared during thirty-eight years. ^ It is quite evident, then, that the towns took full advan- tained a recognition of its riglit to levy montazgos. Brit. Mus., 1321 k 6 (22); con- fix med in 1386 by Henry 11, upon payment of 20,000 maravedis. The monastery of Santa Maria de Brazacorta had the right to take one sheep from each migrating mano (small flock), and ten maravedis from each herd of cows or horses which passed by the estabUshment. Acad. Hist., Docs. Monast. Suprim., no. 213 (1287- 89), confirmed in 1297 (no. 216), 1379 (no. 219), and 1393 (no. 220). The towns sometimes guaranteed or recognized each other's title to montazgos in their respective woodland pastures, quite without any royal sanction. Fuentes para la Hist, de CastUla,ii,p. r34: an agreement made in r289 between Lara and Covar- rubias. See Gonzalez, vi, pp. 299-300, for a similar arrangement between Albacete and Chinchilla in 1375. ' While making no pretence at completeness, this list represents an extensive search through most of the collected town ordinances and fueros, both in print and in manuscript. The items which it lacks would not materially influence the con- clusions here presented, save to reiterate and strengthen them. This list is com- piled from Gonzilez, v and vi, passim; TJlloa, Privs. de Cdceres; Arch. Cuenca, Becerro, fols. 141-143; Acad. Hist., Ms. Salazar, i, 41, Ms. Colec. Fueros Privs., i, ii; Brit. Mus., Mss. Eg. 493, fols. 85-96. 2 Cdceres (1317), Alcaudete (1323), Lazariegos (1326), Yanguas (1347)) and Alcald de Benzaide (1345)- The same sources were drawn upon for these as for those just cited. Here again the qualification must be made that this list is illus- trative rather than complete, though it is significant that the sources for the reign of Alfonso XI, especially those in manuscript, are far more extensive than those of the two previous reigns. 184 THE MESTA tage of the turbulence and the uncertain strength of the central authority of the realm in order to secure guarantees of their sheep taxation in exchange for their much needed support against the enemies and rivals of the crown. This resulted, naturally, in the discomfiture of that new ward of the sovereign, the Mesta, which had to seek elsewhere for protection. The royal power and inclination proving far too uncertain a refuge, the Mesta sought the protection of the Cortes, usually through the members from Soria, Segovia, and the other sheep- raising centers. At the session of that body in 1293 at Valladolid the sheep owners' organization succeeded in having a law passed to the effect that " every town council, whether on the lands of a military order or not, shall keep its territory clear of thieves and bad men ; and if any damage is done by the latter, compensation shall be made by the town council to the owners [of the damaged property] ; and no ronda shall be collected by the towns from the passing sheep." ' This petition was renewed in 1299.2 In other words, the Mesta members were not to be assessed for the main- tenance of police and rural guards by the towns along their marches. It was added, however, that the clause requiring the town to reimburse the owner of pillaged flocks should not apply to losses at the hands of the golfines, a class of roving brigands whose uncertain habitat placed them outside the control or re- sponsibility of the towns.^ At the Cortes of Zamora, in 1301, the question of unjust diezmos (tithes) and montazgos was brought up by deputies representing sheep-owning constituents. The complaint was made that " many more places are now collecting these [taxes] without right or title, and those towns whose collec- tions are legalized are far exceeding the authorized rates." * Cer- tain modifications were therefore authorized by the Cortes, espe- cially in the levies on lambs and wool. These efforts on the ( part of the Mesta to check the spread of lofcal taxes on migrants 'continued during the minority of Alfonso XI (1312-24). The ' Cortes, Valladolid, 1293, pet. 10. ^ Valladolid, 1299, pets. 9-10. On the ronda, see below, p. 428. ' See above, p. 89, a. 2, for a discussion of the golfines and the jurisdiction of the entregadores over them. * Carles, Zamora, 1301, pet. 34. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 185 disordered condition of the central government gave the local ' authorities further opportunities to strengthen their control of this form of revenue. In the Cortes at Palencia, in 1313, at Burgos in 1315, and at Valladolid in 1322 and 1325, petitions were presented in behalf of the Mesta, asking that no local taxes on migrants be recognized as legal unless dating from the times of Alfonso X or Sancho IV.^ Appeals from the Mesta to the crovm were of little avail during this period, for, according to statements of Cortes members, the royal authority was quite ineffective in controlling even its own collectors of sheep taxes, to say nothing I of any attempt to regulate the operations of the local revenue officers.* The influence and the prestige of the Mesta had had no op- portunity as yet to rise to any conspicuous heights. The local units of jurisdiction — towns, bishoprics, military orders — had the upper hand, and were therefore able to establish their control over the montazgo right. This tax had thus come to be associated exclusively with the use of local pasturage. Its earlier toll pur- poses had disappeared, and, largely through the aggressive action of the towns during this period of weakened or uncertain royal power, the montazgo had become a purely local tax irremovably attached to the ownership of the pasturage. The controversy between the town council of Caceres and the church of Coria, which was fought out during this period (1300- 24), illustrates the change in the character of the montazgo, and presents certain typical aspects of local taxation in the much fre- quented western pasturage region.' Both parties claimed the right to collect montazgos on the migratory herds which visited the pastures of a certain area lying in the jurisdiction of Caceres. Coria collected a toll of the animals while they were en route across its lands, while Caceres levied its dues on the same flocks for their continued use of town pasturage; and both forms of exaction were called montazgo. In order to perform their work 1 Cortes, 1313, pet. 35; 131S. pet. 43! 1322, pet. 65; 1325, pet. 30. 2 lUd., Medina del Campo, 1318, pet. 16; Valladolid, 1322, pet. 64. ' Ulloa, Privs. de Cdceres, pp. 164-167; Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 430, fols. 151- iSS- 1 86 THE MESTA effectively, Coria's officers were intercepting the herdsmen at their destination, namely on lands of Caceres, to make sure that all had paid the toll in passing. It was against this trespass that the latter town protested, and in proof of its rights there was cited a recognition of its montazgo privilege by Alfonso VIII, who won the town from the Moors in the latter part of the twelfth century. This ancient montazgo was " two sheep from every flock and five swine from every drove . . . to be collected weekly until the animals left the town lands." The latter clause sug- gests the penal attitude of the older montazgos.' In the final decision of the queen regent and her counsellors, who heard the case, it was clearly indicated that the montazgo was now recognized as a tax paid to towns for the use of their pasturage, and not a toll payable to the lord of any given point along the march of the sheep. Caceres, as the owner of the pas- tures, was the rightful collector of the montazgo of this district, as against Coria, whose claim to such a tax rested solely upon the control of wayside toll points. So widely had this case been accepted as a precedent, that when Alfonso XI and his successors came to assert themselves and to strengthen certain claims of the royal exchequer upon the migra- tory flocks, they found the towns in full control of all pasturage taxes on the sheep.^ The crown had, therefore, to resort to an extension of the royal servicio de ganados, or subsidy on cattle and sheep, which had been created by Alfonso X in 1270. In 1343, Alfonso XI, with characteristic vigor, took over certain local montazgos, combined them with the servicio, and thus there arose the royal servicio y montazgo? 'I}he strong and able kingship of Alfonso XI, who attained his majority in 1324, was marked by two characteristics in the matter ' Compare the law of Cuenca, " expelling strange sheep from the town lands at once, but without injury " (1268). ^ The recognition of the right of the pasturage towns in Estremadura to these taxes is shown in the wording of the protest of the Mesta against the ronda and other local dues in the Cortes of Valladolid in 1325 (pet. 30). After the usual pro- test against the injustice of these local taxes, the sheep owners acknowledge that ' those towns in Estremadura which had had these taxes [previous to the present reign] were entitled to continue them,' an admission hitherto not thought of. ' See below, p. 261. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 187 of local sheep taxes. First of all, there was a noticeable lack of royal recognitions of town titles to such taxes. As was indicated above, but four or five such documents are noted during the twenty-six years of his personal rule, as contrasted with the nearly annual occurrence of these recognitions during the two previous reigns. None of those granted by Alfonso XI was more than a perfunctory confirmation of older privileges, which only incidentally applied to sheep taxes. The^^ec^d^haracteristic of this sovereign's position in the fiscal history of the Mesta was his exercise of royal powers in supervising the administration of these local taxes. Although unable to dislodge the now firmly estabhshed practice of the as- sessment of montazgos by towns, military orders, and other land- owners, he undertook to regulate and restrict them through various crown officers. His favorite instruments in this work were naturally the royal entregadores, the judicial protectors of the Mesta. It will be remembered that these magistrates were crown appointees, serving under the direct supervision of the king, to whom, in the years of such able monarchs as Alfonso XI, they were directly responsible. The royal sage of the previous century, the founder and first patron of the Mesta, had, at the beginning of his reign, taken the first steps toward regulating local sheep taxes by codifying such fiscal operations of the military orders. Alfonso X's code of 1253 had its counterpart in Alfonso XI's decree of 1328.^ Both were royal prescriptions of the montazgo rights of the military orders. Theoretically the latter was in- tended merely as a supplement to the former; but as a matter of actual practice, it embodied the necessary steps for the first real enforcement which the older measure had known. The essential feature of the decree of 1328 in this respect was the appointment of two ' entregadores of the shepherds, acting for the king, who were to see to the enforcement of the original montazgos of two sheep from every thousand.' There is no mention of any com- ^ Arch. Hist. Nac, Mss. Calatrava, Docs. Particulares, no. 221. Alfonso was then in his sixteenth year, but the vigorous lines of his later policy were akeady being planned out by his advisers and were soon to be taken up by the precocious young sovereign himself. 1 88 THE MESTA panero, or local justice to sit with these two as the representative of the military orders. The procedure was, therefore, not a trial ia the usual joint court of entregador and local judge, but an executive measure under royal authority. The two entregadores made some needed modification of the earlier schedules of local dues, by providing for the payment of two sheep per thousand as a " ronda to pay for guards against the golfines," since the depre- dations of these marauders had come to be chiefly raids upon the migrating flocks.^ There had been previous attempts by the crown to use the en- tregadores in checking local sheep taxes. In 1276 Alfonso X had ordered these itinerant justices to assist in a campaign against illegal montazgos; ^ Sancho IV and Ferdinand IV undertook to do the same in 1285 and 1295, but aU of these decrees were httle more than formalities — ■ compensations to the Mesta for the many local sheep-tax privileges then being confirmed by the king.' It was left to Alfonso XI to take up the matter in 1335 in a decree which attacked with considerable vigor the spreading practice of taxing passing flocks.* The entregadores were to stop all illegal montazgos, and heavily augmented penalties were fixed for any violations of their mandates. In addition, it was carefully speci- fied that copies of this decree were to be carried by Mesta mem- bers while en route, and were to be regarded as having the same authority as the original with its royal signature. This last pro- vision was, naturally, of special importance to the migrating herdsmen. It should not be imderstood that AJfonso XI inaugurated a campaign of wholesale confiscation of local tax privileges. In- deed, the justice of his attitude and the fairness of his decisions between Mesta and townsfolk were aU the more striking because of the rarity of those virtues in that unscrupulous age. Alfonso was well aware of the tempting possibilities of the Mesta as an instrument for the aggrandizement of centralized administrative power; nevertheless his right to that well earned title El Jus- ticiero, the Doer of Justice, is convincingly demonstrated in his ' See above, p. 89, no. 2. ' Quad. 1731, pt. i, pp. 16-18. 2 See above, p. 180. * Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, no. 6. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 189 replies to the Cortes' petitions in 1339 and 1349 regarding the taxation of the migratory flocks. These answers were exception- ally fair compromises, which displayed the monarch's due ap- preciation both of the interests of an important industry and of the ancient town privileges. At the session in Madrid, in 1339, the Mesta had, through its spokesmen, the deputies from Soria and Segovia, introduced a petition asking that ' the many new montazgos recently intro- duced by the towns should be stopped, and that none be allowed, save those authorized by Alfonso X or Sancho IV.' ^ The king's reply to this was not a cheerful assent, after the fashion of his predecessors and successors. Instead Alfonso XI pointed out that the montazgo was a tax founded on custom and should therefore be respected. He then declared that the collection of the montazgo should be upon a fair basis: neither favoring the Mesta by arbitrarily extinguishing old customary sheep taxes, nor submitting to the towns with any sweeping indorsement of aU montazgo collections. In the same Cortes of 1339, the Mesta undertook to have recognized as legal only those montazgos that were levied on the southward trip. This the king indorsed, with the qualification that if certain royal sheep toUs were not collected on the south- ward migration, they should be levied when the sheep started northward, "in order that the king should not lose those revenues to which he was entitled.' ^ In 1343 the Mesta asked that the towns collect no ahnojarifazgos ' from its members, save at the points on the caiiadas where such collection had been made of old. To this the king cautiously rephed that ' they should first show him where these taxes were being newly levied, and then he would take steps to guard their [the Mesta members'] rights.' In the same Cortes, the sheep owners petitioned that those places which collected montazgos and other taxes should present the evidences of their authority, whether these evidences be charters, or privileges, or customary rights. This proposal to place all local tax privileges on trial was answered in a characteristically » Corles, Madrid, 1339, pet. 4. » Ibid., pet. 28. ^ See below, p. 424- 1 90 THE MESTA judicial tone: " Any one who has a complaint should lay it be- fore us and we shall settle it as we ought." ' The most significant step in the reign of Alfonso XI in the matter of local sheep taxes was contained in the royal privilege issued at Villa Real in January, 1347.^^ This decree stipulated that no tax, royal or local, should^e collected from the sheep in the demesne of the king unless it were by a crown officer. This checked a considerable number of illicit local dues levied by town authorities whose bailiwick lay in crown lands. It was, in fact, a sequel to the royal decree of 1343, which secured the king's title to the montazgos in the towns on his demesne.' T his meas ure is of vital importance in the history of the crown's pastoral incomes because^though it was not the first royal sheep tax, it was the ini- tial step whereby certaia local montazgos, especially those levied on the old basis of tolls on passing sheep, instead of as pasturage dues, were taken over by the crown. From this arose the servicio y montazgo, the royal tax collected at toll gates along the sheep highways.* The decree of 1347 also provided that the seizure of shepherds by town collectors, in default of taxes, was to be prohibited, ex- cept for the personal debt of the one seized, or for a forfeiture of bond by him.^ The exemption from taxes on grain and other provisions, as expressed in the charter of 1273, was reiterated, and extended to include the right to cut wood for the construction of pens, without the payment of local taxes. ^ The shepherds 1 Cortes, Madrid, 1339, pet. 11. See also Alcali, 1348, pet. 43. ^ Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, no. 7. ' Part of these newly acquired montazgos were farmed out to the military Order of Calatrava, which was given permission to collect 700 sheep each year, at the usual montazgo rate of 2 per 1000, along the Canada leading from Orgaz (near Toledo) across La Mancha to Baeza. This privilege was granted in recognition of its services in suppressing the golfines. Bull. Ord. Milit. Calat., pp. 201-202, con- firmed in 1477, pp. 276-277. * See below, pp. 261 £f. ' This declaration was later made the basis of the decree that the Mesta was not to be held responsible for the debts of any of its members, nor were the members to be seized for any obligations of the organization. Quad. 17 31, pt. i, pp. S9~6o (provision of 1594) . ° This was later extended to allow the unrestricted trimming (jramonear) and felling of trees for fodder in times of drought. Quad. 1731, pt. i, pp. 65-67 (1529, TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 191 were also be to exempt from the quinto, a form of penalty for trespass.! This charter of 1347 was, like the decree of 1328, to be enforced by the royal entregadores, a provision which gave the final touch to a measure intended solely as a renewal of the royal patronage over the Mesta. In general, the chief contribution in the field of local sheep taxes during this important reign may be simimarized as an emphatic demonstration of the royal powers and prerogatives over local fiscal privileges. The outstanding characteristic- of this period was the greatly enhanced prestige of the sovereign. Whether we ascribe this to the personal merits of the king, or to the position achieved by him through his two great victories over the Moors,^ is of httle importance. His military triumphs may have been as much the result as the cause of royal supremacy over local interests and the old forces of separatism. AMonso XI's great work, as one authority has correctly observed, was "the political and administrative organization of the country, in con- tinuation of the intention and effort of his great-grandfather, Alfonso X, with better fortune than the latter and on a much larger scale." ' No better proof of this could be desired than Alfonso XI's attitude and accomplishments in his dealings with local sheep taxes. As an initial measure he renewed the mon- tazgo rates of the code of 1253. Furthermore, as his reign pro- gressed he assumed an attitude on the taxation complaints made in the Cortes on behalf of the Mesta which was eminently fair to 1539, and 1638). Abuses of this privilege resulted in serious deforestation. See pp. 306-308. 320-322. ' See below, p. 237, n. 4, on the later history of the quinto or quinta. The name was sometimes used with reference to the disposition of parts of an estate. Cf . Nov. Recop., lib. 10, tit. 20, leyes 8, 9; Fuero Real, lib. 3, tit. 12, ley 7, and tit. 5, ley 9; Leyes de Toro, leyes 28, 30. " The battle of Rio Salado, 28 Oct., 1340, said to have been the first European conflict where cannon were used (but cf. Stephens, Portugal, p. 113, with a refer- ence to the battle of Aljubarrota, 1385), and the victorious siege of Algeciras, 1344, which so stirred Christendom that warriors came from all sides to participate in it. It even attracted Chaucer's " verray perfight, gentil knight " who " in Gernade atte siege hadde he be of Algesir." Canterbury Tales, Prologue, verse 57. ' Altamira, Hist, de Espana, i (ed. of 1909), p. 596. This policy reached its climax in the Ordenamiento de Alcald (1348), which put into force Alfonso X's Partidas {ca. 1256). 192 THE MESTA both parties, with due regard for royal interests and prerogative. At the same time, his appreciation of the Mesta, as a power working for, and dependent upon, centraUzed authority, was emphatically expressed in the charter of 1347. In this document, as well as in the earlier decree of 1328, the use of the royal entre- gadores as the enforcing agents showed clearly the intention to <^raw the Mesta closer to the crown. ; Thus did Alfonso XI carry out the ideals of his great-grand- father, the royal sage. The Ordenamiento of 1348 made real the Partidas of the previous century, and the decree of 1347 gave substance to the theories and principles of the charter of 1273. Local montazgos were accepted as just, when based upon custom. Over and above this conclusion, however, stood the greater one, that the Mesta, in its security against unjust town taxes, was under the special protection of the king. This theory found ef- fective expression in the confiscation by Alfonso of all montazgos collected by towns on his demesne, the justification of this meas- ure being rightly based on the ground that such taxes went with the ownership of the land. With such effective royal patronage as this, it was only natural that the Mesta should soon feel itself in a position to bid defiance to its ancient enemies, the towns and the agrarian interests. Thenceforth the pastoral history of Castile involved less and less the question, How much will regional pre- rogative and local jurisdiction concede to this nationalizing pas- toral organization ? The problem thereafter stood out more and more clearly as. How far wiU the Mesta permit the exercise of local autonomy in fiscal and agrarian affairs ? Twelve decades and more elapse from the death of Alfonso XI (1350) to the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella (1474), and all but two or three of the twelve were given over to the disordered knd enfeebled reigns of weaklings or perverts. The few brief respites are all the more conspicuous because of their isolation — the reign of Henry II (1369-79), the years of Henry Ill's ma- turity (1393-1406), and the regency of Ferdinand, grandfather of Isabella's husband, for the youthful John II (1406-12). Lying Uke barren wildernesses between and about these isolated periods were the troubled years of Peter the Cruel (1350-69); TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 193 the weak, mild sway of John I (1379-90), made more dreary by the disastrous defeat at the hands of the Portuguese at Aljubar- rota in 1385; the turmoil of Henry Ill's minority (1390-93); and then the long years from John II's accession (141 2) tUl the death of Henry IV (1474). It was an epoch of meaningless civil\ wars, iatrigues and wrangles of nobles, and shrewd schemings of the favorite Alvaro de Luna, all of which reached a climax in the / pitiable helplessness and debauchery of Henry IV, the Impotent/ — a bleak picture, the dreariness of which was intensified by its contrast with the brighter years which stood on either side. It is, \ therefore, not to be expected that any material advance should have been made during this long period toward the further regu- / lation and standardization of the local sheep taxes. Nevertheless - certain important decrees were introduced during the wise re- gency of Ferdinand. Furthermore, during the reign of Henry IV the rising strength of the Mesta, under the able leadership of powerful nobles, asserted itself in some notable constructive measures intended to curb the local tax collectors and to concen- trate under the crown aU of the financial obligations of the sheep owners. This process of concentration exactly suited the Acunas and Orozcos, the great families whose proprietorship of the entrega- dor appointments gave them control of the Mesta. In the pre- vious period, royal weakness meant the unhampered extension of local sheep toUs. The strong rule and effective reforms of Alfonso XI had materially modified the situation, and had given the Mesta a commanding position which it had hitherto not en- joyed. The industry had been aided by other circumstances as well, among these being the Black Death, the effects of which upon the increase of available pasture lands will be discussed in a later chapter. The decrees of Alfonso XI, by which the admin- istration of local sheep taxes was placed in the hands of the en- tregadores, soon became a decided check upon the zeal of the towns. More especially did this step result in the enhancement of the prestige of the Mesta and its judiciary. When, in later reigns the sovereign was incapable of effective action against the local authorities, the Mesta and its entregadores, led by the titled 194 THE MESTA proprietor of the latter office, promptly applied the training which Alfonso XI had given them. This, then, is the real significance of the history of the conten- tions between migratory sheep owners and local landowners during the turbulent years from Peter the Cruel to Henry the Impotent — the Mesta took into its own hands the regulation of local sheep dues, and the period closed with that organization in an independent and commanding position, both in its local and its royal fiscal obligations. The developments of this episode of \ local sheep taxes assume a significance beyond the restricted Umits \of pastoral history, because they present an unbroken series of •correlated events through a long, confused, and disconnected j'epoch in Spanish history. The importance of this period is only ,' to be understood when it is viewed as a whole, as the Spanish Wars of the Roses: a long prelude, with occasional interruptions by brief years of able government, out of which there emerged the autocratic unified monarchy of Ferdinand and Isabella. The period is replete with royal recognitions of local taxa- tion rights, just as was the case with the unsettled era before AKonso XI; and once more the motives which prompted these recognitions are interesting because of the explanations to be found for them in contemporaneous events. The wars between Peter the Cruel and Henry of Trastamara were productive of several such guarantees of local sheep taxes or of exemptions for the sheep of various favored towns. These were awarded in ex- change for assistance rendered to one or the other of the con- tending parties.! The difficulties of Peter the Cruel gave the towns ample op- portunity to press their claims for a restoration of their montazgo rights, which had suffered so seriously under Alfonso XI's vigor- ous measures for centralization. In general the larger cities espe- cially had profited by the perils that threatened the crown, and through various court ruHngs and royal decrees they had secured at least a limited restoration of the dues which had been taken ! Privileges to Zamora (1355), Pola de Siero (1370), and Viana del Bollo (1372), and others, in Gonzalez, v, vi, passim. Many of these exemptions applied espe- cially to the alcabala, or royal tax on sales, supposedly created by Alfonso XI to finance the siege of Algeciras (1344). TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 195 from them during the previous reign. Peter had not been on the throne a year before the towns, in the Cortes at ValladoHd in 135 1, declared that 'their ancient montazgos . . . which were guaranteed by fueros, privileges, and custom, had been taken by the king [Alfonso XI], for himself . . . and the said towns had in consequence been injured.' ' Therefore it was asked that these taxes be restored to the towns. To this the crafty Peter replied that he would like to examine such town fueros as were supposed to authorize these montazgos, and then he ' would do what seemed just in the matter.' Two years later a test case was brought up in a suit of the town of Cuenca against the royal collectors of sheep taxes in its vicinity.^ The former contended that the mon- tazgo was a purely local sheep tax, payable to town officers who administered the pubUc pastures, whereas the latter based their claims to " the montazgos . . . and all other sheep taxes, both local and royal, in the bishopric of Cuenca " upon the centraliz- ing measures of Alfonso XL The case was carried before the king, who, after much weighing of the respective advantages to himself of increased revenues and of local allegiance, hit upon a com- promise by recognizing Cuenca's title to the sheep taxes levied within the town Hmits, which left to the royal exchequer all local sheep dues in the rest of the bishopric. This decision was a prec- edent for others, which acknowledged the claims of the larger cities but ignored the privileges of the smaller ones. Henry II's first efforts were concentrated upon gaining the con- fidence and much needed support of the towns.^ Conspicuous evidence of this poUcy is found in his early indorsements of the authenticity of many local sheep tax privileges and exemptions. * 1 Bull. Ord. Milit. Calat., p. 201 (1343); Cortes, Valladolid, 1351, pet. 60. ^ Arch. Cuenca, leg. 5, no. 6, 1353. ' Among the measures enacted with this object in view were: first, the admis- sion of twelve town representatives to his royal council {Cortes, Burgos, 1367, con- firmed at Tore, 1369); secondly, regulation of wages, prices, and hours of labor in accordance with the petitions of town members; thirdly, the reduction of the judicial powers of the nobles and the foundation of the audiencia, which later be- came the chancilleria of Valladolid, the highest civil court of CastUe; and fourthly, the destruction of fortified strongholds of the nobUity {Cortes, Toro, 1371). * GonzSlez, v, pp. 209-212 (1371). 341-342 (i37°). 354-3S6 (1372), 368-37° (i379)> 357-358 (1372), 649-654 (1373); vi, pp. 187-189 (1369), 294-295 (1370- 196 THE MESTA Occasionally the reasons for these grants were specified, but usually they were simply designated as confirmations of long- standing local privileges. However, Henry's keen eyes were by no means blind to the dangers of too liberal a policy in this direc- tion. While quite ready to assist the towns in their struggles against the nobles, he was by no means willing to alienate the advantages and powers which the work of his father, Alfonso XI, had drawn to the crown. This is well illustrated by his attitude toward the Mesta in the course of one of the most crucial legal conflicts of its long career, namely that which was begun before the king and his council in 1376 regarding the montazgos collected from migrating flocks by the archbishop of Toledo. ^ The royal decision in this case declared that no landowner however powerful, whether a noble, a great ecclesiastic, or a town, was to collect more than one such tax in any given season from a migrating herdsman, no mat- ter how often the latter's flocks might recross the lands of the collector's estates. This decision, which brought to life once more the long-forgotten principle of " one jurisdiction, one mon- tazgo," serves as an important precedent in over two hundred cases during the succeeding three centuries. Henry's patronage of the Mesta may, therefore, be taken as of unusual significance in the history of that body, especially in regard to its relations with local revenue officers, both civil and ecclesiastical. The royal power, which was so constant a refuge for the Mesta, was doubly appreciated because of its manifesta- 71), 299-300 (1375)- Cf. Boletin Acad. Hist., bdv, pp. 212 £E.: portazgo exemption. Most of these were granted as rewards for services against Peter and other rebels, or for aid in crusades against the Moors. ^ Arch. Mesta, T-2, Toledo, 1376 £E.: a portfolio containing the documents of fifteen cases regarding fiscal relations between the Mesta and this archbishopric, during the years 1376 to 1658. In 1371 Henry had already ordered fiscal agents on the royal demesne to collect only one montazgo — that on the southward march of the flocks. Cf. Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, leg. 5, no. i. Diudng the civil wars of 1350-69, the archbishop had taken advantage of the discomfiture of many of the nobles in his extensive jurisdiction, and had advanced his claims to several of their toUs on passing flocks. This at once aroused the vigorous opposition of the Mesta, and, because of the prominence of the parties and of the issue, the case was heard by the king and his council. After a long and acrimonious suit, the notable sen- tence described above was handed down in favor of the sheep owners. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA I97 tion in the midst of these troubled times, especially since it ex- pressed itself as the protector of the sheep owners against the fiscal claims of so powerful an individual as the primate of Spain. Early in his reign (in August, 1371) Henry had taken the first favorable opportunity to renew the various charters of the Mesta. Particular care was taken to confirm the important fiscal clauses of the decree of 1273.1 In fact, his whole attitude toward the Mesta in the question of local taxes gave strength and official sanction to the now determined contentions of that body. The aggressive measures initiated by sheep owners and entregadores during the unsettled years of Peter's reign were now encouraged and redoubled. The weak, mild rule of John I (1379-90) gave the towns an opportunity to retrieve part of the ground which they had lost during the latter part of the reign of Henry II. They soon re- turned to the prominent position accorded to them because of the urgent needs of the crown during the recent civil wars. Then there arose the usual inevitable confusion of contradictory tax exemptions and privileges. The significance of these decrees soon dwindled and the long hsts of curiously named tolls and dues enumerated in them are of little interest, save, perhaps, as stimu- lants to the agile surmises of historically minded philologists. ^ The town deputies at the Cortes of Burgos (1379), of Briviesca (1387), of Palencia (1388), and of Guadalajara (1390) soon won from the king various concessions which reduced the political 1 Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, leg. 1, no. 1. This confirmation of 1371 is the oldest original docviment in the Mesta archive, though, of course, there are copies of many earlier sources. So far as original materials are concerned, the archive begins with a good collection for this reign. Alfonso XI, or one of his predeces- sors, may have been responsible for the origin of such a collection, every vestige of which disappeared during subsequent civil wars. It seems more probable, however that Henry II, in addition to his other assistance to the sheep owners, gave encouragement to the beginnings of what became the Mesta archive. The first references to an archivist come a few years later, in the early part of the fourteenth century. See Bibliography for further comments on the development of the collection. ^ In addition to the almost universal montazgo and portazgo, many new sheep taxes fines, and tolls were levied during this period, and the town ordinances of the early Middle Ages were searched for ancient unposts which might be revived. See Glossary, pp. 423-428. 198 THE MESTA and judicial powers of the nobles, and even, in some instances, of the crown itself. At Burgos they demanded restoration of the montazgos which had recently been taken from them by Henry II at the instigation of the Mesta.^ To this, John I replied with an evasive allusion to the recognition of all such sheep taxes as were legal under the king, his father. While this was not entirely satis- factory to the towns, it showed the unwilUngness of the crown to support the Mesta as vigorously as Henry had in 1376 and after. The towns immediately proceeded to take advantage of this circumstance. In several places they won back from the crown the sheep tolls levied by royal of&cers, on the ground that such tolls were the local montazgos temporarily taken over by the king. In 1380, for example, the bishop and chapter of Coria made ef- fective use of this argument and reestablished their old rights, which had been hampered by Caceres in 1317.^ This they ac- comphshed by the simple measure of inducing the crown to hand over, for a consideration, the royal sheep tolls or servicio y mon- tazgo to the extent of 3000 maravedis, to be collected by Coria each year from the passing flocks. The step thus taken ' restored to Coria her ancient montazgos, which the king, Alfonso (XI), had taken unto himself.' We have, therefore, a temporary re- version of royal sheep tolls to their original condition of local assessments. This situation recalls the fiscal history of Navarre and Valencia,' where the decadence of royal power caused various sheep taxes to sHp through the weakened grasp of the central authority and to revert to the tOAsms. This precedent of Coria was soon followed by other cities.* Nobles also began to assert their claims to long extinct montazgos, and to renew them, not as pasturage taxes, but in their old form, as tolls on passing flocks.* ' Cortes, Burgos, 1379, pet. 21. 2 Acad. Hist., Ms. 25-i-C 8, fol. 202. Badajoz secured a similar confirmation of its montazgo rights in 1386. Brit. Mus., 1321 k 6, no. 22. See above, p. 185. ' See above, pp. 150-152. * Acad. Hist., Ms. 25-i-C 14, fols. 98-101: a guarantee of a montazgo privi- lege for Cordova in 138 1, by which it was authorized to collect 6000 maravedis out of the royal sheep toUs in its vicinity each year, for the maintenance of its walls and fortifications. Arch. Cuenca, Becerro, fols. 128-130 (1386): a complaint of the suburbs of that city against new sheep tolls collected by its ofScers. ' Arch. Osuna, Mendoza, caj. 14, leg. i, no. 8 (1382) : a renewal of such a toll by Gonzalez de Mendoza at Guadalajara. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 199 In the meantime, however, the Mesta was far from idle. During the confusion of the recent civil wars, its members from Cuenca had been compelled by the military orders to pay several new montazgos; but in 1379 the sheep owners made a vehement pro- test to John through the entregadores, and the tax was ordered discontinued on the ground that it had been levied "more by force than by law." ^ In the same year the Mesta, acting once more through its entregadores and its friends among powerful nobles, induced the king to restrict the activities of the royal customs officers on the frontiers. The zeal and avarice of those dignitaries had made them as much of a menace to the Mesta's movements as were the local tax collectors.^ The success of these measures promptly brought other proposals. In 1380, at the earnest soHci- tation of the Mesta, the montazgos of the important winter pas- turage district of Murcia were systematized and made uniform.' The war with Portugal, which culminated in the disaster at Aljubarrota in 1385 and the invasion of Castile by the Portuguese and English, called from the Mesta a plea which often appeared in later wars. The invading army, it was alleged, played havoc with the migrants on their southward marches by driving the sheep from their accustomed routes and pastures, thus bringing them into contact with strange towns which promptly assessed the visitors with portazgos and other local dues. Pressure was ' Arch. Cuenca, leg. 3, no. 14. Cuenca and the Mesta pointed out that these taxes were begun during the disordered conditions of the times of Alfonso XI's minority. They had fallen into disuse when that king came into power, only to be revived during the wars between Peter and Henry II. 2 Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, leg. 3, no. i. See below, p. 256. ^ Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 13126, fol. no. Five toll points were named: Chin- chilla, Almanza, Jorquera, Zarra, and Yecla. For sheep the rate was 5 per 1000 tor montazgo, and i per 1000 for asadura, a local tax taking its name from the fact that it was originally collected upon or in the form of the viscera {asadura) of dressed carcasses. Cf. a fuero of Septilveda (late thirteenth century), Acad. Hist., Mss. Fueros, Privs., etc., i, 73 ff.) which fixed a " tax of half a mencal on every asadura of ox or cow." The mencal, metcal, or mitical was a small silver coin in com- mon circulation in Christian Spain during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It was displaced by the maravedi, which is said, by some writers, to have been ori- ginally the mencal, though Covarrubias (Jesoro Leng. Cast., Madrid, 1611, s.v. mitical) gives it the value of thirty maravedis. Cf. Vives, Moneda Castellana (Madrid, 1901), pp. iS) 18, 24; Dozy and Engelmann, Glossaire des Mots . . . de I'Arabe (Paris, 1869), p. 3iS- 200 THE MESTA promptly brought to bear upon the deputies in the Cortes of 1386, which, happily for the herdsmen, met at Segovia, one of the four strongholds of the Mesta. A petition was introduced asking that the flocks be excused not only from local but also from royal dues along these emergency routes, so long as there was no trespass upon cultivated enclosures.' The wilUng sovereign granted this without reservation, thus creating a valuable prec- edent to which the Mesta recurred on several subsequent oc- casions, notably during the Portuguese wars of 1640-41 and the invasion of the eighteenth century. The Mesta further improved its opportunities during this reign by securing liberal renewals and confirmations of all of its preced- ing privileges, particularly those of Alfonso X, Alfonso XI, and Henry II which restricted sheep taxes.^ In a word, the feeble policy of John I, because of his vacillating willingness and his inability to resist the pressure brought to bear by the contending parties, led to a marked increase in the decrees granted both to the Mesta and to the towns. This was the cause of much sub- sequent litigation and legislation which arose from the attempts to enforce the numerous conflicting privileges. John's death in 1390 brought no relief, for the minority of Henry III (1390-93) was but a continuation of the conditions which have just been described. The Mesta renewed its activi- ties, and, thanks to Gomez Carrillo, the entregador-in-chief, who enjoyed high favor at court, aU of its former royal charters were renewed and amplified. This short period was noteworthy for the fact that no less than six such confirmations were issued in two years, a greater number than appeared during the whole of any one reign previous to that of Ferdinand and Isabella.' All of these indorsed without reservation the most extreme of the earlier claims of the Mesta regarding the restriction of local sheep dues. ' Cortes, Segovia, 1386, pet. 3; cf. Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, leyes 3-8. ^ Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, leg. i, no. 3; leg. 2, no. i; leg. 4, no. i. The last was a sweeping confirmation of all royal privileges granted before the accession of John (1379)- = Ibid., leg. I, no. 3 (1392); leg. 2, no. 2 (1392) and no. 7 (1393); leg. 4, no. 2 (1392) and no. 3 (1393); leg. s, no. 2 (1393). TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 20I It can readily be understood that the substantiation of these claims in the disordered years of the next century proved a diffi- cult task. The Mesta enjoyed the advantage, however, of the pa- tronage of two able rulers during the twenty years inunediately after this period. Henry III, in the years of his majority (1393- 1406), and his successor, the ' good regent ' Ferdinand (1406- 12), saw the grave necessity of strongly centraUzed government as the only salvation for the crown, and, indeed, for the country, during the stormy conflicts between towns and nobles. One of the obvious means of achieving this end was through the further strengthening of the Mesta. That influential organization en- joyed the support of certain nobles, who might be of much service to the crown; and, furthermore, the aggressive campaigns of the sheep owners clearly indicated how they might be used to curb the growing independence of the towns. Even the royal revenue officers, who had continued their abuses in spite of the mandate of 1379,^ were effectively brought to account by various stem measures which the Mesta was now in a position to see enforced.^ The same policy was continued in the matter of restricting the activities of the nobles in this field. The unhindered opportuni- ties, which many of them had until now enjoyed, for the exaction of tolls and dues under the guise of montazgoSj were ended, for a time at least, by the firm stand of the regent Ferdinand, who did not hesitate to check the operations of even his own noble vassals in this respect.' This period was, then, a breathing space for the Mesta in its struggle with the local or centrifugal forces over the question of sheep taxes. The strong administrations of Henry ' See above, p. 199. ' These dignitaries had developed the lucrative practice of selling exemptions from such royal imposts as the pecho, a form of poll tax. Alarmed by this evidence of what might be a dangerous independence on the part of important fiscal agents, the Mesta secured the promulgation of a decree in 1397 which limited the exemp- tions from pechos to " cavaUeros, fijos dalgo, duenos, y donsellas." A penalty of two years in chains was specified for any local judge who ventured to extend this list of favored classes by including local church officers or townspeople of the better class. Arch. Mesta, Provs., leg. 1, no. i. " Arch. Mesta, M-2, Medellin, 1407: a series of restrictions upon the montazgo rights of nobles, fixmg the rate at the ancient figure of two head per thousand on each trip, or four for the year. 202 TEE MESTA III and of Ferdinand came to the aid of the Mesta and once more gave effective confirmation to the claims which had been inde- pendently asserted by the Mesta under weaker sovereigns. With the resignation of Ferdinand, who left his post as regent of Castile in 141 2 to become king of Aragon, there began a long era of incompetent monarchy, intriguing nobles — chief among them being the tyrannical favorite, Alvaro de Luna — and mean- -ingless civil disorders, which ended only with the coronation of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1474. The Mesta, however, was by this time well able to take care of itself. Each successive period of tutelage under its able royal patrons had left it stronger and better equipped for its struggle with towns and other landowners during the troubled years which followed. With natural varia- tion in details, the history of the two succeeding reigns reveals the same currents and tendencies which we have already noted in times of similar disorders and weakened central government. ~ Both John II and Henry IV were unusuaUy Uberal with grants of tax privileges, both royal and local; ' and the towns and nobles took good care to secure an ample share of these instruments, however dubious their actual force might be. Had the Mesta not taken steps to secure equally vaUd, or valueless, assurances of exemption, it might have been at a disadvantage in its deahngs with those parties in after years. Irregularities and excesses were bound to creep into the loosely administered scheme of local sheep taxes. Sales of montazgos and portazgos were becoming common, and tax privileges were being bartered about irrespective of the title to the lands or places where collections were made.^ New taxes were being assessed 1 Grants of exemptions from taxes were no less liberal; cf . John's decree of 1441, freeing from pechos all members of his household, including " foresters, laborers, shoemakers, cooks, jugglers, trumpeters, laundresses, and falconers, with their wives and children: " certainly a motley crew to be enjojdng that hitherto highly esteemed privilege of knights and ladies. Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, no. 4. The hope- less maladministration and inequality of taxes in Castile has been authoritatively described as the chief weakness of the fiscal system of that realm during the Mid- dle Ages. Cf. Colmeiro, i, pp. 474-480. ^ Arch. Osuna, Mss. Infantazgo (Buitrago), caj. i, leg. 11, no. 6 (1467): a description of a series of such transactions between various towns and nobles dur- ing this period. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 203 upon the flocks by the towns, and old ones were being revived } The favorite method of accomplishing these purposes was by re- newing old enclosures in the canadas, or sheep highways, and by dehberately obstructing these passageways with ditches and walls; then, as the flocks came down their accustomed way, fines and damages caUed tajados were assessed upon the shepherds for ' trespassing upon town property.' Most of these enclosures were made under easily obtained royal authorizations. The Mesta's complaints against such fraudulent exactions were promptly answered by assurances from the crown that the ancient charters of that body should not be violated. Some attempts were made by the sheep owners, with the help of the king, to carry on the work of systematizing and standardiz- ing the montazgos. This task had been begun by the Santiago code of 1253 and extended by the Murcia decree of 1380. In order to save much useless confusion and loss of time at a succes- sion of toll points,^ it was planned to have the montazgos of several locahties compounded and made payable at one time and place. Rules were drawn up to govern certain details of the methods to be used in collecting the tax, with the intention that they should serve as standards for the administration of sheep toUs through- out the realm.' Lists were made of recognized montazgos and suppUed to the herdsmen; and other measures were taken to in- sure uniform tax schedules which were to be acknowledged and ' Cortes, Ocana, 1469, pet. 15; Perez de Pareja, Historia de la primera fundaciSn de Alcaraz (Valencia, 1740), on the acquisition by that town of such a montazgo right in 1474. Arch. Mesta, M-7, Murcia, 1446: a series of instances of new sheep tolls in various parts of Murcia. Among the new exactions was a fee collected for the issue of an olbala or tax receipt, which the town tax collector required every shepherd to show on his return trip, under penalty of a second assessment. Such fees had been collected as early as 1416 by the royal officials in charge of the crown's sheep tax. Arch. Mesta, M-i, Madrid, 1418; Arch. Osima, Mss. Infantazgo, Manzanares, caj. 3, leg. 5, no. 12 (1436); Arch. Simancas, Diversos de CastUla, no. "7 (1453)- 2 Arch. Mesta, F-2, Fuentiduena, 1419. 5 Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, leg. s, no. 3 (1442)- Arch. Osuna, Santillana, caj. 0, leg. I, no. 7 (1426) : rules regarding the assessment of montazgo on swine; one of these specified that the second animal entering the toll gate should be taken for the montazgo, in order thus to spare the leader, which was, of course, of greater value. 204 THE MESTA paid by the Mesta members.^ Unfortunately, however, these efforts had little effect because of the general weakness and in- competence of the administrative forces throughout the reahn. Such results as were achieved at this time were attained by the Mesta itself, dealing directly with its opponents, without the help of the crown. These two unfruitful reigns produced no effective restrictions upon the abuses of local taxation privileges. Decrees like that of 1463, which ordered the forfeiture of any lands whereon illegal montazgos were collected,'' had Uttle or no effect. Equally inef- fective was the steady succession of royal decrees fixing the rates of certain local taxes and prohibiting others entirely.' The Cortes protested in vain against the orgy of taxation, the deputies mak- ing their pleas partly on behalf of the migrating herdsmen and partly to protect such feeble internal trade as had developed. The impotent Henry was denounced in vigorous fashion for aUowing himself to be victimized by ' persons and universities ' in search of illegal incomes derived from such unjust taxation of commerce.* The demand of the deputies that all portazgo privi- leges conferred after 1464 be cancelled was readily granted by the feeble monarch, who designated the clergy, and not the usual royal officers, to enforce the decree. Since ecclesiastical establish- ments and officials were among the chief offenders, the futility of this procedure can be easily understood. No better illustration ' Arch. Simancas, Diversos Castilla, no. 117, pt. 2 (1453). ^ Arch. Mesta, Provs. i, 3. This was aimed at powerful nobles who exacted tolls from flocks which passed by their castles. These strongholds were quite safe, however, in spite of the expressed purposes and penalties of the above decree, as long as the latter bore only the meaningless signature of Henry the Impotent. ' E.g., Arch. Mesta, B-2, Barco de Avila, 1429. Such royal prohibitions were effectively nullified, however, by liberal recognitions of many other local sheep taxes. A few typical instances of these are to be found in Arch. Osuna, Manzanares, leg. s, nos. 1, 9 (1456); Arch. Mesta, Provs. i, 8 (1462), i, 4 (1468), i, 17 (1462); A-8, Atienza, 1461; Perez de Pareja, Hist, de Alcaraz (1740), p. r. Excessive and frequent salt taxes were a favorite means of extorting funds from passing flocks at this time. Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 9378, fol. 86 (1469): an interesting privilege allowing the monastery of ViUafranca de Monte de Oca to collect 400 sheep a year from migrating herds for its services in feeding pilgrims bound for Santiago. * Cortes, 1473, S. Maria de Nieva, pet. 5. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 205 of the hopeless incompetence of Henry IV's reign could be found than this enfeebled vacillation and brazen duplicity. As was to be expected, there were frequent attempts by the crown to enforce the ancient Mesta charters. Two sweeping re- newals of all previous privileges by a decree of the regency in 1407 were confirmed by John II in 142 1.' In addition to these, which touched upon the question of local taxation along with other topics, the regent signed a famous decree in 1413, by which the Mesta was taken under the royal protection and " shielded against the abuses, maltreatments, extortions, and other harms inflicted upon its members by priors, military orders, command- ers, knights, bailiffs, town councils " and many other ofl&cials and representatives of local Jurisdictions.^ Occasionally there were efforts by the crown to check excessive local sheep taxes in towns of the royal demesne.' The aid of the entregadores was constantly in demand, but their work had little effect when the offender was some great noble or large town.* In spite of priv- ileges, confirmations, and entregadores, the crown was nearly] helpless as an aid to the Mesta; and the latter was forced to re- sort to other means of protecting its members. The device which now came into extensive use to accomplish this end was the concordia or agreement. This was, in brief, a contract made between the Mesta and the individual or corporate landowner claiming to have a right to tax the passing sheep. The Mesta agreed, on behalf of its members, to pay a fixed toll in ex- change for a right of way over certain lands, for the use of a bridge, or for access to certain pools or springs. There are no instances of such concordias previous to this period of John II and Henry IV; but with the accession of the former, the Mesta lost hope of effec- 1 Arch. Mesta, Privs. Reales, leg. 2, nos. 3-5. '^ Ibid, leg. 2, no. 3 (1415); kg. i, No. 5. Ibid., leg. 4, no. 4 (1441): a decree intended further to strengthen the Mesta by compeUmg all shepherds in Castile to be members — the old^gild theory of all-inclusive membership. ' Arch. Mesta, M-4, Montalbin, 1428-36: decrees freeing the Mesta from local portazgos at Montalbto, which was on the queen's lands. * Arch. Osuna, Infantazgo, caj. 3, leg. 5, nos. 1-5 (1436 S-) ; Arch. Mesta, A-3, Alange, 1455. 2o6 TEE MESTA tive assistance from the crown.^ It was, therefore, compelled to deal directly with the great noble families, the cities, and the churches which claimed the privilege of collecting sheep taxes.^ These agreements are interesting because they show the Mesta in a distinctly new light. The organization was now standing on its ^ There are no records of any attempts of the Mesta to win the support of the tyrannical favorite, Alvaro de Luna, though the latter had no scruples about ex- ploiting the pastoral industry. See below, pp. 264.-265. ^ In 141 8 such a concordia was drawn up between the Mesta and the town of Madrid by two representatives for each of the parties, who were given fuU powers to take binding action. (It may be noted here that, during the sixteenth-century Hapsburg absolutism, it was necessary for a concordia to have the royal assent in order to be legal.) The Mesta agreed that its members should pay a money toll of 50 maravedis for every 1000 sheep crossing the jurisdiction of Madrid. The town was in return to keep the bridges in repair, and it was not to assess trespassing sheep more than the sum covering the damage actually done by them. The flocks were to be allowed to rest four days on the commons of the city. In case of disputes the regidores (magistrates representing the crown in the cities) were to act as umpires. Under no circumstances were the Mesta's entregadores to take action in any case involving these taxes. The agreement was made for ten years. Arch. Mesta, M-i, Madrid, 1432, contains the original of 1418 and certain revisions of 1432. These points sum up the essential of most such concordias. Occasionally the entregadores were allowed to act as representatives of the Mesta in these transactions. Arch. Mesta, P-6, Puebla de Montalbdn, 1423: a ccncordia with the Count of Montal- b4n. Arrangements were sometimes made for the enjoyment of certain marketing privileges by the herdsmen. Ibid., T-2, Toledo, 1376: a concordia with the arch- bishop of Toledo of 143 1. If the landowner happened to be a religious estabhsh- ment, the stipulations were quite likely to carry some provision for the spiritual welfare of the Mesta members. Ibid., P-s, Priorato de San Juan de Jerusalem, 143s; P-2, Penalen, 1447: providing for masses and prayers for Mesta members in exchange for tolls paid on the semiannual migrations. In a large nimiber of in- stances the concordias were chiefly taken up with specifications as to the mainten- ance of bridges and drinking troughs, with details as to their size, materials, fre- quency of inspection, repairs, and the tolls to be paid by the sheep owners. Arch. Osuna, Manzanares, leg. 3, no. 22: a concordia of 1436 with the Duke of Infintazgo which governed the relations between the Mesta and perhaps the most important noble family in Spain in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The same archive, caj. 3, leg. 5, nos. i £E., has the complete series of later concordias down to 1634, which grew out of that of 1436; cf. B6jar, leg. 351, no. 24 (1423). It is interestiag to note that these concordias of the fifteenth century were introduced as evidence in the course of a lawsuit in 1849 regarding toUs paid by the Asociaci6n General de Ganaderos, the successor of the Mesta, to the Duke of Manzanares. Other in- stances of concordias are to be found in Arch. Mesta, T-i, Talavera de la Reyna, 1472: agreements of 1449, 1462, and 1472 regarding taxes to be paid by Mesta members to the Hermandad of Talavera for the use of certain pastures. See also Arch Mesta, G-i, GaUegas, 1463. TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA 207 own feet. Crown patronage meant nothing, and the sheep owners' ^ ^ organization had to resort to its abilities to transact business with the landowners on its own authority. Its entregadores were capable of handling cases of minor complaints of members against imjust tolls and taxes, but the organization as a whole was now beginning to feel quite independent of royal support or patronage, the equal of the most powerful barons, ecclesiastical establish- ments, and municipalities in the realm. Therein lay the real con- tribution of this period of political decadence to the adjustment of one of the vital factors in the economic life of the kingdom. CHAPTER XI LOCAL TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA (1474-1516) Fiscal reforms. Tax inquisitors. Fiscal duties of the corregidores. Standardiza- tion of the local sheep tolls. Political aspects of the tax situation. The death of Henry IV in December, 1474, and the succession of Ferdinand and Isabella as joint sovereigns of Castile ^ brought about a sorely needed change in the disordered affairs of that kingdom. In no phase of administration was reform more im- peratively necessary than in fiscal matters, both national and local. Royal profligacy and impotence had not only squandered the income of the crown,^ but had fostered the most unbridled abuses and maladministration of the financial affairs of towns, nobles, and ecclesiastics. With the royal exchequer in such a deplorable pHght, and with the burdens of war against the Portu- guese and preparations for the reconquest of Granada upon their hands,' the new sovereigns could lose no time in undertaking the seemingly impossible task of rebuilding the dilapidated structure of Castihan finance. ' The Mesta was exclusively a CastUian institution, with no standing or juris- diction in Aragon until late in the seventeenth century. Nevertheless its relations with the crown were administered jointly, for the most part, by Isabella and her consort. Exceptions to this rule occurred occasionally, when decrees regarding the Mesta were issued independently by either sovereign in the absence of the other. Arch. Mesta, H-i, Hellfn, 1489; Prov. i, 5 (1478); A-8, Haro, 1483; Brit. Mus., Ms. i32r-k-i, no. i (1481). This seems to have been substantially in accord with the distribution of the individual and joint powers of the royal pair as adjusted by the arbitration of the archbishop of Toledo in 1475. See Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, i, pt. i, ch. 5, with references. ^ Figures showing the bankruptcy of the kingdom in 1474 and Isabella's efforts toward rehabilitation are given in Clemencin, El6gio, ilust. v; see also Colmeiro, i, p. 489; Haebler, Wirlschafll. Blilte Span., pp. 108-iro. ' Early in 1475 Alfonso V of Portugal invaded Castile in support of the cause of his niece, Joanna, the supposedly illegitimate claimant to the Castilian crown. Hostilities with the Moors were begim in December, 1481. 308 TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 209 It was with local taxation that Ferdinand and Isabella were primarily concerned in their earlier efforts to improve the fiscal welfare of the Mesta. They were well aware of the rare possi- bilities of that body as an instrument for the achievement of that centraUzed autocratic administration which formed the basis of their internal poUcy. It will be recalled that in the case of their reconstruction of the Mesta judiciary, reform did not begin with the sweeping destruction of all that was old and the abrupt crea- tion of new of&cials. With their characteristically shrewd ap- preciation of the respect of their subjects for ancient ofi&ces and institutions, Ferdinand and Isabella began their work by assuring the fullest powers to the long estabhshed office of the itinerant entregador. With this as a nucleus, the judicial affairs of the Mesta were gradually centralized, until finally the proprietary chief of the entregadores was made a member of the Royal' Council.^ Similarly, in approaching the fiscal problem of the pastoral industry, the statecraft of these astute sovereigns led them first to reform the local sheep taxes and to eliminate the grossly unjust and illegal exactions which were the heritage of the previous years of royal impotence. With local sheep taxes carefully restricted and organized, the foundations were laid for the systematic exploitation of the industry as a source of revenue to the crown. The firs t task was, t hen,_tlie-jef&Hn-^-the-48Gal relations be- tween the Mesta and the various local landowiiers — towns, cler^, nobility, and peasantry, uurmg theTEirty years of Isa- bella's reiprXr474^5 04), the Mesta was a party — usually the plaintiff — in over eleven hundred htigations. Of these nearly four hundred were suits regarding local toUs and taxes,^ a far greater number than for any period of similar length either before or after. This was ample evidence both of the aggressive spirit of the sheep owners, newly encouraged by the crown, and of the growth of municipal autonomy in fiscal affairs during the pre- ceding regime of weakened royalty. 1 See above, p. 83. , , , • , , 2 The greater part of the remammg seven hundred cases involved pasturage riehts with a few score on the jurisdiction of entregadores and the right of way of the flocks over the canadas or sheep highways. 210 THE MESTA The salient feature of this period of the fiscal history of the Mesta is found in the domination of the sovereigns over the financial obligations of the sheep owners. This meant the aboli- tion of unjust and excessive local exactions and the careful organ- ization and supervision by the crown of such sheep taxes as were found to be authentic and of ancient standing. It may seem from this that Ferdinand and Isabella were simply renewing the work of Alfonso XI,* who, more than a century earUer, had undertaken the same policies with considetable suc- cess. In a sense this was true, but unlike that vigorous sovereign they were not content with merely taking over various local taxes and simplifying those left to the towns. They appreciated the need of something more than autocratic power in order to make their work lasting. As the basis for a more permanent reform they evolved certain fundamental changes in adminis- trative and judicial machinery, which displayed once more their genius for Unking old and new. The functions of certain ancient ofl&ces were skilfully renewed and applied to this fiscal problem of the sheep industry, with the result that by 1 516 local sheep taxes had not only been systematized and greatly reduced, but their administration was thenceforth under royal surveillance. In their first Cortes, held at Madrigal in 1476, Ferdinand and Isabella began the work of reforming the sheep dues by annulUng all local sheep tax privileges granted in the reign of Henry IV after the year 1464.^ It was left, however, for the celebrated Cortes of Toledo (1480), one of the most notable in Spanish legislative history, to take the first effective measures in the great task of regulating these local taxes.' " Many are the complaints made every day to us by stock owners and others," declared the sovereigns, " concerning the great harm and loss which they suffer at the hands of those who collect the servicio y montazgo and of those who demand the taxes of pasaje, pontaje, rodas," "• and ' See above, pp. 186-192. "^ Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, ley 8. ' Cf. Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella, pt. i, ch. vi. This was the Cortes which Carbajal fervently described as " Cosa divina para reformaci6n y remedio de las des6rdenes pasadas." Its important work, as well as that of the Cortes of Madrigal, in reforming the royal sheep dues, will be discussed later. * See below, Glossary. TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 211 many other sheep tolls, " which have been collected ever since the year [fourteen hundred and] sixty-four, when the civil dis- orders began in these kingdoms. . . .^ It is notorious that all of this has resulted in the diminution and disappearance of the flocks and in serious injury to shepherds, muleteers," and others, " and in greatly increasing the prices of meat, animals, leather, and other things." Drastic action was, therefore, imperative, and after citing the ineffectual reforms of the Cortes of Ocana (1469) and Santa Maria de Nieva (1473), the king and queen laid down definite plans for centralized supervision of a type not dreamed of by the most autocratic of their predecessors. The regulations to be observed in collecting the royal servicio y montazgo from the herdsmen were carefully prescribed,^ and then the tangle of local sheep dues was attacked. Scant atten- tion was given to any suggestion of moderate compromise or condonement of the status quo. Such was not the spirit of the Toledo Cortes of 1480, remembered in Castilian history as a landmark of bold achievements in curbing an insolent nobility and in drawing the scattered and fractious towns into a more com- pact union under the royal autocracy. It was ordered that within ninety days after the proclamation of the laws of this Cortes all local tax privileges and toll rights granted since 1464 were to be presented to the Royal Council for examination, and all privileges not so presented were ipso facto null and void. Furthermore, in order that there might be no gradual relaxation of vigilance — and this was the first important innovation — all local justices of towns in the royal demesne were to report every year, before the end of April, upon the taxes being collected in their vicinity; and as a stimulus to the work of these justices, certain overseers (veedores) were appointed, with instructions to see that the annual inquiry and report were thoroughly made.' 1 Cortes Toledo, 1480, pet. go. Some of these provisions were incorporated in the Ordenanzas Redes de Castilla (lib. 6, tit. 10), a compilation made by Diaz de Montalvo, published in 1485. The lawlessness of the reign of Henry IV and the series of disturbances in 1464, and after, culminated in the humiliating dethrone- ment of the helpless king in effigy. ^ See below, pp. 272 ff. 3 Mari^jol, L'Espagne sous Ferdinand et Isabelle, p. 175. 212 THE MESTA The towns were soon to learn that these were not empty- phrases of the type used in so many meaningless decrees of Henry IV. Action was taken immediately; and for more than fifty years the ley de Toledo was continually invoked by the Mesta in quarrels with local authorities. Town ordinances were scrutinized by royal agents, sometimes by the sovereigns them- selves, to prevent unjust or recently created taxes; and changes were made at once, when deemed necessary by the crown officials.^ The thoroughness with which this work was carried on is indi- cated by the diversity of the means employed to enforce the provisions of the law. If one procedure or ofi&cer proved ineffect- ive, another was promptly used. At first the reports of the local justices under the supervision of the royal overseers or veedores seemed to satisfy the sheep owners; but the latter soon complained that in many instances the local justices also collected the tolls, and were therefore in- competent to settle fairly any questions regarding the amounts to be paid.' Other officials were therefore called upon to enforce the laws of 1480. In this work Isabella soon appreciated the utility of the sacred league of justice, the reformed national Hermandad, which had been reconstructed in 1476 as an instru- ment of royal power. The purpose of various local hermandades had long been the maintenance of order, especially in rural dis- tricts. With the nationaHzation of this institution under the crown, the alcaldes or justices of the Hermandad proved useful in furthering the poHcy of royal supervision over local taxes.' Then, ' Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. D-49: revision by Ferdinand and Isabella (1479 ff.) of the ordinances of Cdceres, one of the capitals of the important Estremaduran pasturage region. Arch. Mesta, S-s, Soria, 1480; although Soria was the chief stronghold of the Mesta, its local ordinances frequently laid exorbitant burdens on the herdsmen. Immediately after the Toledo Cortes, an entregador proudly laid before the^Sorian town council a special mandate, signed by the king and queen, commanding certain important modifications in the schedule of sheep taxes of that place. Similar procedures are recorded in Arch. Mesta, N-i, Nava el Peral, 1484. ^ Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 67 (1505): this reversed a royal decree of 1442 which the towns had secured from the vacillating John II, giving local justices a large measure of jurisdiction over taxation disputes. ' Arch. Mesta, A-8, Haro, 1483: a royal order of Isabella commanding an alcalde of the Hermandad to collect data regarding the tolls being levied upon flocks in the upper Ebro valley. TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 213 too, for the first time in their history, entregadores were instructed to undertake the regular and systematic inspection of local sheep taxes.' In i486 they began a long and active campaign of in- vestigations under the direct supervision of the Royal Council.^ The latter body, on the petition of the ever present attorney- general of the Mesta, constituted itself a court of last appeal directly above the entregadores.' The Mesta now became insatiable, and with every encourage- ment from the royal autocrats its demands for ' protection ' from local taxes became doubly insistent. It alleged that the over- seers appointed to enforce the law of 1480 were unable to cover all of the widely scattered pasturage areas. Would it not, sug- gested the sheep owners, be simpler to send out a circular order {carta general) commanding all towns and individuals who col- lected taxes from the Mesta to lay their privileges and charters before the Royal Council for inspection ? ^ This, however, was asking too much, though the measure actually taken was hardly less considerate of the Mesta's desires. In 1485 one of the members of the Royal Council, Lopez de Chinchilla, was assigned as " special judge of cases regarding taxes paid by the Mesta." ^ He held court at Guadalajara, on the line of the much travelled Sorian canada, and his work was so successful, from the point of view both of the Mesta and of the crown, that similar appointments were soon made of special in- vestigators with jurisdiction over other parts of the regions traversed by the flocks.^ * In only two instances previous to this reign had the entregadores ever extended their customary function of protecting the canada, or right of way, to include the examination of local sheep tolls: Arch. Mesta, S-2, San Rom^n, 1461, and B-4, Buenbuey, 1447. On one occasion, the proprietary entregador mayor had taken advantage of royal impotence and had usurped an ancient prerogative of the crown by sitting in judgment on the authenticity of various local taxation privileges. Arch. Mesta, A-3, Alange, i4SS- ^ Ibid., R-2, Roda, i486. This campaign of the entregadores against local tolls soon became a conspicuous feature of the Mesta's activities during this period. Of the forty or fifty cases which the entregadores were handling annually, more than half were concerned with local taxes. ' Ibid., M-3, Mejorada, i486. * Ibid., B-4, Burguillos, 1487- ' Ibid., O-i, Ohnedo, i486. ' Ibid., B-4, BurguiUos, 1487; L-3, Llerena, 1488. The apportionments of 214 THE MESTA There had been previous instances of special royal judges with jurisdiction over complaints of extortionate sheep taxes,* but these inquisitors were never of such high rank as the royal councillors. The present instance illustrates once more the skilful apphcation by Ferdinand and Isabella of older practices to newer needs and the use of long accepted traditional institu- tions for the aggrandizement of royal prestige and power. Un- like their predecessors, these newly appointed investigators came as representatives and sometimes even as members of the Royal Council, to which body they usually reported their findings for final decision.^ No ecclesiastic or noble, however powerful, undertook to oppose their investigations, and even such great lords as the Constable of Castile, the Dukes of Bejar, and the grand master of the Order of Santiago ' discreetly responded to their summons. Even the Pope was requested to aid them if their searches made necessary any inquiries regarding church : tolls on the flocks. These jueces pesquisidores, or comisionados, as they were usu- ally called, were invariably of the highest social standing; in jurisdiction were usually made by canadas or by bishoprics and archbishoprics. A conunon assignment of the two latter was by western (Coria, Plasencia, Badajoz, Le6n, Toledo) and northeastern (Calahorra, Siguenza, Osma, Soria) groups. At other times the distinguished appointee was asked to hear cases in certain large towns or in the lands of some one of the great military orders. * Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 17 (1462) : a decree of Henry IV, empowering the royal accountants to act as referees in a dispute regarding the sheep taxes of Talavera. Ibid., T-2, Toledo, 1440: a hearing before a specially appointed royal juez de comi- sidn, regarding sheep taxes of Toledo. This official was appointed at the behest of the Toledo authorities, who were thus able to circumvent many of the Mesta's privileges. The sheep owners immediately had the cases transferred to the Royal Council; and this experience with a special royal inquisitor may well have sug- gested to them the feasibility of using such an official later on. Similar inquisidores were the juezes pesqtieridores of the thirteenth century described in Part. 3, tit. 17, leyes i-i2,and those of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries noted in Nov. Recop., lib. 12, tit. 34, leyes 1-14. * There were occasional instances where the inquisitors took steps on their own initiative to enforce their decisions without consulting the Council. See below, Appendix J, for such an instance in 1489. ' The mastership of this order did not come into royal possession until 1499, though Isabella had already taken measures which insured the ultimate control of the crown over the organization. TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 21 5 fact, several of them held the distinguished office of contino or honorary bodyguard of the king. Among them were such coun- cillors and dignitaries as Lopez de Chinchilla, the first to be nomi- nated, Gonzalez de Sepulveda, Juan de Vinuesa, Gomez de Agreda, and even the illustrious ' Gran Capitan,' Gonsalvo de Cordova. They were always appointed at the petition of the Mesta's royal attorney and were commissioned to investigate the local sheep tolls in a given region. Each appointment was for' a special mission and was limited to a brief period, usually four months, with a salary of 250 maravedis a day to be paid out of the fines collected as a result of their decisions. Strictly speaking, they did not sit in judgment upon the cases brought before them. They determined the authenticity and age of tax privileges, weeded out any that bore dates of the dis- ordered decade after 1464, and in general gathered evidence for presentation to the Royal Council. The latter body then handed down a decision which almost invariably conformed with the recommendations of the investigator and therefore seldom went against the Mesta. This office of special judge inquisitor served as another power- ful link between the crown and the Mesta. It marked the begin- nings of a policy which was to lead directly to the creation of the Presidency of the Mesta in 1500, with the senior member of the Royal Council as ex-officio incumbent. With characteristic sagacity, the Catholic Kings had thus revived a forgotten office, and out of it they soon evolved one of their most valuable though perhaps least known instruments for the use of ambitious royalty. They and their Hapsburg successors especially appre- ciated the utility of this office in curtailing the income and therefore the power of the great nobles, whose opulence, to which the passing herdsmen had for generations been made to contribute so heavily, had shamed the penury of many royal courts. But a new era had dawned in Castile. Thenceforth, if the new autocracy was to triumph, the prestige, financial as well as political, of the baronage and of the great cities must be transferred to the crown. Of the many devices old and new with which this purpose was eventually accompUshed, few proved more 2l6 THE MESTA effective than the itinerant royal counsellor-inquisitors, them- selves among the highest nobility of the realm. Emboldened by the success of these officials, the Mesta ven- tured to suggest even more direct action on the part of the crown. In August, 1487, on the occasion of a royal visit to Cordova, the centre of a much frequented winter pasturage area, the ever present attorney of the sheep owners persuaded their majesties to issue sununonses to a score of neighboring towns, commanding the municipal officers to present before the Royal Council within thirty days adequate documentary evidence justifying their collection of sheep tolls. The Council sat in judgment upon this evidence, and the fines which it usually levied were set aside to help finance the wars against the Moors.^ The latter point explains, in part, the interest of the CathoUc Kings in encouraging the Mesta in its prosecutions of local tax collectors. In January, 1488, when the court was visiting at Saragossa, the tireless Mesta attorneys brought similar suits against twenty- eight CastiHan towns. The efficacy of the Mesta's crafty tactics in thus using the Royal Council as a court of first instance is demonstrated by the fact that the decisions of this, the highest judiciary in the land, were almost invariably favorable to the sheep owners " because of the rebeldia [absence from court] of the defendant." The latter circumstance was by no means to be attributed to insubordination on the part of the defendant town in question. It was undoubtedly due to the excessive cost and difficulty of preparing on short notice for the presentation of a case before the royal court at the distant Aragonese capital.^ ' In some of these cases the Mesta attorney pleaded that local tolls were the chief cause of the exorbitantly high prices then prevailing (1487-88) . Arch. Mesta, S-4, Segura, 1487; A-3, Albacete, 1487. Similar complaints were made in the Toledo Cortes of 1480, pet. 90. ^ Fifteen of the twenty-eight towns involved were poverty-stricken villages in the remote southern pasturage regions of Estremadura, Andalusia, and Murcia. A few of the remainder, however, were cities of the first importance, noticeably Se- govia, which was summoned to justify tolls being levied by villages within its juris- diction. This is an interesting indication of the responsibilities incumbent upon the city-head of a comunidad, or group of towns under the control of one. Arch. Mesta, S-4, Segovia, 1488; ibid., M-7, Murcia, 1488. On the importance of the comunidad in the question of litigation between the Mesta and the towns, see above, p. 115. TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 21 7 A further purpose of the Mesta in prosecuting this new cam- paign is discerned in the fact that only royal agents could be effective within the jurisdiction of certain important pasturage centres. By virtue of long cherished charters, the extensive rural districts of such cities as Seville and Plasencia were exempt from the visitations of the entregadores.i The Mesta now found its first effective means of forcing the officials of proud provincial capitals to recognize the prestige of the grazier magnates. In some instances the defendants were not towns but private individuals — Jewish concessionaires to whom, the local sheep toUs had been farmed out. Enmity had been brewing for cen- turies between these ' unbeliever ' tax-gatherers and the sheep owners. The Mesta officials lost no opportunity to denounce these ' persecutors of Christian shepherds,' and the organization now found itself in a position to strike a decisive blow. There is " every reason to believe that Jorge Mexia, the energetic attorney- general of the Mesta, who was never far from the royal presence,^ had not a little to do with the edict for the expulsion of the Jews, which was signed at Granada on March 30, 1492. Scores of the most irritating and persistent foes of the Mesta were thus elimi- nated; and the latter added another poHtico-economic triumph to its already imposing record. The ambitions and activities of the Mesta moved rapidly dur^ ing these propitious times. A prolonged visit of the court at any\ ^ See above, pp. 105 fi. Arch. Mesta, C-i, Cdceres, 1490; E-i, Encina Sola (suburb of Seville), 1487. ' Much of this success of the Mesta and of its utility to the crown may be as- cribed to the constant presence of the sheep owners' attorney-general at the royal court. This was, of course, one of the great advantages of the Mesta over its op- ponents, and the completeness of its archive is the best evidence of the thorough efficiency with which Jorge Mexia and his successors did their work. An illus- tration of their method is to be found in a case brought before the Royal Council by Mexia in 1487 regarding toUs levied at Albacete in Murcia on flocks en route from Castile to the east coast lowlands (Arch. Mesta, A-3, Albacete, 1487)- The Royal Council was much occupied with preparations for the Moorish wars, but Mexfa persisted. His portfolio of documents on the case contains almost daily memoranda noting conferences with various councillors until the matter was formally taken up. Mexia served the Mesta in this important capacity during the whole of the crucial period from the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella until 1502, when the work was taken up by an almost equally aggressive lieutenant. 21 8 THE MESTA given point was made the occasion for proceedings similar to those instituted at Cordova and Saragossa. In July, 1488, while the sovereigns and their council were at Murcia, the Mesta's attorney, Mexia, renewed his campaign against local sheep tolls. All the older methods and several new ones were brought into use. The corregidores, those indispensable instruments of autocracy, who served as the local representatives of the crown in all parts of the realm,i were instructed to see to it that the sheep owners were not subject to illegal local taxes or fees.'' Further- more, the corregidores were to transmit directly to the local alcaldes or justices the decisions of the Royal Council in these matters and were to report to the Council regarding the enforce- ment of that body's mandates. Before long the Mesta itself, through its attorney-general, was issuing orders to the corregi- dores to enforce the observance of contracts and agreements in the collection of local toUs.' All of these means — entregadores, special royal inquisitors, corregidores — were not enough to satisfy the sheep owners in their demands for new weapons with which to combat those per- sistent wayside annoyances, the tax collectors from neighboring towns, castles, and monasteries. The Mesta turned now to the remodelled high appellate court, the chancilleria at VaUadolid. This august tribunal, with its companion court, which was established at Ciudad Real in 1494 and removed to Granada in 1505, became the apex of the strongly centralized judiciary of Ferdinand and Isabella. By virtue of various decrees of the then friendly chancillerias, the Mesta brought further pressure to bear upon the intimidated local officials.'' ' Mari6jol, L'Espagne sous Ferdinand et Isabelle (Paris, 1892), p. 172. Although this office originated a century before their time, Ferdinand and Isabella were the first sovereigns to malie effective and extensive use of it. In 1480 they scattered corregidores throughout Castile to safeguard royal interests. ^ Arch. Mesta, A-5, Aledo, 1488; B-2, B6jar, 1498; A-9, Avila, 1502; Prov. i, 18 (1498). ^ There were even instances of corregidores and entregadores sitting together in judgment over such cases. See above, p. 84. * Arch. Mesta, Y-2, Iscar, 1495 : a decree of the VaUadolid chancilleria authoriz- ing the appointment by the Mesta of two special agents to investigate and report upon the local tolls collected along the important Canada from Soria to Medina eU0-S'iiii5<'i!»»«C? -?^A£>' e,4~.-;%r ^V^T-^ ®^»^' ^l-^V a-^ .r^; p jjj^^^^^^ Sheep Tax Decree of Ferdinand and Isabella, January 26, 14 Signed at Saragossa by Ferdinand aad Isabella and the members of their Council. This is one of the series issued in connection with suits brought before the Council by the Mesta against twenty-eight cities accused of unjust and illegal taxation of migraton,' flocks. See page 218. TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 219 Occasionally, it is true, the Mesta still resorted to conciliatory measures and adjusted its taxation difficulties by means of asientos or concordias} These milder devices had already been employed during the period of the Mesta's weaker years early in the fifteenth century.^ They were used now, however, only when there was danger of conflict with strong city governments or with personages of the highest rank, and even then the Mesta was able to insist that the consent of its staunch protector, the crown, was necessary to legaUze any such agreements.' This consent was not a mere perfunctory formula; for it gave the Mesta a very useful sanction, to which it could appeal for the enforcement of its contracts. The ValladoHd chanciUeria was instructed to threaten the severest penalty in order to protect the Mesta and insure compliance with its concordias} From the point of view of Ferdinand and Isabella, this insistence upon royal consent was obviously desirable, since it added another weapon to an aheady formidable array which was intended for del Campo. The court subsequently issued mandates, apparently after a purely formal hearing, commanding the cessation of various taxes. * Arch. Mesta. V-4, VUlalba, 1495 : a concordia between the Mesta and Alonso Enriquez, lord of ViUalba, corregidor of Badajoz, and ' captain of the king and queen.' Ibid., B-3, Bilbiestre, 1491: a trasaccidn between this town on behalf of its lord, the Constable of Castile, and the Mesta. Ibid., C-io, Cuellar, 1488: an asiento or agreement between some Mesta members and the Duke of Albuquer- que, fixing the tolls to be paid by the sheep owners for passage over the latter's estates. In case of dispute, the matter was to be adjusted by two townsmen. This concession on the part of the Mesta is partly explained by the fact that the asiento was made by a guadrilla, or group of Mesta members, and the Duke. It is one of the few examples of an important action taken by a part of the membership. The solidarity of the organization was one of the principal causes of its strength, and of its utility to the crown. ^ See above, pp. 205-206. ' Arch. Mesta, C-i, CAceres, 1490: an agreement between the tax collector of that city and the quadrilla or group of Mesta members from Le6n. Similar con- cordias are found in A-5, Alcova de la Torre, 1491; A-6, Alia, 1498; A-s, Alera, 1498. Arch. Osuna, Infantazgo, caj. 7, leg. i, no. 12: a chanciUeria sentence of iSir, confirming a concordia. * Arch. Mesta, A-s, Alera, 1498: a decree of the chanciUeria fixing the penalty of death for the tax collector of Alera if he does not show cause, within fifteen days, for failure to maintain a bridge for the use of the flocks. Cf. B-2, Bfecones, 1500: a sentence by an entregador, acting vmder special royal instruction, condemning a local toU coUector to death and the loss of aU his goods, for repeated violation of the royal edicts protecting the Mesta in these matters. 220 TEE MESTA the single purpose of guarding royal prerogatives and prestige throughout the reahns. All of the agepcies and ofl&cials described above were used effectively to circumscribe the tax privileges of towns, nobles, ecclesiastics, and mihtary orders. They helped to enrich the royal coffers by their ample fines and thereby aided materially the preparation for those two great undertakings of the Cathohc Kings, the expulsion of the Moors from Spain and the exploration and conquest of America. Less picturesque, though quite as important, was the fact that in their capacity as fiscal agents of the central government they served as valuable instruments in the all-important work of unifying Castile. For our present purpose, it is essential to appreciate another feature of this development, namely, its effect upon the local fiscal relations of the sheep owners. Municipal and private sheep tolls and taxes now became standardized and systematized; and the hopeless lack of uniformity and confusion which had hitherto harassed the herdsmen when on their marches gradually disap- peared. Their fiscal obHgations were defined, combined, and simpUfied.^ Local toU schedules were cut down and made uni- form.^ Furthermore, they were required to be kept in a public place at each toU point,' in order to prevent extortion and fraud. Entregadores at intervals were empowered to examine these ' A similar reform was undertaken in 1497-99 for the carreteros or teamsters, for whom a special _;«cz conservador, a member of the Royal Council and thus com- parable to the President of the Mesta, was later named. Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 28. See above, p. 172, on earlier efforts at standardization and uniformity. ^ The best and most important illustration of this was the schedule of local montazgos which was fixed for the entire kingdom by a royal decree: see below, p. 222. One of the most helpful reforms was the enforcement of an ancient privi- lege of the Mesta which forbade the collection of a ram (morrueco) or bell ewe (pveja encencerrada) as part of any toll on a given flock. Quad. 17 31, pt. i, p. 17: decree of 1285. This law had been quite ignored, as a rule, though the towns some- times acknowledged the justice of it; e.g.. Arch. Osuna, Mss. SantiUana, caj. 9, leg. I, no. 7, 1426: in levying montazgos the second pig or sheep entering the com- mon was to be taken, so as to spare the more valuable leader. In the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, however, a series of royal mandates and court proceedings guaranteed, in no uncertain terms, the immunity from seizure of the highly prized leader of the flock. This exemption was soon extended to all breeding rams. Arch. Mesta, C-io, CueUar, 1488; Prov. i, 15 (1496) and i, 58 (1498), A-4, Alcantara, 1501. ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 58 (1498). TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 221 schedules in order to make readjustments and to guard against illegal alterations. By 1516, the year of Ferdinand's death, approximately three hundred towns, villages, rehgious estabhshments, and nobles were lev3dng tolls and dues of one sort and another upon the migrating herdsmen. The accounts of the Mesta '- give no in- dication of the amount that was paid each year in this form, be- cause the pajonents were made by the individual owners and not by the organization. The pretexts and forms of the various exactions were of the greatest diversity, and their forty or more names afford tempting opportunities for the speculative philologist.^ Originally all of the many local levies upon the flocks were in- tended for one of two purposes: first, as punishment for tres- passes upon pubUc or private lands; or secondly, as a payment for such services as the suppression of robber bands, the main- tenance of a bridge, ferry, or drinking place, and especially for temporary pasturage. It can be readily appreciated that these two purposes frequently merged; for example, when trespasses upon supposedly forbidden pastures became tacitly permissible. By 1500 few, if any, of the older punitive exactions remained. When a town undertook to levy a fine upon the owner of an of- fending flock, the penalty was specially fixed as an ordinary fine (pend) by some local official and was seldom disguised with one of the mediaeval sheep-tax names. The latter were now used to designate fixed charges, toUs, or fees, for services actually rendered. Of the many examples which might be selected to illustrate local sheep taxes during the period 1474-1516, two are worthy of attention, namely, the -montazgo^ and the portazgo, which, as was indicated above,' had always been the most common and troublesome exactions encountered by Mesta members. The montazgo still retained, as a rule, its original mediaeval character as a compensation to the town for the use of its montes or wooded ' See Bibliography, p. 404- ' Many of these terms seem to be quite unknown to lexicographers. See Glossary, pp. 423-428. ' See above, pp. 163-175- 222 THE MESTA pastures. It had, however, undergone a process of ' caking down ', or fixation, similar to that which may be observed in the history of such taxes in other countries. From being a primitive assess- ment collected only from such flocks as trespassed upon the town montes, it had gradually become fixed as a regular fee, col- lected from all passing transhumantes, either as a toll ^ or for the use of any public pasturage in the town. The most important reform of the Catholic Kings in this whole field of local taxation was the promulgation of a national schedule of montazgos which specified the towns where this tax might be collected and the rate at which it was to be levied.^ This once ubiquitous and much abused tax had long' been a source of profit to local ofl&cials and of corresponding hardship for the shepherds. It was from the smaller owners that the town asses- sors had gained their richest harvests. Now, however, as a re- sult of the above reforms, a flock of a thousand sheep probably paid in the course of a year's migrations a total of only forty or fifty sheep as montazgos to various towns along its marches, a mere fraction of what had been exacted in the days of unrestricted local extortion during the reign of Henry the Impotent. Even more interesting to Ferdinand and Isabella than the ' Arch. Mesta, B-i, Baeza, 1491; A-s, Aldeanueva de la Sierra, 1493; A-4, Alcantara, 1504: a decree of the Royal Council fixing the montazgo to be paid by flocks using the famous bridge of Alcantara en route to winter pastures in Portugal. The rate was four sheep per thousand for each flock. ^ By this matricula or table of montazgos (Arch. Simancas, Diversos CastiUa, 117, ca. 1485-90) the tax was restricted to thirty-two cities and towns: five along the canadas on the north slope of the Guadarrama range (Salas de los Infantes, Segovia, Sepdlveda, Ayllon, and Avila) ; ten on the southeastern canadas (Atienza, Alcoc^r, Siguenza, Moya, Huete, Cuenca, Jorquera, Alarc6n, Chinchilla, and Murcia); ten in Estremadura (Badajoz, Cdceres, Trujillo, Plasencia, Coria, Medel- lin, Alc&ntara, Galisteo, Ribera del Fresno, and Siruela) ; and seven in central New Castile and Andalusia (Toledo, Talavera, Alcolea, El Cerro, Cordova, Manzanares, and Vilches) . The average rate for montazgos was fixed at three head per thousand, but some of the larger southwestern pasturage towns insisted upon and were able to secure higher rates (e.g., CSceres and Plasencia, each 8 per 1000; Vilches, 12 per 1000; El Cerro, 5 per 1000. In 1552 this list was confirmed without any modifications {Naeva Recop., lib. 9, tit. 27, ley 12) by a schedule which is given with regulations of the royal sheep tax or servicio y montazgo, and is therefore sometimes mistaken for a table of royal sheep tolls; cf . Laiglesia, Estudios HistOricos (Madrid, 1908), p. 342. TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 223 montazgo was thejiorta^o, the ancient tax levied by towns upon goods and animals en route to market.^ From the earhest times, Mesta charters had exempted the migratory flocks from this form of taxation on the obvious ground that these animals were on their way to pasturage and not to market. Furthermore, ac- cording to the original charter of 1273, any sheep, up to sixty in number, which a herdsman might wish to sell in a town market, were exempt from portazgos.'' These older privileges were duly endorsed by the Catholic Kings, with added emphasis, perhaps, because the portazgo had long since ceased to be a source of royal revenue,^ though the towns were warned that the consent of the crown was still a prerequisite to portazgo privileges.^ ^ The special interest of Ferdinand and Isabella in restricting and regulating the portazgos on the flocks of the Mesta was due to the greatly increased importance of this organization as an instnrment for the encouragement of internal commerce. The nationalization of trade, the evolution from local and metropoli- tan to national markets, was a stage of economic advance the pro- found importance of which these enlightened sovereigns were the first in the peninsula to appreciate.* (Their very significant stimulation of greater freedom and fluidity of internal trade stood as the economic counterpart of their political policy of unification. No better means of promoting this development could possibly be desired than the migrations of the Mesta — the broad tide of the country's greatest single resource ebbing and flowing across the length and breadth of the peninsula. It was, therefore, highly important that everything should be done to encourage the commercial interests and activities of the sheep owners and to facilitate their country-wide transactions in wool and sheep. Older and more or less obsolete restrictions on portazgo collections were revived and new ones created; sched- ules of various routes were made uniform, and other arrange- ' See above, pp. 164-166. 2 Quad. 1731, pt- I, P- 22. ' In 1473 the Cortes lamented this loss, probably because it had to be made up from other sources: Cortes, S. Maria de Nieva, 1473, pet. 5. • Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, leyes 1-2, 9; Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 12. ' See above, pp. 4° ff- 224 ■ THE MESTA ments made to protect the trading of the migrating herdsmen.^ The war for the reconquest of Granada, for example, brought a renewal of an old privilege of 1386 by which Mesta flocks that were fleeing from war zones were exempted from all portazgos of towns along their way. Furthermore, in order to promote the early rehabihtation of trade in the reconquered territory, Mesta herdsmen who ventured into Granada were not to be charged any portazgos or the Andalusian equivalent, aknojarif azgos ; ^ and similar exemptions were to be accorded to shepherds and flocks frequenting the pastures of Murcia.' Perhaps the most radical of these concessions was that enti- tling Mesta members to transport grain and other foodstuffs from one part of the peninsula to another without payment of any tax, local or royal.* Mediaeval Spanish cormnerce was hampered at every turn by severe restrictions upon the exportation of such commodities, not only overseas but within the peninsula from kingdom to kingdom, and even from city to city. The above concession was, therefore, a marked recognition of the significance of the Mesta as a medium for the breaking down of local bar- ^ Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, leyes 3-8. Incidentally the entregadores were so emboldened by this aggressive policy of the crown that they even passed sentence of death upon some portazgueros whose zeal had made them particularly obnoxious. Arch. Mesta, A-j, Alera, 1498; B-2, Bfecones, 1500. Although these sentences were eventually modified by higher courts, the Mesta's purpose had in the meantime been well served by the intimidation of the local officials. One of the best illustra- tions of this work of standardization is found in a royal decree of 1500 which re- formed the portazgo of Alconera, near Cdceres (Arch. Mesta, A-5, Alconera, 1500). The rates were fixed specifically, not ad valorem. The commodities listed include all varieties of raw material, food stuffs, cloth, books, animals, and Moorish slaves. Personal effects, such as clothing and jewels, were exempt, as were all articles be- low fifty maravedis in value. The collectors were required to be in offices easily accessible from the road; and the schedule was to be on public exhibition at all times. This portazgo schedule became a model for many others, in each of which the Mesta had a particular interest because of its greatly increased activity in mar- keting animals and wool throughout the peninsula. See above, pp. 42-44. ^ Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, ley 9; cf. also Pragmdticas del Reyno (Seville, 1520 — the so-called ' PragmAticas de Ramirez '), fol. bdii: a decree issued 3 November, 1490, during the preparations for the final campaign against the Moorish capital. On the almojarifarzgo, see below, p. 424. ' Arch. Mesta, A-s, Alcicer, 1487; A-3, Albacete, 1488; Prov. i, 10 (1488). * Ibid., Prov. i, 28 d (1504). TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA 225 riers to trade and for the elimination of mediaeval obstacles in the way of the new nationalization of the Spanish people. The exemptions were by no means restricted to the animals, wool, and other commodities sold by the Mesta members. With in- creased sales came naturally more purchases of suppHes, cloth- ing, and provisionSj and these were usually declared by the crown to be free of all portazgos,' though in some instances the contentions of larger towns were upheld and the Mesta members paid the usual local tariffs.^ Instead of being simply itinerant searchers for pasturage, the migrating flocks now took on a new significance; in fact, a new word was now added to Mesta termi- nology. The animals sold in the town markets along the march had reached such numbers as to require distinctive designation, and they were known thenceforth as merchaniegos? .. As a corollary to increased commercial activity on the part of the sheep industry, there came a perceptible change, during this period of many changes, from the older practice of collecting local taxes in kind to the assessment of them in money. Con- clusive evidence upon so elusive and intangible a development as the rise of a money economy is apt to be very scarce. Neverthe- less, a survey of some fifty examples of local sheep tolls mentioned in documents of this period (1474-1516) and representing as many widely scattered CastiUan towns, both large and small, shows some thirty-five instances of assessments in money and fifteen in animals. For purposes of comparison, a selection of a similar mmiber of examples from the period 1430-1474 reveals the two forms of payment almost equally divided: twenty-six in money and twenty-four in kind. More specific and perhaps more convincing evidence of this change is revealed in the fact that whereas the royaUy approved schedule of all Castilian local montazgos of 1485-90 was expressed in kind, the same list, as drawn up in 149S, revealed the rates calculated in money values.* 1 Ibid., S-4, Segovia, 1487; A-3, Albacete, 1487; A-s, Alconera, 1500. 2 Ibid., A-4, Alcdntara, 1497; B-i, Badajoz, 1505. ' This term was first used about 1480; see above, pp. 43-44- By the close of the century it was occurring regularly in almost every document involving local taxes on the Mesta. * Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 31. 226 TEE MESTA Similar changes from kind to money during this reign are found in the sheep tolls of various towns.* It is, of course, impossible to ascribe this change solely to the influence of the Mesta; other factors, notably the maintenance of peace and order by the new autocracy and the encouragement of trade in general, gave impetus to this evolution from mediaeval to modern economy. It must be admitted, however, that the simultaneous development on the one hand of a greatly increased internal trade in sheep and wool, and on the other of revised and improved local sheep tax schedules, was not altogether fortuitous. The old was giving way to the new in many different phases of the Hfe of the Spanish people during this historic period, and these changes in the character of local taxes, paid by wandering hersdmen, serve as specific illustrations of the profound trans- formation which Spain was then undergoing. Important cities, isolated villages, powerful barons, and scat- tered monasteries had all been accustomed for centuries to levy as many and as heavy toUs upon passing flocks as the prestige of the Mesta and its royal patron would permit. A new force was now making itself felt throughout the land; one that in- sisted upon uniformity as the first essential to unity; one that stood for the new nationaUsm — political and economic. By the skilful use of officials of the old regime, such as the corregidor and juez pesquisidor, whose forgotten functions were now made real and gradually extended, the departure from the conditions of the past was made to seem less abrupt. This shrewd appreciation of the stolid conservatism of their people was largely responsible for the success of the reforms of Ferdinand and Isabella. The Span- ish kingdoms have been ruled at times in their long history by more ambitious and spectacular sovereigns than these two, but never by wiser or more sagacious builders for the future. 1 Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. D-49, pp. 291 ff.: ordinances of Cdceres, 1479; Arch. Mesta, C-i, Cdceres, 1490. The local tax schedules of Murcia, Lorca, Al- bacete, Baeza, and other southeastern towns are practically all in kind throughout this reign, whereas in Cdceres, Trujillo, Alcintara, Badajoz, Toledo, Madrid, Burgos, and other central and western towns, where the number of visiting flocks increased rapidly during this reign, the tax schedules changed gradually from the more c The real equalled a fraction less than five cents. The Mesta accoimts for that year the last for which complete data are available, show a deficit of nearly 10,000 reales. ' Its disastrous effects upon domestic trade in the eighteenth century are de- scribed by Sempere y Guarinos in Biblioteca Espanola Econ6mico-PolUica, iii, pp. ccxxv-ccxxvii; Concordia de 178s, i, fol. 341, discusses the alcabalas paid by sheep owners at that time. 3 Canga Arguelles, Dice, de Hacienda, ii, p. 505. 294 TEE MESTA superiority of the sedentary over the migratory pastoral indus- try.i This material was used by Campomanes and the other ministers to convince the king, though such conviction was scarcely necessary, that the Mesta and its industry retarded agrarian productivity and consequently the growth of popula- tion. It was, therefore, a menace to the prosperity of the king- dom and to the solvency of the royal treasury. This fiscal aspect of the problem more than any other — much more than the question of supporting the Estremaduran towns in their defence of local privileges against the Mesta — was undoubtedly the chief explanation for the hostility of Charles toward that organi- zation and for its ultimate overthrow. Once the invaluable friend and financial comforter of CastUian monarchy, especially during the days of absolutism and central- ized autocracy, the Mesta had lost its power and its usefulness; it was now but a Quixotic mockery of its ancient splendor. The treasure, amassed as the result of favors from its royal patrons, had been lavished upon attorneys and courtiers in an effort to revive and perpetuate its forgotten prestige. It was left, finally, for the last and in many respects the wisest of Spanish autocrats to seek the ultimate prosperity of his realm, not the immediate profit of his exchequer, and to take away the remnants of the privileges of this once pampered favorite of autocracy. The days of the reaction under Ferdinand VII (1814-33) brought a belated respite to the Mesta. During this period a few of its old privileges were regained, in exchange for various imposts under the ancient names of portazgos and peages paid to royal toll officers at soni,e sixteen points, but most of these did not even survive the Mesta itself.^ From a fiscal point of view, therefore, the aboKtion of the organization in 1836 meant nothing. That step simply swept away the useless wreckage of mediaevalism and cleared the ground for the foimdation of a pastoral industry along modern lines. ' Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 308-316. ^ A bundle of documents marked Derechos in the Mesta Archive contains a sum- mary of these royal imposts, prepared by Brieva shortly before 1836. Arch. Mesta, P-3, Pioz, 1837, also cites one or two such tolls that were still being collected at that date. PART IV PASTURAGE CHAPTER XV EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS The pfisturage privileges of migrants in Mediterranean countries. Pasturage cus- toms of mediaeval Castile. Commons. Enclosures. Deforestation. Sheep-walks. Pastoral industry not a menace to agriculture and enclosures in the Middle Ages. At will be recalled that wherever the migratory pastoral industry / appeared in the various regions about the Mediterranean, the j causes of its origin and continued development were almost I always certain topographic and climatic conditions which made / necessary the semiannual changes of pasturage.* It is significant T~T;hat t he areas i n which this industry became most_cMispicuous j and best organized, namely southern Italy and Castile, were i regions where large parts of the country we re sparsely popula ted. I The presence of these unoccupied lands has been sometimes taEen as the explanation for the origin and long continued existence of ! sheep migrations. Although the Punic wars in Italy, and the conquests of the Moors and the devastations of the Black Death in Spain laid waste extensive tracts which were soon occupied by roving flocks,* the continued scarcity of population was as fre- quently an effect as it was a cause of the migratory sheep industry. The persistence of this form of pastoral life among the North African tribes is explained, in part, by the presence of ample unoccupied land and by the nomadic tribal customs ; but equally important in the encouragement of flock migrations has been the character of Mussulman property law, which, unlike the Roman law, gives precedence to the possession and actual use of the land over any claims by title.' Large tracts of vacant land ad- joining the camps and villages were not in constant use and therefore reverted to the tribal government as commons, which were utilized by herdsmen and husbandmen in turn on the basis either of formal agreements or of mutual convenience.* -^" • See above, p. 8. » Antonio Ponz, Viage de Espana (2d ed., Madrid, 1784), viii, pp. 190 ff. ' Augustin Bernard and N. Lacroix, Nomadisme en Algirie, pp. 31 flf. < Ibid., p. 52- 297 298 TEE MESTA The Roman migrants of southern Italy found their winter pasturage in the state lands of Apulia. A large part of the mi- gratory herds belonged to the sovereign, and this, together with the payments of crown imposts by private sheep owners, brought the whole industry into a well regulated organization under im- perial patronage. Some of the pasturage belonged to the stock- owners, and some was rented from private individuals, but by far the greater part was state land which was leased through con- ductores or agents. This feature of the crown ownership of most of the pasturage continued to characterize the Apulian pastoral industry throughout its later history, from its mediaeval reorgan- izations under Frederick II and the Aragonese down to the re- form period of the eighteenth-century Neapolitan sovereigns and Murat.i In the south of France, both in the migrations toward the Alps and up into the Pyrenean vaUeys, the flocks were not favored by any helpful royal patronage and had to depend largely upon the common lands of upland communities. These pastures were opened to them by agreements with the towns of the mountain vaUeys — the cartas de pax of Beam, the facerias of Basse- Navarre, and the traites de lies-passeries of other pasturage regions .2 In contrast with this local control of Pyrenean pasturage on the north slope, the Navarrese pastures on the southern side of the ridge were largely within the demesne of the crown,' and the pasturage laws, were, therefore, quite like those of ancient and mediaeval Apulia. The kings of Navarre were thus in a position to exert unusual influence upon the pastoral industry in their realm; and the significance of this fact did not escape the watch- ' Cf. pp. iS4ff. ' Cf. pp. 142-146, notes. ' See above, pp. 158, 159. Further details with references to the early Navar- rese laws may be found in Yanguas, Dice. AnUg. Navarra, i, p. 85, and ii, p. 414; also in the Fueros de Navarra (Pamplona, 1818), pp. 167 ff., and in Alonso, Reco- pilacidn y Comentarios de los Fueros y Leyes de Navarra (Madrid, 1848, 2 vols.), i, p. 287 (restrictions against tenants outbidding each other; cf. Castilian posesidn, below, pp. 322 ff.); ii, p. 216 (reservation of dehesas de bueyes or ox pastures); ii, p. 270 (limitation of cultivation in open land of the sierras or mountain ridges); ii, pp. 273-282 (Birdenas, the royal pasturage district). EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 299 ful eyes of Ferdinand and the other sixteenth-century Spanish autocrats, who came in close touch with Navarrese affairs. The situation in Aragon was also quite like that in southern Italy; in fact, the Aragonese had some two centuries of experi- ence with the same problem in their Italian possessions. Such sheep owners' charters as those granted by the Aragonese kings in 1 1 20, and after, to the Casa de Ganaderos or ' Stock Owners' House ' of Saragossa, had given the recipients the usual vague privilege of " vmrestricted pasturage in all parts of the realm." ' In spite of this more or less theoretical concession, which the Casa seldom attempted to enforce literally, the extraordinary vigor and vitahty of local privileges and institutions in Aragon forced the migrants to depend largely upon the wooded crown lands or monies realencos, in which successive kings had granted them exceptional Uberties.^ The most formidable of these local obstacles in the way of the Saragossan flocks were the jealously guarded pasturage rights and agreements of the four great comunidades or town leagues of Calatayud, Teruel, Daroca, and Albarracin, whose lands for centuries comprised nearly a quarter of the kingdom of Aragon.' The feeling between these leagues and the Saragossan migrants was always hostile; and although the herdsmen of either party occasionally rented pasturage from the other, such arrangements were made only imder financial necessity, or, more frequently, when the land required fertiliza- tion.* Even then the whole transaction was carefuUy regulated by various ordinances. One of the most prevalent of these re- ' Arch. Casa Ganaderos, Saragossa, leg. 138, no. i. When James I and his Aragonese troops conquered Valencia, similar privileges were bestowed upon the sheep owners of that region. Branchat, Derechos y Regalias . . . de Valencia, iii, pp. 1-4; Colmeiro, i, p. 293; Acad. Hist., Mss. Privilegios de las Iglesias, 25-1- C 10, fol. 50 (a similar edict in favor of sheep owners of Alquezar, near Huesca, 1228). ^ Ordenanzas de la Casa de Ganaderos (Saragossa, 1817), tit. 10; Brit. Mus., Ms. 8702, fols. 33-36 (T229). ' See below, pp. 415 ff-, for references to the printed ordinances of these co- munidades. The best historical account of the latter is in an unpublished manu- script by Tomis Barrachina, of which an eighteenth-century transcript is in the possession of the present writer. * Costa, Colectivismo Agrario (Madrid, 1898), p. 402. 300 THE MESTA strictions provided for the settlement of all disputes between sheep owner and landowner by the latter's alcalde or local judge.^ In order to make advantageous pasturage arrangements, from the sheep owners' point of view, the principle of collective bargaining was strictly enforced by the Saragossan Casa, which represented the most nxmierous group of migrants in the king- dom. Every pasturage lease drawn up between a member of that body and a private landowner or a town had to be ap- proved by the Casa officials. Particular care was taken to prevent the bidding of two Casa members against each other by an arrangement guaranteeing the rights of the first tenant. This was quite like the notorious posesion laws of the Casti- lian Mesta.2 Another feature of mediaeval and early modern Aragonese pasturage law and practice was the local prejudice against the ownership, and in some cases even the temporary occupation, of neighboring pasturage by forasteros — strangers or non-residents.' This prejudice was, as we shall see, common in Castile as well; it represented, in fact, the perennial and uni- versal antagonism between arable and pastoral, between seden- tary and nomad. We may say, then, that in most of these Mediterranean lands, and especially in those where the migratory pastoral industry was most extensive and best organized, the crown lands served as the usual pasturage for the migrants. Secondly, it is evident that respect for local property rights — both private and com- munal — was insured by the towns themselves through their agreements and leagues. Thirdly, the sheep owners in turn pro- ^ Capitulacidn y concordia otorgada for . . . Albarracin (Madrid, 1691, 16 pp.), par. 2; a copy of this rare print is in the Library of the Hispanic Society of America, New York. Ordinaciones de la Casa de Ganaderos (Saragossa, 1640), pp. 52-54; ibid., ed. of 1817, tit. 10: Arch. Casa Ganad., Mss. Privilegios, 25 (1501): a charter summarizing the pasturage rights of the Casa in the aleraforal or pasturage shared in common by the towns of the comunidades. On the aleraforal and the pasturage practices of the comunidades, see also Borao, Voces Aragonesas, p. 150, and Costa, Colectivismo Agrario, pp. 399-401, 561. ^ See below, p. 322. Ordenangas de la Casa (1640), pp. 58 flf., 72. ' Concordia de 1783, ii, fol. 109, citing Aragonese local legislation of 1311 ff. Acad. Hist., Traggia Mss., vi, B-140, fol. 11: Aragonese town ordinances of 1284 ordering the expulsion of all such intruders from town pastures. EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 30I tected themselves in the matter of securing adequate and mod- erately priced pasturage by restricting competition among the members of their organizations. With these three essential features of the pasturage problem in mind, we may turn to the consideration of the situation in Castile. The oldest of the Spanish codes, the Fuero Juzgo of the Visi- goths, made ample provision for the pasturage of the caminantes or migratory flocks.^ They were to have unrestricted access toA all unenclosed lands (tierras abiertas), whether such lands be-| longed to~the crown, to towns, or to private individuals. They/ were not to stay more than two days on any one Jurisdiction without the owner's consent; the right of the shepherds to cut down any trees, save large ones, was recognized; and any branches naight be used as fodder for oxen. All of these points became regular features of subsequent pasturage legislation down to and including the first charters of the Mesta. The pasturage clauses of the Visigothic code also reveal a prob- lem which was destined to be of fundamental importance to this industry, namely the question of enclosures. Although the Fuero Juzgo recognized the right of a landowner to enclose his property and to punish trespassing flocks, it favored the sheep owners by forbidding towns to enclose their commons, to ob- struct sheep-walks, or to hinder access to the waste lands (baldios) of their vicinity.^ Many early town charters or fueros took up the same question of allowing migrants the privilege of unrestricted access to the local comxQons. As the Reconquest progressed, the Christian kings lavished privileges upon loyal cities, monasteries, and mili- tary orders, permitting the recipients to pasture their migratory herds upon crown lands, baldios, and even town commons.' Oc- 1 Fuero Juzgo, lib. 8, tit. 4, ley 27. ' Ibid., lib. 8, tit. 3, leyes g, 10, and tit. 4, leyes 25, 28. ' Examples of these liberal pasturage privileges from the ninth to the fourteenth century are found in Gonzalez, vi, pp. 2, 42, 218, 294, 319; Munoz, i, p. 244; Loperraez Corvalan, Descrip. Obispado de Osma, iii, p. 92; Bull. Ord. Milit. Calat., p. 150; Bull. Ord. Milit. Alcant., p. 128; Boletin Real Acad. Hist., viii, p. 59; Oih6nart, Notitia ufriusque Vasconiae (Paris, 1637), p. 86. 302 TEE MESTA casionally these privileges were restricted as to the number of sheep so favored, or as to the area and location of the pasturage conceded, but as a rule they were vaguely and sweepingly phrased to permit grazing on all lands not owned and actually used by private individuals. These concessions were obviously not intended to be interpreted literally; for they conflicted at many points with town charters, which frequently reserved ad- joining waste lands and commons for the exclusive use of local flocks. In consequence of these contradictory privileges, there was ample groimd for conflicts between the opposing parties. Since the cities and towns had developed in strength and im- portance long before the effective organization of the migratory pastoral interests, the latter were forced, as a rule, to give way. In later years, however, when the support of powerful and am- bitious monarchs was given to the Mesta, the latter resurrected all of the old sweeping privileges granted to migrating shepherds in various parts of the kingdom. These it undertook to enforce; and the attempt met with marked success, especially under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella. In addition to these royal pasturage grants, there were other and even more important Tactors contributing-to the solution of the pasturage problem of the migrants. The intermittent danger of Moorish raids had kept the plains of La Mancha, Estremadura, and the Guadalquivir vaUey clear of population, save for the larger and well fortified cities. Such patches of arable lands as had been developed were in the vicinity of these towns; and the peasant farmers usually welcomed the visits of the flocks, before they became too mmaerous, because of the jgrtilization which they provided.' In spite of these encouragements to the unobstructed move- ments of the migrants, enclosures by individuals and especially by towns were steadily going on. From the eighth century onward there are indications, mostly in the town ordinances and fueros, of various types of enclosed pastures and regions. The arbustum vitatum or bustum vitatum, for example, later became one of the ' F. de Cdrdenas, Propiedad Territorial en Espana (Madrid, 1873-75, 2 vols.), ii, p. 288. EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 303 cosas vedadas or ' forbidden things ' from which the Mesta flocks were strictly excluded. The divisa of the early Middle Ages ap- peared in the days of the Mesta as the defesa or dehesa} These ' forbidden ' and ' divided ' areas were reserved for the exclusive use of flocks belonging to the townspeople, and were simply enclosed sections of the exidos or ejidos, the town commons. The dehesas or lugares vedados y dehesados were set aside for local non-migratory animals, either permanently or for certain months in the year, as for instance the agostaderos (August pas- ture), or invernaderos (' winter pasture ')• Sometimes they were reserved for the use of specified animals, such as oxen, brood mares, steers for the local abattoir,, or war horses.^ Oxen were particularly favored in the early town charters of Estremadura, La Mancha, and Andalusia, where the ox pasture or dehesa de bueyes — sometimes called the dehesa boyal or the dehesa de labor — was carefully guarded from intrusion by migratory sheep.^ By the end of the twelfth century it had become customary for the Castilian monarchs, in granting the usual town privileges for sheep migrations in all parts of the realm, to include in the con- cession a warning that the flocks must not trespass upon any dehesas, grain fields, vineyards, orchards, or prados de guadana (mown meadows).* These types of enclosures became known ' For a discussion of the philological history of these terms, see Wiener, Cows- mentary to the Germanic Laws (Cambridge, ivfass., 1915), pp. 116, 136. Thefuero of Soria in Loperraez Corvalan, Descrip. OUspado de Osma, iii, pp. 91 ff., gives a good picture of the administration of town dehesas at the close of the thirteenth century. See also Fuero de SepHlveda, ed. F. Callejas (Madrid, rSs;), tit. 170; and Urena, Fuero de Zorita de los Canes, pp. 335, 343. ^ Expediente de 1771, part i, fols. 56 ff., enumerates and defines various types of enclosed pastures. ' The care of oxen has been the subject matter of legislation in Castile for many centuries. Cf. Texada y Otalora, " Memoria sobre las ventajas . . . de bueyes 6 mulas," in Mem. Soc. Econ., v (Madrid, 1795), and Miguel Nicolas de Palma, ibid., iii, pp. 8-14 (1787), on the history of the ox in Castilian agriculture. See also Charles Weiss, L'Espagne depuis le rhgne de Philippe H (Paris, 1844, 2 vols.), ii, p. 106; Jordana, Voces Forestales, p. 43; and especially Ramirez, Bibliografia Agrondmica, p. 956. In 1347 cattle were included in the cahana real: Qtiad. 1731, pt. I p. 49. In Valencia the ox pastures were known as boalares: Branchat, Derechos y Regalia . . . de Valencia, iii, pp. 6-8. « Cohnenares, Hist, de Segovia (ed. of 1640), p. 163 (1200): "in messibus, vel in vineis, vel in hortis, vel in pratis, vel in defesis, quae solent esse cognitae." 304 THE MESTA to the herdsmen thenceforth as the cinco cosas vedadas, the ' five forbidden [or enclosed] things,' ' and it was not until the Mesta had the powerful patronage of the sixteenth-century au- tocrats that the migrants dared intrude upon any of them. Be- side the strict reservation of these enclosures, there were other local pasturage regulations which were less severe upon the nomads. For example, the latter were occasionally given the privilege of pasturing on the rastrojo or stubble and straw residue after the harvest.^ This resembled the ' common of shack ' or the use of Lammas land in mediaeval England.' Furthermore, after the grapes had been gathered the vineyard owners quite often extended a similar privilege to the migratory flocks for a nominal rental. The trimming of the vines and the fertilization of the soil by the sheep were regarded by the agriculturist as ample compensation, while the herdsmen valued the pdmpanos or vine leaves as a particularly fattening fodder.* Occasionally groups of CastiHan towns made arrangements for the mutual enjoyment of each other's enclosed conunons,^ somewhat after the manner of the Aragonese town leagues. In this, however, they were not so successful as the more vigorously developed organizations of the eastern kingdom. The great thirteenth-century codes of Alfonso the Learned summarized the accumulated experience in pasturage regulation of previous centuries. Both the Fuero Real (1255) and the Parti- das (ca. 1256-65) reflected in this respect the increased stability of rural life and the growing importance and strength of town governments in the exercise of jurisdiction over public lands. ' Other instances of royal protection to the cosas vedadas are found in Munoz, p. 271; Ca.sca.les, Discursos . . . de Murcia, disc, n, cup. xviu; Memorial Histdrico, i) P- 333; Acad. Hist., Mss. 25-i-C 8, fols. 93 ff.: various privileges of the migra- tory flocks of Coria and of its church. * Alonso de Herrera, Libra que trata de la LabranQa (Toledo, 1513)1 cap. 5: on raslrojos in mediaeval Castile. A tj^ical illustration of the mediaeval rastrojo regu- lations of a CastUian town is found in Valverde Perales, Anliguas Ordenanzas de Baena (Cordova, 1907), pp. ig6, 223, 516, 558. ' K. E. Digby, History of the Law of Real Properly (Oxford, 1876), pp. 6-7. * Cardenas, op. cit., ii, p. 289; Altamira, Propiedad Comunal, p. 234. ' Arch. Osuna, Docs. Arcos, caj. 2, no. 52 (1435); Costa, Colectimsmo Agrario, PP- 399-401; Gonzilez, vi, p. 299. EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 305 Although the migrating flocks were allowed access to open un- claimed areas, and the shepherds were given liberal privileges to cut trees for their uses,i they were hampered by the increased im- portance given to town commons and especially to town enclos- ures. Commons were defined in the Partidas as being " for the common benefit ... of the poor as well as of the rich." They were not open to non-residents without permission from the towns- people, nor was any private individual ever to secure title to part of the public lands, whether town streets, enclosed dehesas, or open exidos? Many contemporary town charters went further than these measures, and, like the Aragonese laws, forbade the owner- ship of land by non-residents.^ This insistence upon the priority > of the claims and interests of the resident property owners was , one of the foundation stones upon which the opponents of the Mesta rested their cases in the Utigations of later years. In fact, ) it became the fundamental argument of Campomanes and the • other reformers of the eighteenth century, who finally accom- 1 plished the practical destruction of the sheep owners' organi-j zation.* The most important contribution of the thirteenth-century codes in this connection was their insistence, not only that the town dehesas or enclosed pastures were to be undisturbed by migrants, but that planted lands, especially grain fields (mieses), orchards, and vineyards, were to be strictly guarded against trespassers. Furthermore, when the sheep owners petitioned for royal letters to insure their safety while on the way, these safe conducts were issued as requested, but with the warning that all local enclosures were to be respected by the flocks.* These letters defined in general terms the relations between the herds- men and the owners of enclosed lands and brought the migratory pastoral interests as a whole under the protection of the crown. » Fuero Real, lib. 4, tit. 6, ley 4; Part. 3, tit. 18, ley 19; tit. 28, ley 9. See Delow, pp. 306-307. 2 Part. 3, tit. 28, ley 9 and tit. 29, ley 7. 3 Concordia de 1783, ii, fols. 109, no, cites instances from the fueros of Estrema- luran towns. A possible precedent for these may be found in the Fuero Juzgo, ib. 10 tit. 3, ley 4, which prohibited certain forms of absentee ownership. ■> Expediente de 1771, pt. 2, fols. 60, 71, 72, 91. « Part. 3, tit. 18, ley 19. 306 THE MESTA This gave rise, within a decade after the completion of the Par- tidas code, to the first charters of the " national assembly or concejo of shepherds," the Mesta. In view of this fact, it is curious that neither the early Mesta charter of 1273 nor that of 1276 contains any direct allusion to the pasturage privileges of the transhumantes.i These docu- , ments are concerned almost entirely with the judicial protection of the flocks against unjust local tolls. Their only approaches ;to specifications regarding pasturage were, first, the enimieration \oi the rights of shepherds in the forests, as to forage and wood (supplies for their uses, and, second, the restrictions placed upon . the size of the town ox enclosures, the areas of which were not to exceed three aranzadas for every yoke pastured.'' Throughout the later Middle Ages the above points were the chief features of the pasturage problem: namely, the rights of the sheep in unoc- cupied forest and waste lands, and the mutual obligations of herdsmen and husbandmen regarding the passage of flocks near enclosed areas. With regard to the first of these two factors, the Mesta at once assumed an aggressive pohcy. It undertook to check any attempts on the part of townsmen to interfere, by means of montazgos, fines, and excessive tolls, with freedom of access to waste lands and forests. This active interest which the sheep owners manifested in the wooded regions brings up the question of the deforestation of Castile, one of the many crimes laid at the door of the Mesta. I There is some ground for the accusation in view of the unrestricted lliberties of the flocks in the forests. The charter of 1273 granted vpermission to the shepherds to cut as many branches (ramonear) ' ' Colmeiro, i, p. 285, n. i, is misleading in tliis regard. See my commentaries on these charters of 1 273 and 1 276, in the Boletin de la Real Acad, de la Hist., February, 1914, pp. 202—219. 2 The usual definition of the aranzada is the area which can be ploughed with a yoke of oxen in a day. Covarrubias, Tesoro, gives the form as alanfada and ingeniously defines it as the area " que un buen brafo puede arrojar una lanfa." The Informe de Toledo sobre pesos y medidas (Madrid, 1780), p. 169, gives the aranzada as being equivalent to 400 estadales, which, according to L6pez Martinez, Dice. Encic. de AgricuUura (Madrid, 1886), is 447 deciareas, or 4470 square metres, that is, something over an acre. 2 This is quite like the old EngUsh right of ' common of estovers ' or ' botes '; EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 307 as they might require for their corrals, fences, cabins,^ tan-bark, fodder, fuel, and dairy implements. Far more serious to the life of the forests was the herdsmen's practice of burning the trees in the fall to provide better spring pasturage — a custom which has been common wherever the sheep industry has prevailed.* The erosion which invariably sets in after such destruction was, of course, aggravated by the damage wrought to small shoots and to the moisture-retaining turf by the sheep themselves. There can be no doubt that the Castilian forests suffered severely from the regular visits of the millions of migrating sheep.* It seems certain, however, that during a greater part of the later i Middle Ages, Castile was still heavily forested, and that the crude conservation measures of the thirteenth-century Cortes^ and those inauguarated by Alfonso the Learned in his code, Las . Siete Partidas,^ which were subsequently incorporated in various local ordinances,* were at least moderately successful. The famous Libro de la MonteHa, the royal hunting book of the ' mid-fourteenth century,^ describes extensive wooded areas in all cf. Robert Hunter, The Preservation of Open Spaces (London, 1902), pp. 3-4, 59- 66, 194-195. On the forest rights of sheep in mediaeval England, see Hunter, pp. 191-192. ' The word is connected with the CastUian cabaHa, a shepherd's hut. ' Pelham, Essays (Oxford, 191 1), p. 303, cites references from the classical authors on the practice in southern Italy. See CavaiEes, " Le d^boisement dans les PjTrfin^es franjaises," in Rev. de Paris, 15 Nov., 1903, pp. 287-314. ' On the history of attempts at forest conservation and the gradual deforesta- tion of Castile, see B. E. Femow, History of Forestry (Toronto, 1907), pp. 298- 305; CavaUlSs, "La question forestiere en Espagne ", in the Annales de geog., 15 July, 1905, and "L'6conomie pastorale dans les Pyrenees", in the Rev. gin. des sciences, 15 Sept., 1905; Weiss, L'Espagne depuis Philippe II, ii, p. 103; Jordana, Voces Forestales, p. 226. ' Corto, VaUadoHd, 1258, pet. 42, and Jerez, 1268, pet. 39: "he who sets fire to a forest is to be thrown into it." Cf. Valladolid, 1351, pet. 61. The last is a com- plaint regarding fires caused, not by shepherds, but by peasants for the clearing of the land. ' Port. 7, tit. 16, ley 28. ' Ordenanzas que los senores de Granada mandaron guardar (Granada, 1672), "pp. 44-49; Larruga, V, pp. 263 £E.: forest ordinances of Segovia; Arch. Ayimt. Cdceres, Docs, tiempo Isabel, nos. S3-SS- Alonso, Recop. y Comentarios . . de Navarra, ii, pp. 272, 307, and Fuero de Navarra (Pamplona, 1815), pp. I7S ff-i give the early Navarrese laws on the subject. ' BiUioteca Venaloria, ed. Jos€ Gutierrez de la Vega (Madrid, 1877-99, S vols.), i, ii. 308 THE MESTA parts of Castile, and effectively refutes the assumptions that either the sheep industry or the Moorish wars had already de- vastated the forests by that time.i It is highly probable that deforestation did not become widespread throughout Castile until the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, when, as will be pointed out below, the ravages of the greatly enlarged and royally pro- tected Mesta flocks contributed to the desolation.' The second of the two points regarding pasturage in the charter of 1273, namely the limitation of the size of town ox pastures, shows the sheep owners in a less aggressive attitude than that assumed with reference to their grazing rights in the unclaimed forests and waste lands. It will be recalled that in the vicinity of enclosed fields, whether pastures or cultivated land, the highways of the flocks had a carefuUy prescribed width of about two hundred and fifty feet.' From the beginnings of the Mesta until the close of the Middle Ages the chief occupa- tion of the itinerant entregadores was to maintain that width and to prevent the intrusion of local enclosures, especially ox pastures, upon the canadas, a purely defensive policy for the protection of the sheep-walks. In fact, there was no change in this attitude, no attempt to take the offensive and to violate enclosures, until the growing strength of the Mesta under the Catholic Kings and Charles V had inspired an increased audacity in its ofl&cials. Its opponents, the local agrarian interests, there- upon recalled in the courts the centuries when enclosures had been respected by the herdsmen. Finally, during the eighteenth- century agrarian reforms, which brought about the destruction of the Mesta, the sheep owners were reminded that their ancient recognition of the limited width of canadas between enclosed town pastures implied that such fields, though commons for the local flocks, were not open to the migrants.^ It is evident, therefore, that the charters of 1273 and 1276 established a fundamental precedent regarding the respect of the ' A. Cdnovas del Castillo, Historia de la Decadencia de Espana (2d ed., Madrid, 1910), p. 43, attributed the deforestation to the wars of the Reconquest; and his opinion has been followed by many others. '^ See below, pp. 321-322. ' See above, pp. 18-19. J Concordia de 1783, ii, fols. 300 £f. EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 309 Mesta for enclosures which was carefully observed throughout the later Middle Ages. It is true that occasionally a few of the bolder entregadores ventured to assume some degree of authority over the local pastures, and that they sometimes con- doned the broadening of the caiiadas at the expense of town lands. Such instances occurred, however, only during the periods of corrupt misgovernment of the fifteenth century, and the Cortes promptly reported them to the monarch. The latter was usually quite ready to take measures against the itinerant judges, not only to secure the good wiU of the towns, but also to curb the troublesome nobUity, who profited from the receipts of entregador condemnations and fines. ' A further and even more potent check upon Ulegal extensions of canadas across enclosures was the fact that all mqjonamimtos, or verifications of boundaries of the sheep-walks, had to be carried on jointly by entregadores and town ofl5.cials. Furthermore, the only evidence which the entregador was authorized to accept in his hearings on the subject was the testimony of six omes buenos or ' good men,' the oldest residents of the town.^ This practice was strictly observed untU the close of the fifteenth century, when the assurance of powerful support from the Catholic Kings encouraged the entregadores to make bold departures. In the main, then, the entregadores of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were not unmindful of local pasturage rights. Occasionally they even rendered decisions against the members of their own organization for trespassing upon local enclosures.' Their exceptional opportunities, however, to observe and take advantage of any local laxity in the administration of land laws, frequently tempted them to counsel illegal measures. When they secretly advised the herdsmen to evade the local ordinances 1 Cor/as.Burgos, 131S, pet. 32; VaUadolid, 1322, pet. 63; Madrid, 1339, pet. 32. 2 See above, pp. 102-103; Cortes, VaUadolid, 1351, pet. 44. » Arch. Hist. Nac, Docs. Calatrava, Particulares, nos. 166, 187 (1307, 1309): entregador decisions against Mesta herdsmen who trespassed on enclosed pastures belonging to the Order of Calatrava. The concession giving title to the enclosures was dated 1183 and bore such interesting signatures as " Don Mahomat Aben, Rey de Murcia, vassallo del Rey; Don Aben Monfont, Rey de Niebla, vassaUo del Rey." 3IO THE MESTA against trespass by buying up town lands, the Cortes gave sharp warning of the ancient laws of the realm against absentee owner- ship.i Similarly, the entregadores abetted the Mesta's efforts to establish exclusive title to unclaimed waste lands in parts of the public domain remote from populated regions. Such encroach- ments were soon discerned by the Cortes, however, and were promptly checked, upon petition of the deputies, by royal de- crees which declared that such lands were under the sovereign's control and were open to all without restriction or tax.^ Perhaps the most convincing evidence that the flocks were not yet allowed to trample unhindered over enclosures and com- mons, and that the Mesta, even under the protection of one of its most able and aggressive patrons, dared not trespass upon local pastures, is found in the reign of Alfonso XI (1312-50). Two famous decrees had been issued, in 1325 and 1329, forbid- ding enclosures 'm. the town commons, whether made by towns or by individuals. These lands, it was explained, were for " the benefit of all " and were not to be sold by the towns to private individuals nor were they to be reserved for any save public purposes.' Opponents of the Mesta have been inclined to regard the edicts of 1325 and 1329 as the beginning of that organiza- tion's long and aggressive campaign against enclosures and settled agricultural and pastoral hfe.'* The texts of the decrees would seem to bear this out, since they pointed to the exidos and heredamientos (types of waste lands) as being " freely accessible to all." The actual application of the laws to concrete cases, how- ever, revealed that this freedom was only for local peasants and shepherds. Alfonso repeatedly denied to Mesta members any right of access to town commons, pastures, enclosures, or waste lands.^ He was, in fact, the first monarch to incorporate in the ' See Colmeiro, i, p. 286, and Concordia de 1783, ii, fol. 109 v, with Cortes references for the year 1 293 and after. ^ Cortes, Palencia, 1313, pet. 4; Burgos, 13x5, pet. 3. ' Nueoa Recap., Kb. 7, tit. 7, ley i; confirmed and extended in 1490 (leys I3~i4)- '' Concordia de 1783, ii, fol. 112. ' Arch. Hist. Nac, Docs. Reales Calatrava, nos. 198 (1331), 219 (1327, 1341), 210 (1342) : royal decisions in disputes between the Mesta and various southern pasturage towns. Ulloa, PrivUegios de Cdceres, pp. 196-198 : a similar decision protecting the town lands of Cdceres from Mesta intrusion^. EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 3II usual royal confirmations of the Mesta privileges a warning that the five cosas vedadas, the town enclosures, were to be respected.^ This able administrator thus confirmed with characteristic vigor and emphasis the traditions regarding the sanctity of enclosures, whether for cultivation or for pasturage, and the impressions of those confirmations seem to have become well fixed in the minds of Mesta ofl&cials. It took more than a century for those impres- sions to wear off and for the sheep owners to feel that they could claim access to the local lands in question. Save for a few abuses of their powers by entregadores, there are practically no instances during the later reigns of the Middle Ages of any trespasses by the herdsmen upon forbidden local pastures. In fact, the impregnable defence of the latter was strengthened by new concessions of enclosure privileges to loyal towns by Peter as a means of securing much needed support in his war for the CastUian crown against Henry of Trastamara.^ The troubled times of the fifteenth century brought similar con- cessions to many towns, together with renewed guarantees that their earlier enclosures were in no way to be violated by the pass- ing flocks.' Even the disturbances along the western border, after the disastrous defeat of the Castilian army by the Portu- guese at Aljubarrota in 1385, were not enough to upset these film assurances. The crown decreed that any changes made necessary in the routes of the migrants, as the results of the Portuguese raids, were in no way to cause trespasses upon the town enclosures.* There was, then, a fairly well defined respect for enclosures, on the part of the Mesta, and for canadas, on the part of the 1 Quad. 1731, pt. I, p. S3. 2 Acad. Hist., Mss. 25-i-C 14, fols. 191 ff.: privileges from Peter to Cordova allowing extensive enclosures of public land " to raise funds for the construction of the church " and as a recognition of loyalty. Similar concessions by Peter to Seville are found in Ztiniga, Annales de Semlla (1677), p. 207. ' Acad. Hist., Docs. Monast. Suprim., Nra. Sra. de la Vid, no. 194 (1410): concession of a dehesa to this monastery with the privilege of leasing it to the Mesta members if desirable. Arch. Osuna, Docs. Arcos, caj. 3, no. 36 (i427j 1442), and Cortes, Madrigal, 1438, pet. 47: reservations and extensions of ox pastures. * Cortes, Segovia, 1386, pet. 3. 312 XHE MESTA towns. The limits of each were marked with mojones or stone monmnents, and the charters of the respective parties clearly de- fined not only the rights of the recipient, but also the privileges of the others.i It is, for this reason, highly improbable that the migratory pastoral industry aggressively dominated the agrarian life of Castile during the later Middle Ages. The enclosures were not seriously threatened.^ The fact that agriculture did not thrive during that period must be ascribed to other causes than the extravagance of the royal privileges bestowed upon the Mesta. The towns appear, on the whole, to have been well able to take care of themselves, their pastures, and their enclosures, during the first two centuries of the Mesta's existence; but after that period, and with the coming of centralized autocracy, a different state of affairs develops. Indications of a different attitude on the part of the sheep owners toward their pasturage problem began to appear even before the accession of Ferdinand and Isabella. With the dis- integration of all government and the spread of lawlessness dur- ing the last decade of the reign of Henry the Impotent, the Mesta evidently felt itself strong enough to throw off its old restraint and to bid defiance to local privileges and ordinances. Its ad- vocates in the Cortes and in court began to argue that since the 1 Gonzalez, vi, pp. 118-119: privilege of Badajoz (1277) permitting certain enclosures so long as they did not encroach upon the canadas. Cortes, Medina del Campo, 1318, pet. 14: forbidding trespass by the sheep beyond their canadas. Brit. Mus., Eg. Ms. 513, pp. 85-86: privilege of Truxillo (1285) guaranteemg its ox pastures against trespass by Mesta flocks. See also the OrdenariQas de Semlla (1511), p. 28; Arch. Ayunt. Madrid, sec. 2, leg. 358, nos. 49-59 (130° ff-): recognition by the Mesta of the absence of canadas through the jurisdiction of Madrid and of the necessity for special permission for any migration across the commons of its jurisdiction. This permission was given in 1432 after payment of heavy toUs by the sheep owners; it was valid for only four days in the year, and it is interesting to note that at the present time, on certain nights in the migrating season, hundreds of transhumantes pass through the Puerta del Sol in the centre of Madrid. ^ Most writers have been uniformly inaccurate on this point. Cf. Colmeiro, i, pp. 258-262, 286, who is accepted by Goury du Roslan, Rosseeuw Saint-Hilaire, Mari^jol, and others. All of these usually cautious observers have been surpris- ingly ready to accept simply the evidence of a few such decrees as those of 1325 and 1329, cited above, without appreciating the frequent discrepancies between the face value of written laws and their actual application and interpretation. EARLY PASTURAGE PROBLEMS 313 town dehesas were pastos comunes, ' common pastures,' they must be commons for all comers, vecinos or forasteros, citizens or strangers. The feeble Henry and his avaricious favorites were eager, for due considerations, to indorse this view with royal edicts,! which later proved to be invaluable precedents for the arsenal of the Mesta's attorneys. Other measures were also forthcoming with such ease that they inspired the sheep owners with an entirely new militant spirit in their attitude toward the problem of securing cheap and abundant grazing land, regardless of the interests of agriculture or of sedentary pastoral life. When, for example, pasturage rentals were raised by landlords on account of debasements of currency, the Mesta was author- ized by the crown to pay, not merely a lower rate than the new figures, but even a quarter less than its older leases had stipu- lated.^ Even these revised rentals were by no means assured to the landowners, for the shepherds took advantage of the preva- lent lawlessness and evaded pajnnent on every opportunity.^ It was certainly evident that a radical change was taking place in the pasturage policy of the Mesta. The old readiness to con- form to local enclosure restrictions and to respect the land in- terests of settled agriculture and non-migratory flocks was rapidly disappearing. A new, and for local agrarian life more ominous era was at hand. ' Br. Mus., 1321 k 6, no. s (1462). 2 Cortes, Toledo, 1462, pet. 53. ' Ibid., pet. 17; Salamanca, 1465, pets. 5, 16. CHAPTER XVI THE SUPREMACY OF THE MESTA'S PASTURAGE PRIVn^EGES Agrarian England of the early Tudors compared with agrarian Castile of Ferdinand and Isabella. Pastoral mercantilism. Enclosures in England and in Castile. The pastoral policy of the Catholic Kings. Deforestation. Posesidn or perpetual leasing of pasturage. Collective bargaining for pasturage by Mesta members. Agriculture vs. grazing in the reign of Charles V. Growth of the non-migratory pastoral industry. Repressive measures against agriculture. The history of pasturage, of enclosures, and of sheep raismg in Tudor England has been so frequently and thoroughly investi- gated that any intimation of a new point of view on that subject might appear presumptuous. Nevertheless the pastoral history of the corresponding era in Castile, the period of Ferdinand and Isabella and of their sixteenth-century successors, reveals cer- tain striking contrasts with and parallels to England's experience with enclosures and pastures, which suggest a new line of re- search in English agrarian affairs and point toward hitherto unsolved pastoral problems in the island kingdom. The English enclosure movement and the similar process in Castile, which we shall examine in this chapter, S3Tichroiuzed to a surprising degree. In each case the episode had its begiimings in a stimulation of the sheep industry._in jthe fourteenth cen- tujgr. That industry was rapidly developed, at the close of the fifteenth century and throughout the sixteenth, because of the niercantOistic. ambitions of powerful rulers who had their eyes upon lucrative returns from the trade in wool, a high priced, compact, and easily exportable commodity with a large foreign market. The exploitation of the confiscated monastic lands in England and the acquisition of the great properties of the mili- tary orders by the crown in Castile contributed materially to the growth of the pastoral industry in both countries during the middle decades of the sixteenth century. Thereafter, however, PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 315 in each of the two kingdoms there is apparent a gradual increase of enclosures, not so much for large scale sheep raising enter- prises, as for the small copyholder in the case of England and for sedentary flocks and peasant agriculture in the case of Castile. In each country the high, courts — chancery in England and chancillerias in Castile — protected, the moyement, and in each the motive to enclose the common lands was supplied by a desire to ^tirnulate sedentary sheep raising. The ultimate effect in both was to promote small scale agriculture.^ One significant aspect of the whole problem stands out clearly in the case of Castile and suggests an inquiry regarding sheep raising in England. In the peninsula the element which fought against the enclosure movement, and, in fact, successfully ob- structed its progress for two centuries, was the Targe scale mi- gratory pastoral induatry. In mediaeval and early Tudor Eng- land the an ti-enclosure interests were very largely the agricul- tural classes. This contrast between the two countries suggests the need~bf further inquiry into the pastoral history of the northern kingdom in order that some further hght may be thrown upon the reasons for the comparative scarcity of enclosures in various western, northern, and eastern counties. What was the precise character of sheep raising in, for example, the Cotswold region during the period under discussion ? Was it by any chance of a modified migratory type, comparable, on a small scale, with the roving Castilian industry ? Sheep migrations were by no means unknown in the British Isles,^ and the marked parallel between the enclosure movement in the island kingdom and in CastUe raises the question as to whether there might not have been some similarity in this regard as well. In any case there is yet to appear a thorough study of the history of the sheep industry in those areas in England where enclosures were least ' Harriett Bradley, The Enclosures in England (New York, 1918), summarizes the views of earlier and more extensive investigations, notably those by Gay, Leadam and Miss Leonard. She emphasizes the influence of the desire for ferti- lizing and resting the soil as perhaps the leading motive for pasturage enclosures, especially during the Tudor and Stuart periods. 2 Duke of Argyll, Scotland as it was and as it is (Edinburgh, 1887, 2 vols.), i, pp. 25s ff- 3i6 THE MESTA in evidence. When such a study is made it is quite probable that the experience of the CastiHan Mesta may offer useful suggestions for the approach to the problem in Britain. Pas- toral. Englasd under the mercantilistic early Tudors was to a striking degree similar to pastoral Castile under the Catholic Kings, to which we must now address our attention. In the presence of the high court or chancilleria at VaUadolid, late in 1501, a distinguished attorney representing the city of Caceres ^ made what was for that period a truly surprising obser- vation. With reference to certain decrees issued by Ferdinand and Isabella granting excessive grazing rights to the Mesta, he declared that " such things cannot be called just or honest, since they are not for the public good but for the private in- terests of a favored few! " The remark came at the close of a scathing denunciation of the ro yal policv of syst ematic repres-.. _sionjof agriculture and sedentary^h^^raising. It was daring beyond anythmg that ha3~been heard in a Castilian court of justice in many a long year, coming as it did in such times of un- questioned obedience to the determined policies of the newly united monarchy of Ferdinand and Isabella. There must have been the gravest provocation to eUcit a statement so danger- ously near treason. A careful survey of those poUcies and of their administration wiU reveal that there was indeed jproyo- cation for the sentiment of the attorney from Caceres. As in the case of the judicial and financial.^ffairs.of the Mesta, so in matters of pasturage, the accession of jFerdinandjind Isa- bella marked the beginning of a new era in the development of the organization. Theirs was the task of laying new founda- tions for the agrarian life of Castile. Generations of economic confusion and poHtical turmoil had so exhausted the country that there was dire need for almost any kind of reconstruction. A systematic programme of agricultural promotion, supple- mented with plans for a diversifying sedentary pastoral industry and for forest conservation, would by no means have been be- yond the capabilities of these enlightened sovereigns. It is true ' See below, p. 324. PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 317 that geographic obstacles and social prejudices might have de- terred somewhat the rapid and uniform advance of agriculture throughout Castile. Nevertheless the agrarian reforms of Charles in in the eighteenth century, achieved in the face of these very obstacles as well as of others which did not exist at the time of the Cathohc Kings, inspire justifiable regrets that the newly united monarchy committed the realm so unreservedly to the large scale migratory pastoral industry. It would be difi&cult indeed to exaggerate the possibilities of such a programme of agricultural development had it been carried out systematically and vigorously during the forty crucial and future-buUding years of this reign. Most unfortunately for the future of CastUe, E erdinand an d Isabella lost ho time in displaying that marked partiality toward the pastoral exploitation of their kingdoms wtrcETwas to be so conspicuous throughout this period.^ The explanation for this attitude, which was given such emphatic expression in aU of their Mesta legislation, was their mercan- tih stic in terest in promoting the source of supply for what had long been Spain's principal and almost only export commodity. It was their persistent devotion to this policy of subordinating agriculture to pasturage which forced later monar^i to confess somewhat sadly that " the e^lgjtatinn and rnn servatinn nfj^e pastoral industry is thejdncipal^sustenaTLcejof^ doms." ^ Evetyeffort was made to extend pasturage, not only" in Castile, but in the other parts of the peninsula. Anyjocal attempts to improve ag ricultur e, such as took place in Murcia, and~i5r GfaiiaHaraf ter the reconquest of that kingdom, were openJyJQibidden, or else choked off by prohibitive export taxes. These measures soon encouraged the entregadores to leave their beaten paths in the canadas and to levy profitable fines for vio- lations of the new laws.' Nor did such efforts on the part of the itinerant magistrates lack support from the monarchs. In 1489 a broadly worded royal decree was issued, authorizing the cor- rection of Canada boimdaries along the lines followed fifty years 1 Haebler, Wirtschaftliche Blute Spaniens, p. 24; Ansiaux in the iJero? d'econo- mie politique, June, 1893, p. 528, citing references. 2 Nueva Recop., lib. 3, tit. 14, ley i. ' Arch. Mesta, A-3, Albacete, 1487 £E. 3i8 THE MESTA previous to that date. Armed with this document, the entrega- dores pushed back the boundary marks of enclosures on both sides of the sheep highways, on the pretext that the townspeople had surreptitiously altered them at some tune during the past half century .1 In some instances the death penalty was threatened by the Mesta justices if the enclosure walls were again altered.^ Every possible device of the new government was turned to the task of concentrating the rural energies and resources of Castile upon the sheep industry. Seldom, if ever, has the whole agrarian life of a people been held in so firm a grip or been made to follow so strictly the single-minded purpose of a determined administration. For forty years no measure was overlooked which might contribute to the desired end — a truly astonishing record of paternalism, even in an age of autocracy. The impor- tation of wheat into Castile from Aragon was permitted in order that there should be no inducements to plant on pasture lands. Large tracts of the royal demesij^n the Serena region of Estre- madura and in the monies of Toledo were leased jo the Mesta.' As soon as the crown had acquired control of the vast estates of the miHtary orders,^ arrangements were also made for the ex- ploitation of those highly esteemed pasturage regions.* The ac- tivities of the indefatigable entregadores were soon supplemented by the cooperation of the corregidores, the most useful of royal administrative agents, and of the special judge-inquisitor (Juez pesquisidor) , that favorite device of the new autocracy. These inquisitors were usually royal counsellors of the highest rank, whom Mesta members soon found to be most efficacious in re- stricting and even breaking down the enclosures of the more important towns, monasteries, and military orders.' ' Concordia de 1783, ii, fol. 303. ^ Arch. Mesta, A-i, Albertura, 1495; A-i, Azeluche, 1497 £f. It is interesting to note that Morisco peasants were frequently mentioned as the defendants in suits regarding the extension of arable land into the canadas. ' Arch. Simancas, Patronato Real, 1064 (1479); Clemendn, EUgio, p. 155. * See above, p. 271. 5 Bull. Ord. Milit. Alcant., pp. 263, 457. « Arch. Mesta, C-io, Cuenca, 1477 flf.: a series of mandates of such A juez pesquisidor after an investigation of the highland pastures above Cuenca, which fed, at that time, nearly 500,000 sheep. PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 319 The famous reform Cortes held at Toledo in 1480, instead of insisting upon the curtailment of the Mesta's pasturage privi- leges, as has been alleged,^ took precisely the opposite stand. The deputies obediently concurred with the announced policies of the monarchs by commanding the evacuation of all parts of town commons which had been preempted by local officials for their personal uses during the recent period of misrule under Henry IV.'' This measure was soon followed up, not only by more general legislation guaranteeing the rights of the Mesta in the common pastures,' but also by making examples of a few of tiieTafgef cities which still dared to put on bold fronts against the pastoral policy of the new monarchy. In 1491 the city of Avila was commanded to nullify its new ordinances which had permitted the sale and enclosure of parts of the local commons.* In the same year the spread oi agriculture in the recently recon- quered parts of the kingdom of Granada was sharply^ checked by an edict forbidding enclosures unless specially licensed by the crown.^ Even when royal hcenses permitting enclosures were granted, the towns were ordered to rent such enclosed fields for pastoral purposes at least part of the time.^ The old ' five for- bidden things ' {cosas vedadas) — the orchards, grain fields, vineyards, ox pastures, and mown meadows — were stiU to be respected by the Mesta; but in each instance evidence must be forthcoming, in case of doubt, that these enclosures were actually being used for the purposes designated. The lack of such evi- dence would mean the immediate removal of barriers and the admission of the migrant flocks; and the entregadores were ever ready, not only to prove the absence of any justification for the enclosures, but to absolve the herdsmen from any blame or charges, save for actual damage done when their animals tres- passed. ' Hvime, Spanish People, p. 276; see above, pp. 210, 273. 2 Nueva Recop., lib. 7, tit. 7, ley 3. ' 'Rawiiez, Pragmdticas del Reyno, fols. bdi-lxiii: decrees of 1489 and after, en- forcing the measures of 1480. * Ramirez, op. cit., fol. cxlviii; Jordana, Voces Forestales, p. 133. 5 Nueva Recop., lib. 7, tit. 7, leyes 10, 11, 13. ' Arch. Ayunt. Cdceres, Docs. Isabel, no. 30: a royal permit of 1488 allowing the leasing of such enclosunres. 320 TEE MESTA Among otter devices to place more to^r. lands at the disposal of the Mesta herds was t J encouragement oi thej^^^sj^ of cultivation.^ "Under this arrangement a section or hoja of cul- tivated land was left fallow each year, and was therefore avail- able for pasturage and fertilization by the passing flocks. Medi- aeval Castihan agriculture had never become sufficiently ex- tensive or important to develop an active and methodically ad- ministered three-held system. There had, however, been more or less irregular practices regarding the leaving of untilled strips {enirepanes) , resembhng the Enghsh balks, between the panes or grain fields. Isabella was k^dk^interested in the pastoral possibilities of these ui|^B^^^Vrae5 and the fallow hojas, and did much, through i^^^^^^^^rregidores and various other officials, to encour^^^^^^^^^^tural practices.' In a word, the constant pui?J^^^^^^^V<^o check any shrinkage of local pasturage whI3im||^H|^ere with the migratory sheepjndustry. Even the fores^^J^y of their Cathoh'c Majesties was shaped toward the same objective.' Some of their legislation on this subject at GistUppeased. to be directed toward conserva- tion. Itga s, however, ro nservation for the benefit of thejRorks, and therefore wofuJJy short-sighted, so far as any assurance of the permanence of the woodlands was concerned. The interest of Isabella in this matter was particularly active.^ Unfortunately her most important edicts on the subject not only lacked any restrictions on the practice of ^burning forests to improve pastur- age, but they actually stipulated that'the welfare of the sheep must be safeguarded, and that herdsmen should be nermitted "tS_c^^^Sl^SB^ti9i^^K during the winter, or whm pas^ jiirage- is scarcfs." « In other words, the old Mesta privilege to ramonear — ' cut branches ' — was fuUy confirmed and enforced by special royal judges and by the corregidores, in the face of 1 See above, p. 21. '' Arch. Mesta, R-i, Rabanos, 1496; B-2, Barco 1502 ff a On the relations between migratory sheep and the forests in the MiddJe Ages, see above, pp. 306-308. * Clemendn, Eldgio, p. 248: an edict of 1493 regarding the conservation of monies. ' Ramirez, op. cit., fol. Ixii v, 1496; Nueva Recap., lib. 7, tit. 7, ley 7 PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 321 certain commendable old town ordinances which seem until that time to have been moderately successful in protecting forests against the flocks.^ This reign was indeed the crucial period in the history of Castilian forestry;* and the desolation which was wrought in the wooded areas of the kingdom had its beginnings in the un- compromising partiality of Ferdiaand and Isabella for the pas- toral industry. Other factors doubtless contributed toward the same end, namely, the spread of jgopulation, the construction of JJie_American silver fleets and the naval armadas, and various conditions of climate and soil. But undoubtedly the annual havoc wrought by the migrants under the imrestricted patronage of the new autocracy explains very largely the denudation which so impressed the Venetian ambassadors and other observant travelers in the middle decades of the sixteenth century and by no means escaped the alarmed attention of the Castilians them- selves.' The few dispirited attempts by the Hapsburgs to remedy the situation proved ineffective for two reasons: first, because contradictory privileg es annulling any conservation measures were being bestowed upon the Mesta;* and secondly, because the.j,dimnistratign^of jtheiew forestry informs proposed in such decrees as those of 1518, 1548, and 1567 -vja&Jleft to the now decadent local governments, and was not given any support by the central authorities.* It was not until the coming of Charles ' Arch. Mesta, T-7, Trujillo, 1504: Ktigation between that town and the Mesta, in which the royal courts finally upheld the rights of the sheep owners to free access to the woodlands of TrujiUo's jurisdiction. C-i, Ciceres, 1508 ff.; S-S, Solano, 1503 : similar material regarding wooded areas of western Estremadura. 2 Cavailles, " La question forestiere en Espagne," in the Annates de geographic, IS July, 190S, pp. 318-331. ' Laborde, Itinerake descriptif de I'Espagne (Paris, 1826, 6 vols.), v, p. 328, points out the need of bringing lumber from Flanders and woodsmen and carpen- ters from Italy in 1534 for the construction of artiUery. See also the sixteenth-cen- tury description of the country in Cdnovas del Castillo, Decadencia de Espana (2d ed., Madrid, 1910), p. 43, and inLibros de Antano, viii, pp. 231-352, paragraphs 20, 66,'68, 88, the latter contrasting the dense forests of the north coast with the desolation of 'castUe. Cortes, ValladoUd, 1555, pet. 67; Toledo, 1559, pet. 78; Nueva Recop., Mb. 7. tit. 7, ley 21. * Nueva Recop., lib. 7. tit. 7, leyes 15-17- e Docs. InSds. Hist. Esp., xx, p. 552; Cavailles, op. cit., pp. 319-320; and Arch. 322 THE MESTA III, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, that any effective measures were undertaken to remedy the desolation which had been inaugurated during the 'golden age' of Castilian greatness. By far the most pernicious, and unfortunately the most lasting, contribution of Ferdinand and Isabella toward the supremacy of the pastoral industry over agriculture was the law of posesidn. By this rule a Mesta member was granted the undisturbed per- manent tenancy of a given field, either at the rental paid under his earliest lease, or, if his flocks occupied these fields for a season or even for a few months without being discovered by the land- owner, for nothing at all. The origins of this extraordinary prin- ciple may be found in the earhest extant code for the internal administration of the Mesta, drawn up in 1492 by the distin- guished court legist, Malpartida.^ Among the important clauses of this document was one designed to prevent competition for pasturage among the sheep owners. The scheme proved to be a simple but quite effective arrangement for joint bargaining on the part of the Mesta lessees. It was provided that each of the four quadrillas or sections of the Mesta, having their headquar- ters in Soria, Segovia, Cuenca, and Leon, should select annually a procurador or representative. These four officers were to pro- ceed to the chief pasturage regions in Estremadura and Andalusia and there arrange with the landowners the terms and allotments of leases for the coming season. To no member was there to be assigned more land than his flocks actually required, and every- thing was to be arranged so as to equalize conditions for all the sheep owners. Every precaution was taken especially to prevent, that bugbear of mediaeval and early modern economic life, competition.^ In so widely scattered an industry, joint action by the lessees was possible only through a closely knit centralized organization like the Mesta, firmly supported by the rapidly rising ambitions of the new monarchy. Ajnint. Soria, Actos y Acuerdos, 1537, 1558, contain communications with refer- ence to the burning of extensive forests by Mesta members. ' There was an earlier set of ordinances, drawn up probably in 1379, but this has disappeared. Cf. Bravo, Nolicia sucinla, p. 15; also above, p. 49. The text of the 1492 code is found in Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 184-198. ' ' Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 195-196. PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 323 ■ This first plan of Malpartida soon led to more emphatic measures, and in January, 1501, the notorious posesion edict was promulgated.! Originally it was probably intended, as the ordinance of 1492 indicates, to prevent disastrous competition among Mesta members when dealing with the pasturage owners ; of the southern and western lowlands, by guaranteeing the \ priority of title to the earHest arrivals of the transhumantes. ) But it was not long before a very different interpretation was | placed upon the rtile of posesion. Astute ofiicials of the Mesta ] resurrected the old decrees of 1347, which vaguely described the ' Mesta as representing all of the sheep owners of the realm, wEether migrant or not. Then they pointed out that the new posesion law was intended " to prevent competition between all. Mesta members "; and they were thus able to take into their own hands the disposition of all pasturage leases throughout Castile. Wherever the Mesta members went, even on their mi- grations into Portugal, Navarre, and Aragon, the guarantees of their privileges, under the law of posesion, wentjwith them.* This resulted in some difl&culties before those three kingdoms came under the jurisdiction of a unified Spanish monarchy, but no effort was spared by the Catholic Kings and their equally autocratic^iuccessors to give every advantage to this much pampered industry.' The past\irage towns promptly took up arms, in behalf of 1 The Kterature, both legislative and controversial, on posesi6n is more profuse than that on any single phase of the Mesta's history. The Quaderno or Mesta code of 1731 has no less than 118 citations or separate references to it. See also Cdrdenas, Propiedad territorial en Espana, ii, pp. 301-310; Cos-Gayon, in Reoista de Espana, ix, pp. 349-351; Caxa deLeruela, Abundancia de Espana, pt. 2, cap. 2; all of these cite many references. The investigations of Campomanes in the eighteenth century were centred for a long time upon this topic: cf. Expedienle de 1771, pt. I, fols. 73-93; pt. 2, fols. 47-5°j 6i-6s; and Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 38, 42-58, 83-97, 120-127, 255-268, 272-301, 369-381; ii, fols. 4-12, 42-52, 120- 131. The chief provisions of the posesidn decree are contained in Nueva Recap., lib. 3, tit. 14, ley 3, caps. 4, S- 2 Concordia de 1783, i, fol. 237. See also Alonso, RecopilaciSn . . . de Na- varra, i, p. 287. ' The repeated confirmations and extensions of the posesi6n edict by Hapsburg sovereigns in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are cited in Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 88-90. 324 THE MESTA their landowners, against this astonishing pronouncement, ' the like of which this reahn of Castile had never before seen.' If the Mesta chose to restrain its own members by ordinances such as those of 1492, well and good; but the decree of 1501 was now being applied to despoU landowners of their property and to coerce local non-migratory herdsmen into obedience to Mesta laws, with which they had nothing whatever to do. " Such things can not be called just or legal or even honest, since they are not for the pubUc good, but for the private interests of a favored few." ^ In a word, the crux of the whole matter lay not so much in the monopoly intentions of the Mesta, to which the mediaevaUsm of CastiUan economic Ufe did not offer serious protest, as it did in the efforts of these northern intruders to meddle with the pastoral affairs of the southern towns. A test case was immediately begun before the Royal Council by the city of Caceres; but the monarchs and their councillors acquiesced fully in the pleas of Jorge Mexia and the other Mesta attorneys, that, unless the posesion edict was strictly enforced, the bids ipujas) of sheep owners against each other would place them at the mercy of the landowners, with disastrous results to the pas- toral industry and to the highly important wool trade. Thereafter, a few years of strenuous litigation served to satisfy the opponents of the Mesta that the monarchs were determined to support the extravagant contentions of the sheep owners against all southern and western landowners, whether towns, ecclesiastics, military orders, or private individuals.^ In order to avoid complications with the church, a law of 1499 was re- newed, which stipulated that any religious establishment claim- ing rights, as sheep owner or landowner, under the law of pose- sion, must first renounce all ecclesiastical immunities and subject itself entirely to Mesta laws before Mesta members would be allowed to deal with it. The newly created office of President of the Mesta, held by the senior member of the Royal Council, proved useful in this as in other matters involving the exploita- ' Arch. Mesta, C-i, Cdceres, 1501. ' Arch. Mesta, C-2, Calatrava, 1505 ff. : court decisions applying the new pas- turage edict to the lands of military orders. On other phases of the regulation of these lands by the crown, see Bull. Ord. Milit. Alcant., pp. 316, 319, 503. PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 325 tion of the Mesta by the autocracy. Furthermore, new edicts were soon issued, punishing with heavy fines the speculation in pasturage or the subletting of leases; in fact, iig one was to take ove r any past urage unless he was actually a sheep owner andpro- pCsed to use the land uTquestion for his flocks.' These purposes were further confirmed by no less than thirty-eight pasturage clauses in the second code of Mesta ordinances. This document was drawn up in 15 11 by the famous councillor, Dr. Palacios Rubios, who was for twelve years (1510-22) the President of the Mesta and the leading expert legal adviser of the Spanish mon- archy.'' Finally, in further evidence of the complete subjection - of agriculture to large scale pasturage, the celebrated Leyes de\ Toro were promulgated in 1505. These provided for the per- petuation of large entailed estates (mayorazgos), and thereby gave full legal recognition to one of the worst obstacles to the development of arable land in Castile.' All of these measures had their desired effects. They gave; extraordinary powers to the sheep owners and the Mesta; they made the pastoral industry unquestionably supreme over all other forms of rural Hf e throughout the reahn. The first decades of the sixteenth century saw the Spanish wool trade at the zenith of its activity. Within ten years after the death of Ferdinand, the Mesta had added almost 1,000,000 sheep to its already numerous flocks, so that by 1526 nearly 3,500,000 merinos * were availing themselves of the Uberal privileges accorded to them by the monarchy. This was the heritage of the agrarian policy of Ferdinand and Isabella. Eminently successful in the accom- plishment of its immediate object, it expanded the pastoral in- dustry out of all proportion to the other productive activities of 1 Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 42, 44 (1503). The same rule was applied to agricul- ture in 1507, when peasants were forbidden to lease more land than they could cultivate themselves. Cdrdenas, ii, p. 303. " Concordia de 1783, i, fols. 198-252; especiaUy fols. 233-239, 240. If any shep- herd ventured to disgrace the Mesta by cultivating a part of his pasture, the direst penalties were meted out to the offender (fol. 240). » On the baneful effects of the Leyes de Toro, especiaUy their ley xxvii, upon agriciilture, see Colmeiro, ii, pp. 137-138, and Ansiaux, op. cit., in Remie d'economie poUtique, Jvme, 1893. * See above, p. 27. 3^6 ' THE MESTA the country, and on a scale which was not to be surpassed else- where for three hundred years. With all of these determined plans, however, there were planted the seeds whence sprang that hopeless tangle of economic sophistry which later completely choked off the normal development of the country's rural re- sources. One of the larger roots of the evil growth which strangled not only the agrarian life of Castile but also the poUtical morale of the country goes back directly to the triumphs of the pastoral policy of Ferdinand and Isabella. The first indications of unfavorable consequences from this ruthless exploitation of Castilian resources for the benefit of one industry began to appear even before the death of Ferdinand. At the sessions of the Cortes at Burgos, in 151 5, there were heard the first discontented murmurings from the agrarian interests, the first signs of a gathering storm which became increasingly ominous as the arrogance and omnipresence of the Mesta and its herdsmen became more and more obnoxious. Particularly dis- tasteful was the zeal of the judge-inquisitors, who were con- stantly on the alert to check the spread of agriculture, especially when carried on by the despised Moriscos in the south.^ The increasing demand for certain agricultural products, no- tably wine and oUve oil, not only for shipment to the newly established American colonies, where the production of such commodities was forbidden, but also for European trade, made the agrarian classes more and more insistent that favorable consideration be given to the extension of arable land. Further- more, the complaints of the rapid rise in prices, especially those of foodstuffs, were being heard in the debates of the Cortes from 1518 and 1520 onward.^ These protests against the high cost of living became more insistent after about 1535, when the heavy importations of precious metals from America began in earnest. The effects of the gold and silver from the New World were, how- ever, not appreciated until the middle of the century,' and were not generally comprehended for generations. ' Cortes, Burgos, 1515, pet. 12. ' Colmeiro, ii, p. 323. ' Lopez de G6mara, Annals of the Emperor Charles V, ed. R. B. Merriman (Oxford, 1912), p. lii. PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 327 To all of the charges that the Mesta was responsible for the high prices, that organization had ready, and, from the point of view of its friends in the Royal Council, very adequate an- swers. Obviously (said the Mesta representatives) the cost of such prime necessities as meat, shoe leather, and woollen cloth was rising because of the sale of public lands for enclosure and cultivation, and the consequent increase in the rentals of pas- turage. Another serious factor was the violation of the Mesta privilege of posesion by the competition between Mesta members and certain local non-member sheep owners, especially the riberiegos, whose flocks crossed only the riberas or town boun- daries and did not make lengthy migrations. The bidding by these troublesome individuals for pasturage which ought to have been reserved for the northern migrants openly violated the privileges of the Mesta, and caused a consequent increase in the prices of pastoral products.* The President of the Mesta proved a convenient spokesman for that body before the Council, to which the monarch promptly referred aU matters pertaining to the subject. Charles himself was in a somewhat trying position with ref- erence to the whole pasturage problem. In the first place he proposed, naturally, to exploit the Mesta and its industry as his grandparents had done — which meant unrestricted pas- turage. His policy in this direction was encouraged also by the fact that in 1525 he had farmed out to his creditors, the Fuggers, the very valuable pasture lands of the maestrazgos or grand masterships of the mihtary orders; ^ and to permit any con- siderable inroads of cultivation upon these lands might lead to embarrassing queries from his bankers. On the other hand, as his financial necessities had increased, special subsidies or ser- vicios had to be requested from the Cortes. In order to secure these sums he was compelled to grant licenses for the enclosure of public lands to several larger cities whose influence was needed to carry the vote of the subsidies through the Cortes. These towns, incidentally, were already noting a fundamental truth in 1 Cortes, Madrid, 1528, pets. 61, 132. » Haebler, Die Geschichte der Fugger'schen Eandlung in Spanien, p. 75. 328 THE MESTA agrarian economy, which, most unfortunately for Castile, was not to be fully appreciated until two disastrous centuries had elapsed. The fact was that arable and pastoral life could very well be combined, and that the two were by no means hostile and mutually exclusive.^ After all, the best pasturage which the Mesta flocks could find anywhere was not the open and unkempt waste lands, nor the perennially denuded leased pastures, but the stubble straw, the vine leaves left after the grape harvest, and the fertile balks and fallow strips between cultivated patches.^" Charles was not long, however, in naaking his decision, for his plans and ambitions were not of the type that could wait pa- tiently upon the development of a whole new industry. He must have funds at once, and one of the most exploitable resources available in his Spanish realms was the long established and now most flourishing pastoral industry, which was at just that time more prosperous than it had ever been before, or indeed was ever to be again. Hence the energy with which the Emperor followed up the poUcy so vigorously prosecuted by Ferdinand and Isabella. Forest conservation and arable land were both to be subordinated to the iiitefests of pasturage. With reference to forestry we have already observed the in- different and even hostile measures taken by Charles.' The claims of agriculture were given even less consideration. In 1525 it was decreed that aU pasture lands brought under tillage during the first eight years of the Emperor's reign should be turned back to their original state and placed at the disposal of the sheep owners;* and in 1552 a similar edict was issued, but indicating a twelve-year period.* These were the first of a long series of similar enactments which punctuate the two centuries of the Hapsburg regimie. In each the time Hmit was made longer, as the situation became more and more desperate for the Mesta in its struggle against the encroachments of settled agriculture. ' Arch. Mesta, C-io, Cuenca, 1543: a lengthy suit between the Mesta and the town of Cupnca, which was itself a stronghold of that body, regarding the extension of arable into what had once been much frequented upland pasturage. ' See above, pp. 304, 320. ' See above, p. 321. ^ Nueva Recop., lib. 7, tit. 7, ley 22. ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 53. PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES OF THE MESTA 329 The sheep owners' arrangements to facilitate collective bar- gaining for pasturage were materially assisted by thei r itinerant attorneys OTxiL^gits and by the royal corregidores and special judge-inquisitors, who were given strict orders to stamp out the? dreaded puja or competitive bidding.^ The crown gave further \ aid by an^j^lingany town ordinances which attempte d to f orbid this form of coHective procedure by the pasturage lesseesJ~SFa part of this same policy to 'suppress competition, the measures taken by the Cathohc Kings against speculation in pasture lands, as well as their edicts against sub-lessees and middlemen, were confirmed and made more comprehensive. The operations of such middlemen, it was alleged, were not only unnecessary but peQuaous, and were bound to increase the price of pasturage by the.fees charged, as well as to demoralize_the industry by the speculative factor thus injected into the negotiations : ' views which have been strikingly persistent even down to the present day. The reigns of the Catholic Kings and of the great Emperor brought the Mesta to the height of its prestige in the agrarian affairs of Castile. The wishes of the sheep owners coincided with the mercantilistic ambitions of those rulers, and were therefore promptly gratified by royal edicts, vigorously enforced by ubiquitous crown officials. Any opposition to the herdsmen, whether by proponents of enclosures or by landlords who wished to stimulate competitive bidding for pasturage leases, was met with^^ai^and decisive punishment. The Mesta was to be favored with the warm friendship of later sovereigns, but it was never again to enjoy such powerful protection as that given it, during the eighty years from 1476 to 1556, by Ferdinand, Isa- bella, and Charles. When the latter forsook the glamour and the cares of empire for the monastic quiet of Yuste, he left the Mesta in complete control of the rural life of Castile. It 1 Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 27 (1528); ibid., A-s, Aldea el Rey, 1551; and B-i, Badajoz, 1556. 2 Ibid., B-i, Baeza, 1532. ' Arch. Hist. Nac, Consejo Real Exped., leg. 48: provision of 19 November, 1566, confirming one of 25 May, 1552; Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 43, 45, 46 (1538, 1551); ibid., CuenUs, February, 1544; Novisinta Recop., lib. 7, tit. 25, ley 6. 33° THE MESTA is true that angry and occasionally effective protests were already being made against that organization, but the herdsmen were still in a position to enforce their extravagant pasturage claims, to invade the forests, and to check the development of agriculture and of sedentary sheep raising. CHAPTER XVII THE COLLAPSE OF THE MESTA'S PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES Pasturage legislation of Philip II. Decrees of 1566, 1580, and 1382. Futile agra- rian programme. The chancillerias defend agriculture and enclosures. Opposition of royal creditors and others to the privileges of the Mesta. Exploitation of the lands of the Military Orders. Extravagant pretensions of the decree of 1^33. Spread of enclosures during the seventeenth century. Mesta propaganda against agri- culture. Collapse of ancient pasturage privileges in the eighteenth century. Culmination of the enclosure movement. A CURSORY glance at the agrarian legislation of PhiUp 11 reveals at first no essential difference between the position of the Mesta under the second Hapsburg and that which it held during the reign of Charles V. Philip followed in his father's footsteps, with more or less exaggerated confijnaations of his predecessor's pas- toral enactments. He arrayed all the cumbersome and anti- quated paraphernalia of his one-man government to defend the Mesta and its pasturage against the spread of arable enclosures. The views of practically all students of this period of Spanish agrarian history ^ have been based upon the texts of such sweep- ing pro-Mesta edicts as those of 1566, 1580, and 1582. These] decrees respectively indorsed the Mesta members' pasturage* rights as against all non-migratory sheep owners,^ restored to! pasturage aU land newly tilled since 1560,' and appointed royal jj commissioners to fix pasturage prices.* If these doctmients be i taken at their face value, then it must be agreed that the Mesta ! had indeed gone steadily onward to greater tritmaphs, and was at | this time more than ever the despotic ruler of rural Castile, i When we come, however, to examine the actual administration • 1 See Haebler, Wirtschaftliche Blilte Spaniens, p. 24, n. 2, whose views have been accepted by Ansiaux, Goury du Roslan, and others. ' Concordia de 1783, i, fol. 88. ' Nueva Recop., lib. 7, tit. 7, ley 23. * Arch. Ayunt. Cuenca, leg. 9, no. 9 (1582). 331 332 TEE MESTA and enforcement of these and many similar laws of the period of Philip n, a very different, and from the Mesta's point of view far less comforting situation is revealed. The first signs of successful resistance of the peasantry to the onward march of the Mesta flocks occurred some years before the retirement of Charles and the accession of Philip. As in the case of the resistance to the entregadores, the chancillerias, or high courts of appeal, proved to be the safe refuge for the fanners and the towns. The first decisions modifying and finally reversing ' the mandates of the itinerant magistrates regarding the rights of pasturage against arable land occur in 1539-40.' Thereafter, as in the case of the fight against the visitations of entregadores, the towns soon learned to protect their interests by appealing to the increasing hostility of the chancillerias toward the Mesta's pro- tector, the Royal Council." Then, too, the Castihan towns grad- ually learned to foUow the ancient example of the Aragonese comunidades, and formed combinations of thei r grievanc gs and resources. Thus they were able to fight out with marked success their Htigations against the pretensions and mediaevalism of the Mesta. During the last decades of the sixteenth century there was scarcely a suit fought out in the higher courts between the Mesta and its opponents in which the latter did not combine against the common enemy.' In the courts, in the national legis- lature,^ and in local meetings the towns registered their protests against the Mesta and the antiquated nomad life and depopu- lated countryside for which it stood. The edict of 1580, which ordered the destruction of all cultivation that had taken place ' Arch. Mesta, C-2, Calzada, 1539; M-7, Murcia, 1540. In both cases the Mesta had attempted to secure a foothold in town enclosures. ' See above, p. 123. ' A few examples will illustrate these tactics. Arch. Mesta, A-8, Arenal, 1592: twenty-five townspeople successfully defend their rights to cultivate certain parts of the local commons; A-8, Arguedona, 1593: twenty-two do the same; A-8, Arjona, 1594: thirty-six from various towns are sustained by the chanciUerla in their claims to enclosures; A-9, Azuaga, 1594: the same for ninety-six vecinos of this town; A-2, Ajamil, 1596: eleven towns combine to fight a suit against the Mesta regarding enclosure. ' Corles de Castilla, iv, pp. 428-429 (Madrid, 1573, pet. 9) : protests against the damages done to agriculture by pasturage and hunting privileges. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 333 during the previous twenty years, was not by any means ignored. It was answered with a joint' petition indorsed by the town coun- cils of twenty-one municipalities of Estremadura and Andalusia, including Plasencia, Merida, C^ceres, Seville, Cordova, Granada, and many others.* The petitioners asked for the revocation of the edicts of 1552 and 1580. They entered upon an ardent defence of agriculture and a vehement denunciation of the pastoral industry as the cause of aU the woes of the realm, the high prices, the de- forestation and the depopulation. Especial emphasis was given to the pereimial argimaent, that the pasturage privileges of the Mesta involved the violation of the ancient liberties of the cities and towns to use their land as they chose. The nobility, as well as the towns, were beginning to take issue with the Mesta on the same question. The Duke of Bejar, whose estates at that time comprised the largest single group of private holdings in Castile, carried on a regular campaign among the lesading titled landowners, whose interests were obviously cen-' tred in the fact that any interference with competition amongj pasturage lessees, such as that by the law of posesion, materially cut down the returns from their estates.^ Finally, as the result of this pressure, the President of the Mesta was induced to instruct the entregadores that no more suits regarding violations of pose- sion or the extension of arable holdings were to be brought against various grandees.' The Fuggers were also concerned over the in- roads which the collective bargaining of Mesta lessees, through posesion, was making in the yield from the pastures of the maes- trazgos. The Mesta temporarily calmed the anxieties of the bankers in 1559 by paying nearly 12,000,000 maravedis, as ad- vance rental for the desirable Calatrava pasturage.* The finan- cial necessities of Philip, like those of his father, made necessary further concessions in favor of the steadily rising agrarian op- position to the sheep owners. The latter were made to bear in- ' Paris Bib. Nat., Res. Oa 198 ter, no. 33. ' Arch. Simancas, Diversos Castilla, no. 1845 (ca. r566). ' Arch. Osuna, Mss. Benavente, caj. 5, no. 13 (1589). * As in most of its important transactions of this sort, the Mesta secured the funds for this loan at the fair of Medina del Campo, probably on security in the shape of receipts for stored wool. Arch. Mesta, C-2, Calatrava, 1559 £E. 334 THE MESTA creasing proportions of the heavy burdens of taxation which mounted higher each year. Philip's straitened circumstances during and after the decade 1560-70, already noted elsewhere/ made necessary the alcabala de yerbas or impost upon pasturage rentals, to which the Mesta objected strenuously, but, for the most part, with Uttle effect.^ The various royal ofl&cials were no longer successful in helping the Mesta to enforce the anti-enclosure edicts. The towns had openly refused to countenance the jurisdiction of the scores of special royal inquisitors and pasturage investigators, and by the middle of the reign trust in their aid had been abandoned. The corregidores were openly partial to local interests, as they had been in the case of town taxes on the Mesta, and for the same reasons.' There was a further explanation of this in the fact that enclosures of town commons were frequently used as a means of raising the funds for the salary of the corregidor, and the interest of the latter in the success and extension of such enclosures was therefore obvious.* It is quite clear, then, that although according to the statutes of the realm the Mesta was in absolute command of the agrarian situation, the actual circumstances were very different indeed. Royal licenses to cultivate and enclose were being handed out on every pretext: to raise funds for the equipment of the Armada,' to pay the new millones tax,^ to cover the salaries of other officials in addition to the corregidor, or " to lessen the area of untilled land and thus to destroy the refuges of wolves and foxes." '' It was merely a question of time until the Mesta's cherished priv- ilege of posesion should begin to lose its magic. By 1566 the local non-Mesta sheep owners were claiming the right to enjoy posesion,' thus effectually obstructing the estabhshment of per- petual occupancy of local pasturage by the Mesta. Even the gild of the carreteros, or teamsters, which had been organized along 1 See above, pp. 285-286. ' See above, p. 230. 2 Arch. Mesta, C-2, CAceres, 1558 ff. ■• Arch. Mesta, A-2, Agreda, 1562. ' Ibid., C-9, Coroni], 1588. ' Ibid., A-8, Armallones, 1592. ' Ibid., C-3, Carrete Real, 1585. « Arch. Hist. Nac, Consejo Execi, leg. 48, 19 November, 1566. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 33S national lines after the manner of the Mesta by Ferdinand and Isabella, was now granted special pasturage privileges, including the right to enclose parts of town commons for the purpose of cultivating fodder.^ The Mesta fought, at first confidently, but before long frantic- ally, against the steadily rising tide of opposition, using all of the once powerful advantages at its disposal. By means of heavy loans to the crown during the crucial decades before the Armada, the Mesta was able to secure leases,in successive four-year periods, of the extensive pastures in Leon and Estremadura. These lands, which had once belonged to the military Order of Alcantara, were now held by the crown; the rental paid by the Mesta — nearly 85,000,000 maravedis for each four-year period — was enough to hold off Philip's (Jenoese bankers and also pay part of the heavy costs of the naval preparations previous to Lepanto and the sailing of the Armada.^ It will be recalled that in 1568 the title to the appointment and income of the entregadores was ac- quired by the Mesta. This was followed immediately by a marked speeding up of the campaigns of these itinerant justices against local enclosures. Offending peasants were sought out all over Castile, and for a time the accoimts of the Mesta show comfort- able credit items each year under the heading " condemnations for cultivation." ' Much of the prosperity of the Mesta's treasury during the succeeding decades was due tb the regular returns from this source. There can be no doubt that to a considerable extent — just how far, there is unfortunately no means of finding out — the Mesta continued the traditions established during the first decades of the sixteenth century and retarded agriculture by aU the means ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 40 (1552-99); Nov. Recap., lib. 7, tit. 28, leyes 1-6. See above, pp. 22-23. ' Arch. Mesta, A-4, Alcantara, 1561 ff.: an itemized account oif the dealings between the Mesta, the king, and the latter's Genoese bankers. Toward the close of Philip's reign an arrangement was made by which the Mesta paid a rental of io,ooo maravedis a year for every 1000 sheep pastured on these lands. Ibid., Prov. i, 90 (1599). ' For example, the manuscript Accounts of the organization in the course of the isSo's give the Mesta's share (one-third) of such condemnations at over a million maravedis a year. 336 THE MESTA within its once considerable power. For a time it was still moder- ately effective in this endeavor, especially against the smaller and more remotely situated private and public landholders — the peasants and the isolated villages. The increasing volume of denunciation which was being hurled at the Mesta by its op- ponents and critics, and the unrestricted character of its royal concessions, have given rise to the supposition that the havoc wrought by that organization was at its worst during the reign of ', Phihp II. As a matter of fact, the evidence seems to show that Ithe real reason for the complaints against the sheep owners was ilnot oppression on their part, but expansion, both actual and 1 prospective, on the part of the local agricultural interests. The latter represented, broadly speaking, the movement to enclose common lands for local pastoral as well as arable activities. Re- dress against the decisions of the entregadores was now available for the townsmen in the chancUlerias, which had opened a way for retribution to all opponents of the Mesta. During and after the last decade of Philip's reign the scores of decisions rendered each year on enclosure charges, brought by the Mesta's attorneys, were almost uniformly in favor of the defendants, who were rapidly learning to pool their interests and the costs of their litiga- tions. Furthermore, the financial distress of the crown gave to the Mesta's opponents quite as much of an advantage as it did to that organization, and, as indicated, the towns frequently cap- itahzed this opportunity. At least as early as 1575 agriculture was undoubtedly beginning to suffer from the distress which was later to turn to ruin.^ But in the combination of causes which contributed toward this, the Mesta was not first, nor even among the first. It cannot, of course, be absolved entirely, for the migratory flocks contributed their share of the devastation. Other causes were, however, far more potent: emigration to America and to the cities, excessive taxa- tion, and the spread of mayorazgos (a form of large scale land- holding by the nobility). Probably the chief cause of agricultural • Cf . Ansiaux, op. cil., in Remie d'iconomie politique, June, 1893, p. 562; Raymond Bona, Le proUime mercantiliste en Espagne au XVII' sUcle (Bordeaux, 191 1), p. 60. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 337 decline was the persistence of the very enclosures for which the towns had fought so stubbornly: ox pastures, local swine fields, and grazing meadows for non-migratory sheep, all of which were preserved by antiquated ordinances and cherished mediaeval town charters.! The pastoral industry played its part in this J dismal process of agrarian decay, but it was the sedentary branch of it, rather than the Mesta. The organization of migrating herdsmen was fast losing its effectiveness; its power and prestige had most certainly been broken for all time a generation before the end of the sixteenth century. The depressing annals of Spain's economic decadence in the seventeenth century contain few episodes more dreary than the seemingly interminable struggle of the Mesta to regain its lost standing and to enforce some of its ancient claims to the pasture lands of the south and west. A succession of extravagant con- firmations of its mediaeval charters was issued by the last three feeble Hapsburgs (i 598-1 700); but the sweeping terms of these decrees, especially the notorious one of 1633, i^ ^o ^^.y repre- sented the actual status of the Mesta with reference to its pas- turage problem, any more than they reflected the impotence of its itinerant judiciary. During this despairing period the crown and its officials proved to be constant friends of the Mesta, but unfortunately nearly useless and very costly ones. Throughout the reign of Philip m (1598-1621) the Mesta was advancing 63,000,000 maravedis a year to the royal exchequer as a rental for the lands of the military orders." For this sorely needed contribution the king could afford to be gracious, to renew old charters, and to elaborate new ones granting special permissions for the further devastation of forests, with privileges to trim branches for fodder " in every dry season." * ' These and other causes for agricultural decay during the generation previous to 1618 are clearly stated in Lope de Deca, Govierno polytico de Agricultura (Madrid, 1618), and in Sancho de Moncada, Restauracidn politica de EspaAa (Madrid, 1619). See also the anonymous Discurso acerca de las . . . causas de la despoblaciin (Madrid, 1842), which presents contemporary views of the same period. ' Paris Bib. Nat., Mss. Esp. 359, fol. 24. ' Arch. Mesta, Provs. ii, 26, 39; iii, 4 (1639, 1655 S.). 338 THE MESTA In this connection, it may be said that it appears not unlikely that the Mesta used its influence with the monarchs to secure the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609. The records of its litigations against individual enclosers of pasturage for arable purposes show, during the last years of the reign of Philip II, a surpris- ingly large number of Morisco defendants. Although a con- siderable part of the Moriscos were peddlers, traders, and mendicants, by far the greater number were peasant agricul- turists. Their expulsion, though explicable and even defensible on some grounds, was nevertheless imquestionably one of the severest losses ever known in Spanish agrarian history. The President of the Mesta proved to be one of its most helpful defenders in this trying period. He secured aid from the Royal Council against speculation in pasturage and to prevent en- closures. He was even able, on one or two occasions, to bring the dreaded power of the Inquisition to the defence of the sheep owners, since he was also connected with that high ecclesiastical court. 1 The Royal Council issued edicts which were designed to aid the Mesta in its difficulties, but were so grotesque in their terms that they were time and again laughed out of the high courts of the realm. Three of these edicts might be mentioned as illustrations: that of 1604, which declared that all cultivated enclosures not twenty years old were to be thrown open to the Mesta flocks; that of 1658, which inaugurated the practice of granting the Mesta a moratorium on its pasturage rentals for six or more months;^ and that of 1690, which fixed aU pasturage prices at the figures prevalent in 1 633 .' These are but three of the many examples which might be cited to illustrate the futility of effort to legislate into existence agrarian conditions favorable to the Mesta.* To accept such pronouncements at their face value, or to assume that they represented the real power of the Mesta, would be even more seriously misleading than has been the ac- ceptance of similar documents of the reign of Philip II. By 1570 or 1580 there was an obvious discrepancy between the prestige 1 Aich. Mest^, A-Q, Antillo, 1614 ff.; Paris Bib. Nat., Res. Oa 198 ter, no. 33. ^ Arch. Mesta, Prov. ii, 50. ' Ibid., Prov. i, 99 (1604); Arch. Ayunt. Burgos, Ms. no. 1059 (1680). * Cf. Nueva Recop., lib. 3, tit. 14. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 339 ascribed to the Mesta by various royal decrees and the actual strength of that body. By 1640 or 1650 this contrariety between written laws and actual fact was no longer simply obvious; it had become ludicrous. A prolonged campaign of propaganda in defence of the Mesta's hopeless claims to pasturage privileges had been carried on at the royal court,i in the halls of the Cortes, and throughout the king- dom. The agitation was being carried on, not only publicly by means of such widely discussed defences of the Mesta as that written by the former entregador, Caxa de Leruela,^ but also less conspicuously through such devices as lavish distributions of alms in towns whose Cortes deputies showed signs of being hostile.' Olivarez, the approachable minister of Philip IV, was consulted in 1 63 1, and finally, with his powerful backing, the most notorious of all the Mesta's royal charters of privileges was promulgated in March, 1633.* This edict of 1633 marked the theoretical zenith of the Mesta's pasturage privileges. By it, the organization was given full juris- diction over the entire pastoral industry. Local, non-migratory sheep owners were subject to the fines and other molestations of officials of the Mesta, but without the enjoyment of any of its privileges. The old rule of posesi6n, which had been rapidly be- coming a dead letter, was renewed. All land turned from pasture to arable during the period 1 590-1633 was to be reconverted to pasturage at once. Royal commissioners were appointed to keep records of the existing agrarian situation, to prevent all extensions of enclosures, and to require royal licenses for any cultivation. But in spite of all these elaborate precautions, this decree of 1633, like the others that had gone before or were to come after, proved futile, chiefly because the Cortes soon saw to it that the local justices were given a large measure of control over its enforce- ment.* The Mesta had ostentatiously voted to confer the title of * There is a lengthy memorial presented to the crown in 1619 in the Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. no. 2350. Other references are given in the Concordia de 1783, i, fol. 366. 2 La AbundanciadeEspafia Q^aples, 1631; Madrid, 1632). ' See above, p. 289. * Nuesa Recop., lib. 7, tit. 7, ley 27. ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. ii, 17 (1639). 340 THE MESTA ' El Grande ' upon Philip, but this in no way checked the denun- ciation and ridicule which were directed at his " preposterous affront to the agricultural and pastoral rights of the towns." ^ The towns were quite able to take care of themselves, so far as they wished to be taken care of, which, most imfortunately for the economic advancement of Castile, was not far. Nothing that the Mesta and its royal charters did, or could do, had any serious effect, either favorable or otherwise, upon the agrarian situation. In the course of the first generation of this century, in spite of its being the ' century of decadence,' there were hopeful evidences of an increased agricultural activity in various parts of the realm. The requests of the impoverished crown for new votes of the millones subsidy from the Cortes were met with demands for more Hcenses not simply to enclose, but to cultivate pasturage.'' These permissions were granted, and as a further guarantee to the towns against molestation, the entregadores were forbidden to hear cases involving enclosures of vineyards. They were soon ordered to refrain from hearing cases involving any question of enclosure or cultivation.' The Mesta protested with solemnity against the " immorality " of wine-growing. It warned the crown of the rapid disappearance of royal revenues from the wool trade.^ The sovereign, however, was more interested in the Cortes' votes of the millones subsidies than in the desirabiUty of temperance or in a waning income from wool tariffs. His Maj- esty's Council was quite ready to comply with the request of its senior member, the President of the Mesta, and to issue broadly worded pragmdticas ' protecting ' the pasturage of the Mesta. ' Arch. Hist. Nac, Consejo Expedientes, leg. 48, 1633: a denunciation of this edict by the Duke of Bejar on behalf of the cities and towns of Estremadura. * Arch. Hist. Nac, Consejo Exped., leg. 48, 1627: a discussion by Antonio del Rio of the marked increase in agriculture as a result of the millones concessions favoring enclosures in 1609 and after. ' Nueva Recop., lib. 3, tit. 14, ley ult., cap. 12; Arch. Mesta, A-6, Almazan, 1636. See also the very rare volume by CoUantes y Avellaneda, Commmtariorum pragmaticae in favorem rei frumentariae libri Ires (Madrid, 1614), upon the spread of agriculture as the result of these millones concessions of 1601 and 1604. * Arch. Mesta, A-g, Avila, 1657; Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. no. 2350 (1619): a memorial to the crown complaining of the widespread extension of enclosures and the disastrous effects of the millones concessions. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 34I Nevertheless the constituents of the Cortes deputies also must be satisfied with enclosure hcenses and limitations upon pasturage for migratory flocks. The outcome was a steady succession of contradictory edicts, licenses, and privileges, the real value of which was entirely dependent upon the ability of the recipients to protect their interests and enforce their concessions. It should not be presxmied that the enclosures mentioned were invariably for agricultural purposes, though a considerable por- tion of them were intended for vineyards. The rise of the migra- tory pastoral industry in the course of the sixteenth century had been viewed with undisguised envy by the non-migratory local sheep owners. The success of the pastoral legislation of the Catholic Kings and the Emperor Charles had fired the ambi- tions of sedentary herdsmen; as soon as the closing decades of Philip II's reign brought increased confidence to the towns in their conflict with the Mesta, the non-migratory riberiegos and es- tantes became more conspicuous. Claims were entered in the Cortes in behalf of the sedentary flocks; the Fuggers were leas- ing large wooded areas of crown lands to them ^ and the havoc of deforestation was thus given a new impetus. In Baeza (near Cordova) alone, there were some 78,000 estantes in 1639, the greater part of the number having come during the previous five years; and other Andalusian and Estremaduran towns were s imila rly interested in the industry .^ In view of this development of the non-migratory pastoral activities, it is not surprising that the Mesta made every effort to bring the riberiegos and other local herdsmen under its control. Some of the provisions of the pragmaticas of 1609 and 1633 were intended to accompHsh this, but proved quite ineffective. The Mesta was further distressed by the Portuguese wars of 1640-41, which badly disrupted its operations by driving the migrants from their accustomed canadas and pastures. What few vestiges of respect for the fiction of posesion were still remaining • Acad. Hist., Salazar Mss., X-i, fols. 16 and 352 fE.: a memorial on the pastur- age situation in part of Estremadura in 1602. On the relations between the crown and the Fuggers, see above, p. 282. ^ Arch. Mesta, B-i, Baeza, 1639: data presented in court by local authorities. 342 THE MESTA in the pasturage regions seem to have been wiped out during the confusion and readjustments of this period.^ The now practic- ally impotent entregadores ^ were busy for two decades making futile efforts to secure rights of way and pasturage for the flocks and to protect the shepherds from arrest for trespassing on the enclosures of every wayside town.* The reign of the last and most incompetent of the Hapsburgs brought no respite for the Mesta. Far from being an era of complete triumph for the migratory pastoral industry, as it has been represented by some economists, the period of Charles II was a time of impotence and mockery for the ancient gild of sheep owners. To say that " 4,000,000 Mesta sheep " migrated as " undisputed masters over the desolate plains of Castile " * im- plies a condition of aggressive vigor and of predominance over the agrarian situation on the part of that organization which was very far from the actual state of affairs. As a matter of fact, its flocks seldom exceeded 2,000,000 at any time during the last half of the seventeenth century, and usually fell far below that num- ber.^ Furthermore, each year from 1685 onward its accoimt books showed a condition of imminent bankruptcy. The extrava- gant but ineffective pragmatica of 1633 was renewed by the edict of 1680,^ which also imdertook to restore the pasturage prices of the earlier decree.' It is significant, however, that the terms of the decree of 1680 were not generally annoimced for some years, because of the hopelessness of the situation. Even the critics and opponents of the decrepit Mesta began to pity it.* It was quite true that by the end of the seventeenth century agriculture had given way to sheep raising all over Castile; but it was the sedentary pastoral industry, which was in no way what- ' Expediente de 1771, pt. 2, fol. 65. ' Nueca Recop., lib. 3, tit. 14, ley 4, restricted their jurisdiction over enclosures. ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. ii, 261 (1641 ff.). * Ansiaux in the Revue d'economie politique, December, 1893. Similar opinions are expressed by Colmeiro, ii, p. 168; Weiss, op. cit., ii, p. 102; Cos-Gayon, in Re- vista de Espana, x, pp. s~39- ' Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, 1685 £E. ' Arch. Hist. Nac., Consejo Exped., leg. 48, 1680. ' Arch. Ayunt. Burgos, Ms. no. 1059. ' Concordia de 1783, i, fol. 269. COLLAPSE OF TEE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 343 ever connected with the Mesta. Instead of being regulated and controlled by the monarchy, through a highly centralized body] the wool growing industry absorbed the attentions and energy of every CastUian peasant. It was now allowed to run riot through-; out the land and to annihilate almost the last vestiges of agricull ture that still remained. The wool trade, which had previously been handled to the satisfaction of buyers and sellers alike, through the efficient Mesta agencies at Medina del Campo, Bvirgos, and Bilbao, fell into confusion, and the individual sheep owners were easily exploited by foreign buyers. After 1700 the economic and military disturbances incident to the war of the Spanish Succession brought a renewal of the Mesta's pleas which had first been heard in the Portuguese war of 1640-41. There were plaintive requests for new guarantees of pasturage privileges, for grants of public lands " to recoup the national industry," and for protection against local officials, who were emboldened by war conditions and were harassing the herds- men with fines for trespassing. The new Bourbon monarchy, accustomed to the French mercantilism of Louis XIV and his great premier, Colbert, promptly indorsed the petitions of an organization which had once been so valuable an associate of absolute monarchs. Posesi6n was renewed, and pasturage ren- tals were put back to the figures of 1692,^ with the privilege of pajdng in instalments during periods of drought.^ Furthermore, the judicial body known as the Sola de Mil y Quinientas, which was closely connected with the Royal Council and was therefore friendly to the Mesta, became the court of final appeal for pas- turage disputes.' Finally, as a means of securing that administra- tive concentration so dear to the Bourbon heart, and of checking the dangerous forces of separatism, the Mesta was in 1726 given full right to exercise all of its privileges, including posesion, in Aragon. It was especially encouraged to incorporate in its or- ganization the migratory pastoral industry of such Aragonese > Joaqiifn Costa, Cohctimsmo Agrario, p. 481. ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. ii, 7 (1753); iv, 19 (i7S3)- ' See above, p. 129. Brieva, Coleccidn, p. 68; Escolano de Arrieta, Prdctica del Consejo Real, ii, p. 116: decree of 1748. 344 THE MESTA towns as Albarracin, Daroca, and Teruel.* This was part of the general plan for centralization which had begun with the suppres- sion of the uprising in Aragon and the extinction of its Cortes.'' The first two Bourbons were clearly intent upon taking a leaf from the agrarian poHcy of the sixteenth-century autocrats, and to that end they lost no opportunity to exploit the Mesta poUt- ically as weU as economically.' But the autocratic aspirations of such well intentioned though not brilliant administrators as PhiUp V and Ferdinand VI were far from adequate for the great task of rehabilitating the ancient prestige of the graziers. The j rural Hf e of the whole of Spain was being radically transformed, 'and even the genius of a Colbert could not have turned back the 'tide. The country was in fact experiencing an agrarian awakening 1 which was strikingly like that occurring contemporaneously in England. There the spread of the new industriaUsm gave strength to the copyholder's plea that the substitution of small scale farm- ing for large scale grazing was the only solution of the country's food problem. So too in Castile, the population was growing steadily imder the fostering care of Bourbon mercantiHsm, and the demands for arable land became more and more insistent.* The older field or hoja systems, and particularly the antiquated pasturage regulations, were impatiently brushed aside.' Royal Hcenses permitting enclosures of commons for cultivation were acquired on all sides. In one investigation covering the period ' Arch. Mesta, A-3, Albarradn, 1726. The way had been prepared for this by a decree of Charles II, issued in 1693, giving the Mesta the right to enforce some of its laws in Aragon. ^ The Spanish Cortes session of 1724 was the first to include the entire king- dom, except Navarre, which had its own legislature until after the Napoleonic wars. ' Several of the privileges mentioned were conferred only after payments of forced loans by the Mesta members. Cf. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 9; Concordia de 1783, i, fol. 84; and Brieva, Coleccidn, pp. 69, 71-72. * Rudolf Leonhard, AgrarpoUtik und Agrarreform in Spanien unter Carl III. (Munich, 1909), p. 258. ' A good example of this trend from pasturage to arable during the first third of this century is found in the Ordenanzas de Burgos (Madrid, 1747), pp. 149 £E. A very fair and comprehensive statement of this change is also found in the famous Memorial ajustado sobre los danos . . . la AgricuUura (Madrid, 1784), pp. 144 fE. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 345 from 1 71 2 to about 1750, it was found by the dejected oflScials of the Mesta that 173 towns in Castile alone had secured such per- mits and had actually made use of them.^ With such widespread inroads upon its pasturage, the final period of the Mesta's exist- ence seemed at hand, and the coming of Charles III to the Span- ish throne in 1759 hastened the end. We have already noted the valuable experience which that monarch had had in his Neapolitan reakn in dealing with the problems of a migratory pastoral industry.^ Within a year after his accession it became evident that he proposed to use aU the powers of his enlightened despotism to settle this question of the ancient hostility between CastiHan herdsmen and husbandmen. It also became clear at once that the settlement was not to take the shape of a rehabilitated Mesta. After a preUminary adjust- ment of certain pasturage quarrels between the migratory and the sedentary flocks in Estremadura,' the vital question of what was to be done with the Mesta was taken up. In 1761 the Royal Council began the work of agrarian reform by voting that munic- ipalities had in every case the right to dispose of their own com- mons.* This brought forth an immediate protest from the Mesta, and the struggle was on. Charles himself then took a hand and authorized successively two exhaustive investigations of the pastoral problem. The results of the first inquiry appeared in 1771. Those of the second, which was conducted by Charles's famous prime minister, Campomanes, senior member of the Royal Council and therefore President of the Mesta from April, 1779, were published in two bulky volumes in 1783.^ These were intended not as arraignments of the Mesta, but as presentations of all the known facts regarding its past and present methods and its effects upon agriculture. The hearings were fair and were ' Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 6, 1742 ff. The investigation did not take up those places "where land was not actually cultivated and kept enclosed for several years.'' Most of the 173 towns were in the southern and western pasturage areas. * See above, pp. 132, 293. ' Brieva, ColecciSn, p. no. ' Cos-Gayon, in Remsta de Espana, x, p. 8. " See below, p. 414. The Library of the Hispanic Society of America has several broadsides of instructions issued by Charles III to town officials, requiring the presentation of evidence for these investigations. 346 THE MESTA conducted with that rare insight into the fundamentals of the problem which has marked Campomanes as one of the most dis- tinguished of European economists. It is to be hoped, indeed, that justice may soon be done to the great Spaniard, and that he may be given his proper ranking very close to the exalted posi- tion of his distinguished contemporary, Adam Smith, with whom he had much in common. The results of these proceedings were inevitable : posesion was abolished in 1 786 ; the artificial determination of pasturage prices upon the basis of older rates was made illegal; and the office of alcalde entregador, which had been so constantly useful in the campaigns of the Mesta in the defense of its pasturage privileges, was extinguished.^ Thus with a series of sharp and accurate blows the battered shell of the Mesta's empty pretensions of mastery over agrarian Castile was brought down in ruins. During the last decades of the Mesta's long history, only rem- iniscent echoes were heard of the past conflicts over pasturage. The regular oscillations of Spanish political leadership from spas- modic reactionary monarchism to radical parliamentarism in- evitably affected the affairs of the Mesta. In such periods of attempted autocracy as the reigns of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII, the hopes of some of the old clique of sheep owners rose high, and the old methods were revived. For example, in 1793, a sub- sidy of 1,000,000 reales was voted to Charles IV out of the Mesta's treasury " for the urgent needs of the French war." ^ Similar sub- sidies, though of smaller amounts, were voted to Ferdinand VII, notably one in 181 5, when he presided in person over the Mesta and later presented to it a portrait of himself as a memorial of the occasion.' The royal concessions which were naturally called for by these subsidies demonstrate clearly the hopeless stagnation of Spanish agrarian conditions. It would seem that nothing had been accomplished, no permanent advance made for the past two hundred years. Everything that ' See above, p. 134. ' Arch. Mesta, Expediente formado sobre la cobranza (imp. Madrid, 1817). ' This portrait, a full length, life size representation, now hangs in the assembly room in the Madrid house of the Asociaci6n General de Ganaderos, where the meeting of 1815 took place. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 347 Charles III and Campomanes had patiently striven for and achieved seemed swept aside by such edicts as those of 1796, 1814, and 1824. These laws revived parts of the notorious prag- matica of 1633 and gave the President of the Mesta and his as- sistants (subdelegados) the right to regulate all extensions of arable land. A decree promulgated in 1799 granted extensive moratoria to migrant herdsmen for the settlement of pasturage accounts, while those of 1804 and 18 14 fixed pasturage rentals upon the basis of those paid in 1652 and 1692.1 Once more it is necessary, however, to recaU the now familiar distinction between the written laws and their actual apphcation, for these docxmients of 1 796-18 24 by no means reflected the actual situation. Like many of their predecessors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they were simply the effusions of vain and incompetent autocrats, who were doubtless flattered by the confidence of the Mesta ofl&cials and found some empty comfort in the resoimding phrases of these decrees regarding the reestab- lishment of the old regime. The propaganda for bettered agrarian conditions, which had been so ably begun in the educational campaign of Campomanes, was renewed with vigor and equal abihty by Melchor de Jove- llanos. This brilliant theorist kept alive the interests of the people in the agrarian question, notably by his great classic, the In- forme sobre la Ley agraria, first pubhshed in the Memorias of the Sociedad Economica de Madrid in 1795. This and later publica- tions of the same society enunciated for the first time in Spain the idea of a system of liberated agrarian development, unrestricted by all the ancient trappings of mediaeval gild regulations and antiquated privileges. If the migratory pastoral industry was economically sound, Jovellanos declared that it would survive without such obsolete and artificial support. If it must have its ancient paraphernalia in order to survive, then the country could not afford to be encumbered by it. When the first rays of parUamentary liberaUsm shone forth from the sessions of the Cortes at Cadiz in 181 2, it became evident that the educational labors of Campomanes and Jovellanos had ' Brieva, Coleccidn, pp. 266, 29s, 321. 338, 446; Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 25, ley 13. 348 THE MESTA not been in vain. In 1813 the right to enclose town commons was for the first time recognized ia the law of the land.^ The debates of the delegates indicated clearly that as soon as constitutional government became a permanent fixture in Spanish politics, the Mesta and its privileges would be entirely swept aside. Finally, there came the last desperate efforts of the reactionaries, with the encouragement and armed support offered to them in 1823-24 by France at the behest of the Holy AlHance. Exhausted Spain then turned in desperation toward liberalism. The reforms of 1834 and 1836 restored most of the Uberties asserted by the revolution- ary Cadiz Cortes of 181 2, and among these measures were several which effectively and finally liberated the pastoral industry from the utterly useless incubus of the Mesta. On the 31st of January, 1836, the use of that name was forbidden, and in the following May the Asociacion General de Ganaderos del Reino, comprising all the stock owners of the kingdom, was established and was given general charge of aU pastoral industries.'* This trade as- sociation, for such it is in fact, is now maintained in a flourishing condition through contributions from its members and from the government. It devotes its energies to the prosecution of scien- tific investigations of problems connected with cattle and sheep raising, to the dissemination of the results of these studies throughout the land, to the stamping out of stock diseases and animal pests, and to the introduction of better breeding and stock raising methods.* The transhvimantes have by no means disappeared as the re- sult of this legislation. In fact, after declining during the middle decades of the nineteenth century to about half a million, their number began to increase in the course of the economic reawaken- ing of Spain after 1890, so that by 1910 they totalled about i ,500,- 000 out of the 14,000,000 sheep of Spain. Most of these no longer follow their old canadas, which have largely been enclosed.* ' Colmeiro, ii, p. loo, n. i; Altamira, Propiedad Comunal, p. 261. ^ Coleccidn de Leyes . . . de Agricullura, 1833-1866 (Madrid, 1866), pp. 69-71. ' An interesting feature of the policies of the Asociaci6n is its refusal to partici- pate in any way in the heavily capitalized industry of raising fighting buUs for the national sport. * The Asociaci6n de Ganaderos published in 1855-58 a series of Informes in- dicating such canadas and other highways as were open for the use of sheep. COLLAPSE OF THE PASTURAGE PRIVILEGES 349 Instead they use special types of small three-decked railway cars with a capacity of about a hundred sheep each. These are op- erated during the ancient semiannual periods of migration over lines that follow, in many instances, the routes of the abandoned canadas.i The Mesta, with its imposing hosts of migrating thousands, its tyrannous pasturage rights, its entregadores, and its mediaeval privileges, has disappegreJ/But the merino sheep which it developed and gave to the world has gone forth and en- riched the pastoral industry of every continent. Today in their native Castile the merino flocks number nearly five-fold what they were in the greatest days of the Mesta. ^ See the excellent map o{ these railway routes and of the present distribution of the industry by Andrfi Fribourg in Annates de giographie, 15 May, 1910, plate xivb. CONCLUSION The historj' of the !Mcsta is not merely a clironicle iUustrating the perennial and uni\crsal struggle between agricultural and pas- toral interests. The institution had a marked effect upon the social and economic organization of tlie Spanish people, and even upon tlie physical aspect of the peninsula. Its six centuries of acti\'ity in the agrarian life of Castile aggravated the depressing problems of deforestation, rural depopulation, and agricultural stagnation. There is even reason to believe that the Mesta was a party to such unfortunate economic blunders as- the expulsions of the Jews and tlie Jloriscos. The fiscal and agricultural activi- ties of these two classes had long been aimoying and at times injurious to tlie sheep owners. In fact, the connection between the ]Mesta and the loss of valuable taxpayers was the first aspect of the migratory sheep industry that attracted the attention of Campomanes, the eighteenth-century reformer, who gave the JMesta its death blow. That great mercantilist promptly pointed to the depopulation of rural Castile as the most serious charge to be brought against the devastating sheep migrations. Further- more, the political history of Spain would have been very different had there been no Mesta to yield large revenues and adminis- trative power to ambitious kings. The social and economic de- velopment of Castile would have been along other lines had the class distinctions between migratory herdsmen and sedentary husbandmen not been so sharply accentuated, and had the pas- toral policy of such strong monarchs as Ferdinand and Isabella not been so triimiphantly successfuL With all due regard for the influence of the Mesta during the first three centuries of its history, we must avoid the dangerous pitfall into which many recent investigators have fallen, namely the assumption that the earUer triumphs of the organization went on in an ascending scale during the seventeenth century. It is true that the disastrous effects of those triumphs — deforesta- tion, depopulation, agrarian decay — were destined to continue Ml 3S2 rfffl ifESTA for centuries. Nevertheless, so far as tie ^^e5^a itself is con- cerned, it must be remembered that the v^irious unrestricted and sweeping indorsements of it which vrere L For other instances of the assessment of sheep taxes and fees in the form of cheese, see above, p. 144. ' An instance of the use of a term which was to become more common in the overseas colonies than in the mother country. APPENDIX B Extracts from the Ordinakces of the Town Mesta OF Granada, 15 March, 1520 Arch. Mesta, G-i, Granada, 1533 The essential features of the rules governing the local organization of the shepherds and sheep owners of Granada for the purpose of sorting out strays and disposing of ownerless animals were similar to those of the tJbeda ordinances of 1376, which are given above. Both sets of laws were adopted by the local authorities, were confirmed by the royal courts and by the crown; both made compulsory the attendance of all stock owners at the semiannual mestas or meetings to segregate strays {mestenos) ; both required the branding of all animals, and fixed penal- ties for altering brands and for failure to present at the mesta any ani- mals bearing strange brands. The following excerpts from the Granada ordinances of 1520 present certain additional details which illustrate the administration of a typical local mesta of the sixteenth century. Otrosy, que todos los dichos senores de ganado desta cibdad e sus vUlas e aldeas, que jimten el primero domingo de setyenbre en cada un ano en esta cibdad, e por ante el escribano nonbren quatro personas, e dellas ehga el cabildo desta cibdad dos personas para la dicha mesta, los quales se presenten en el cabildo e aynntamiento de esta cibdad e hagan aUi el juramento e solenidad que para ellos estuviere hordenado que deuan hazer. E estos sean los alcaldes de la dicha mesta por tienpo de dos anos; e que nonbren para ello de las personas mas abUes e su- ficientes; que les pareciere cada uno cabefa de ha to; e que no ayan sido alcalde en el ano de antes. Yten, que Ics dichos alcaldes que ansy fuesen nonbrados o quale- squier dellos por sy pueden conocer de todos los pleytos que ovieren entre los dichos senores de ganado e rabadanes e pastores sobre ello contenido en estas dichas hordenanzas sobre las penas en que obieren yncurrido haziendo alguna cosa contralo en ellas contenydas. E puedan executar estas hordenanzas agora sea de pedimiento de parte o haziendo de su oficio. Otrosy hordenamos e mandamos que qualquier senor de ganado pastor obiere contyenda con otro sobre ganado o dependiente dello, 364 ORDINANCES OF GRANADA 365 que la demande ante los alcaldes de la mesta a quien pertenece al conocimiento dello. E sy ante otro juez enplazare o demandare que pague de pena seys cientos maravedis. Otrosy hordenamos e mandamos que todbs los senores de hatos e rabadanes de ovejas, cabras vacas sean tenudos de parecer el postrero dia de pasqua de navidad, el dia de los ynocentes, de cada ano ante los alcaldes de la mesta; e que en aquel dia senalen las cabanas e se den espacio e largas donde se haga y asyenten cada una. E por quentar las diferencias que puede aver algunas vezes sobre el dicho senala- miento, hordenamos e mandamos que sy dos o mas personas quisieren cabe^a de hate senalaren en el mysmo lugar, que el que oviere casa o tierra suya en aquel lugar que de que los otros vayan a otra parte. E sy touieren todos casas o tierras o no la tovieren los unos ny los otros senalando todos, aquel dia o despues en un tienpo que echen suertes entre eUos, e aquel que cupiere la suerte que aquel quede aUi. . . . Otrosy hordenamos que qualquier que touiere arriba de myll e quinientos ovejas paridas puede senalar dos cauanas jurando el seflor del ganado o el rabadan que las tyene. E sy touiere mas, que no puede senalar mas de dos cabanas f asta que todos los otros ayan senalado y esten proueydos. Yten hordenamos que todo el tienpo que estouiere la cabana asen- tada le guarden su repasto hasta en fin del mes de mayo e ocho dias mas . . . fasta mediado el mes de junio, so pena de seys cientos maravedis. Otrosy hordenamos que nyngun senor de ganado ny su rabadan ny pastor no sean osados de coger ni sonsacar ( ?) pastor alguno que otro tenga en su hato en todo el ano, salvo que todo el mes de mayo que lo pueda acoger syn pena algima, e no antes ny despues so pena de seys cientos maravedis. Pero que si el tal pastor estoviere cogido con su amo para adelante e le tuvieren dada fazia (fianza ?) de estar con el, e si su amo se concertare con el antes que saiga de su casa, que en qual- quier de estos casos sea obligado de quedar con su amo e por ello no yncurra pena alguna. Otrosy que nyngun senor de ganado ni pastor ni rabadan sea osado de acoger ni sonsacar pastor que esta con otro e le tenga hecha finzia (fianza ?) o avenida soldada con el, so pena de seys cientos maravedis; e que el pastor que estando cogido o tubiere hecha fiazia o avenida soldada se quitare dello e no lo cunpliere, yncurra en pena de seys cientos maravedis; e mas que no gane soldada a pastoria en esta cibdad ny n su tierra en todo aquel ano. 366 APPENDIX B Otrosy que qualquier pastor que diere finzia (fianza ?) de estar con su amo o con otro persona como dicho es que sy no ygualare soldada con el que esta con el e que el tal senor pague su soldada a rrespeto e como estubo el amo pasado; e que aquello se le de e pague salvo sy a los dichos alcaldes paresciere que se le deve dar mas. Otrosy por quanto muchas vezes acahece que muchos hazen daflo e lo hechen a otro; por ende hordenamos que qualquier pastor que hiziere dano lo hagan saber a su dueno hasta el tercero dia; e que su amo sepa cuyo es el pan o otra cosa en que se hizo el dano; e contente al dueno, por que no emplaze a otro nyngimo por el dicho danno, so pena de trecientos maravedis. Sy alguno hiziere dapno e lo negare afirmando que no lo hizo, e le f uere probado, que yncurrara en pena de seys cientos maravedis, e demas pague al pastor que le fue hechado el dano por mas cercado, todo el dano que le vyno por esta causa doblado; e que savido por el amo de qualquier pastor el dano que hizo, lo haga saber al dueno de la heredad dentro de diez dias, so la misma pena de seys cientos maravedis. Otrosy que nyngun senor de ganado, rabadan, ny pastor no de res alguna de las que tubiere ajenas mesteflas quando la truxeren a la dicha mesta, syn que primeramente las trayga al lugar dyputado e los entreguen a los alcaldes e agan el juramento que deven hazer, so pena de seys cientos maravedis, axmque paresca el dueno verdadero a quien se deva entregar. Yten, que qualquier pastor o otra persona que trassenalare algun ganado o otra qualquier cosa del ato, pague de pena seys cientos mara- vedis; e que sea remitido a la instancia hordinaria para que si el delito fue tal que meresca mayor pena le castiguen conforme a derecho. Yten que las sentencias que dieren los dichos alcaldes de la mesta o qualquier dellos, aimque sea de mas de tres miU maravedis, no se puede apekr, salvo para el cabildo e ayuntamiento desta cibdad; e que alii se haga el proceso e se determine por los dichos juezes brebe e sumaria- mente; e que lo que asy determiniaren no aya lugar apelacion, e se hexecute luego la tal sentencia. Otrosy, hordenamos que qualquier pastor o rabadan que 33^1 Ucenda del senor del hato tomare algxm pellejo o corderinas o serinas, que pague lo que valiere e mas cien maravedis de pena. Yten, que esta cibdad de los mostrencos, sy los oviere que son suyos o de la parte de penas que aqui se contienen que pertenecia aquel parte, que la obhgado a hacer quales quier o de fincio (fianza ?) que para el encerrar de los ganados o para otra qualquier cosa que tocare a lo suso ORDINANCES OF GRANADA 367 dicho f ue menester e a pagar otras qualesquier costas e gastos o salario que les pertenesciere que sobrelo tocante a la dicha mesta e de la guarda e hexecucion destas hordenanzas se deva hazer. Yten que todos los otros lugares de la tierra e Juresdicion desta cibdad, donde no puede concertar a la dicha mesta, porque son anexos della, senalaren esta cibdad de los lugares donde se venian a juntar, para que alii hagan tanbien sus mestas; e sean obligados a guardar estas hordenanzas e lo que a ella tocare, como los mismos vezinos desta dicha cibdad e de las dichas sus viUas e alcanas (alquerias ?). Otrosy, que nyngun rabadan ny pastor ny otra persona trayga muger del partido ni otra mala muger en el ato; e que si se probare que la toviere mas de un ano e un dia, el que la tuvo pague de pena seys cientos maravedis, e la mismas mala muger otros tantos; e que sy no lo pagaren le sean dado cien azotes; e que el senor del ganado o el rabadan que la consyentere o otro en el ato, pague otra tanta pena como el que la truxo. Otrosy, que el rrecomedero o tierra que oviere menester cada cavana despues de asentada, como dicho es, se lo seflale persona del cabildo e ayuntamiento desta dicha cibdad conforme al ganado que truxere en la dicha cavana, e que no pueda apropriarse asy el senor del ganado de mas tierra ny recomedero de lo que le fue senalado por el dicho dipu- tado, el qual vaya a costa de cuyo f uere el ganado. . . . Otrosy, que la dicha mesta que agora nuebamente se suplica a Su Majestad que aya en esta cibdad e re)mo de Granada, no sea suxeta a la mesta rreal, ni les puedan pedir ni apremiar ni Uamar para njmguna cosa tocante a la dicha mesta real, syno que ellos . . . guarden las hordenanjas arriba contenydas e no sean obligados a cosa nynguna de mas de lo que en ellas contenido; e que sean avidos por ribediegos (riberiegos ?) conforme al previlegio de tJbeda, quanto a la dicha li- bertad de ribediegos (riberiegos ?).' Yten que el escriuano del cabildo desta cibdad esta presente al hazer de las dichas mestas, e por ante el se hagan los procesos que los al- caldes de la mesta hizieren en hexecucion destas hordenanzas; e que en su ausencia pueda el nonbrar otro escriuano de los del numero desta cibdad ante quien presente todo lo suso dicho syendo el escriuano que nonbrare acontentamiento desta cibdad. ' On the conflicts between the local mestas, representing the riberiegos (non- migratory flocks), and the national Mesta of the transhumantes, see above, pp. 13 ff. APPENDIX C A Concession from Ferdinand IV or Castile to the Convent of THE Holy Trinity of Medina del Campo, 6 April, 1304, Granting Jurisdiction over Strays (Mostrencos) Arch. Mesta, M-2, Medina, 1547; not printed in Benavides, Memorias de D. Fernando IV (Madrid, i860, 2 wis) Don Hernando, per la gracia de Dios Rey de Castilla, de Toledo, de Gallizia, de Leon, de Seuilla, de Cordoua, de Murcia, de Jaem [sic[, del Algarue, de Algecira, y Senor de Viscaya e de Molina, e a todos los concejos, alcaldes, jurados, jueces e Justicias, alguaziles, merinos, comendadores, e a todos los otros aporteUados de nuestros re)Tios que esta nuestra carta vieren salud e gracia. Sepades que Fray Domingo de la horden de la Santa Trenidad y ministro de la casa de Toledo e prouincial en los nuestros reynos y en el reyno de Portugal, se me querrello que algunos que andauan en las- demandas de ultramarinas y en la demanda de la cruzada, que en- bargan la su demanda, que es para sacar cautivos de tierra de mores, e que ponen en las yglesias por tres domingos con sus fiestas y con cartas que ganauan en la mi chanciUeria, en que dizen que la dicha. horden que no ay demanda ningima, ni preuillegio de los santos padres appostolicos, ny cartas de los reyes donde yo vengo. Y en esto que dizen su volimtad que es officio de la dicha horden de sacar cautibos e de mantener ospitales y de cantar sacrifficios y de rfogar a Dios por mi anima y de los Reyes donde yo vengo e por todos. los otros bienhechores de la dicha horden; e que an unos preuiUegios de los Santos padres appostolicos e de los rreyes donde yo vengo e de mi; e me pidio por merced, que yo tubiese por bien que la demanda que es para sacar cautiuos christianos de tierra de Moros e para los ospitales, que andubiesen por la mi tierra, ansi como fue usado fasta aqui. E porque yo se verdad que la demanda quellos fazen que se de- spende en el seruicio de Dios y en el nuestro en sacar cautibos de tierra de moros y en mantener ospitales ques gran honrra e gran pro de la. cristianidad, tengo por bien que an de la su demanda por todos los nuestros Reynos tan bien en yermo como en poblado; e que no le& JURISDICTION OVER STRAYS 369 sea enbargada por las demandas ultramarinas ni por la cruzada ni por otra demanda alguna; que si acaeziere en los lugares a donde los frayles de la dicha horden o sus mensajeros f ueren, e si algunas mandas ficieren algunos de la horden de la Santa Trenidad para sacar cautibos que la mitan. E que los fazer mas bien e mas merced tengo por bien que todas cosas que sean mandadas de los omes buenos y de las buenas duennas a su finamiento, no seyendo nobrados los lugares e personas donde se den, que las haya la dicha horden para sacar cautibos. Y si algunos finaren sin lengua e non fizieren testamento, el quinto de lo que tovieren que lo haya la dicha horden para sacar cautibos. Y aquellos que finaren que hizieren testamentos e no mandaren algo para los cautibos, que de al tanto como montare la mayor manda que f uere qualquier de las otras mandas. E que puedan demandar con bacines ellos o quien eUos lo encomendaren, e poner areas en las yglesias donde la buena gente echen sus limosnas. Otrosi, que ay algimos lugares en las hordenes que tomen el terdo de lo que les mandan para los cabtibos. Soy maravillado de como son osados de lo fazer. Por que vos mando que cada que los frayles de la dicha horden o sus mensajeros acaescieren en vuestros lugares, que les fiagades mostrar los testamentos e a los albaceas y erederos e a los escriuanos. Y si f aUaren que alguna cosa les f uere mandado o sera de aqui adelante para sacar cautibos o en algunos lugares non f uere non- brado, que lo diesen segun dicho es se lo fagades luego dar sin otro algamiento alguno. E otrosi, vos mando que donde quier que a los dichos frayles o sus mensajeros f ueren y vos mostraren algima cosa que no obiese dueimo ques llamado mostrenco, o algunos testamentos en que no mandan algo a la dicha horden para sacar cautibos, o algunos que fincaren sin lengua que se lo fagades entregar segund dicho es. Otrosi, vos mando que cada que los dichos frayles de la dicha horden o sus mensajeros se acaezieren en vuestros lugares con esta dicha mi carta o con el treslado della signado de escrivano publico, que los acoja- des e rrecibades vien, y que les dedes buenas posadas, e que fagades llegar los pueblos de doze annos arriba en un lugar conbenible a oyr el hecho de la trinidad. E aquellos que non quisieren yr a oyr su pedri- cacion prendadlos por diez marauedis a cada imo de los de la moneda nueba. E defiendo firmemente que ningimo sea osado de les enbargar sus peticiones, ni de les fazer f uerfa nin tuerto ni otro mal ninguno, nin valdonarlos de sus palabras, nin de los contrariar a ellos, nin a los sus 370 APPENDIX C omes, ni a ningima de las sus cosas, por cartas que vos muestren los que andan en las demandas ultramarinas ni en la demanda de la cruzada ni en otras demandas ningunas, ni les tomen ni enbarguen ninguna cosa de lo que les fuere mandado para la dicha horden o por los cauti- bos, ni ningunas de las otras cosas que dichas son; ca mi voluntad es que se aprouechen la dicha horden destas mercedes que yo f ago y que les ficieron los otro reyes donde yo vengo que les yo confirmo. A qualquier que los fiziere pechar me haya en pena de diez marauedis de la moneda nueua, e a la dicha horden todo el danno y menoscauo. E si por auentura alguno o algunos obieren que non quisieren cumpUr esto que yo mando segund sobre dicho es y les pasaren contra estas mercedes, que les yo fago, mando a los escriuanos publicos do ellos acaescieren que les emplacen que parescan ante mi del dia que les em- plazaren a quinze dias do quier que yo sea, so la pena sobredicha a cada uno. E destos les mando dar esta mi carta seUada con mi sello de plomo colgado. Dada en Burgos seys dias Abril, hera de mill e tre- scientos e quarenta e dos annos. Yo, Juan Sanchez la fize escreuir por mandado del rrey. APPENDIX D Royal Commission to Gomez Caksulo * as Proprietary Entregador-in-Chief, 30 November, 141 7 Arch. Mesta, S-5, Siguenza, i'jg2 Don Juan, por la gracia de Dios, Rey de Castilla, de Leon, de Toledo, de Galida, de Sevilla, de Cordova, de Murcia, de Jaen, del Algarbe, de Algecira, e Senor de Vizcaya e de Molina, por facer bien y merced a vos Gomez CarriUo, mi alcalde mayor de los hijosdalgo, otrosi mi alcalde mayor de las mestas y canadas de los mis reynos, por los mu- chos e buenos servicios que el dicho Gomez Carrillo, vuestro abuelo, fizo al Rey, Don Juan mi abuelo, e al Rey Don Enrrique, mi padre e mi senor, que Dios perdone, e a mi, en la mi gracia tengo por bien y es mi merced que aora e aqui adelante seades mi alcalde mayor de las dichas mestas e canadas de los dichos reynos e senorios, en lugar del dicho Gomez Carrillo, vuestro abuelo, por quanto el dicho Gomez Carrillo es finado. Y por esta mi carta mando al Concejo y omes buenos de las dichas mestas e canadas de los dichos mi reynos e senorios e a todos los con- cejos e alcaldes, jueces e justicias e merinos e alguaciles, maestres de las ordenes, priores, comendadores, e sus comendadores e alcaydes de los castUlos e casas f uertes e Uanas, e a todas las otras justicias e oficia- les qualesquier de todas las ciudades e villas e lugares de los dichos mi reynos e senorios que aora son e seran de aqui adelante, e a qualquier o a qualesquier de ellos a quien esta mi carta f uere mostrada o el tras- lado de ella signado de escriuano publico, que vos hayan e recivan aora e de aqui adelante por mi alcalde mayor de las dichas mestas e canadas de los dichos mis re3Tios e senorios, usen con vos e con los que vos por vos pusieredes en el dicho oficio de alcaldia bien e cumplidamente, segun que mejor e mas cumpUdamente usaron con el dicho Gomez Carrillo, vuestro abuelo, e con los otros alcaldes mayores que han seido de las dichas mestas e canadas de los dichos mis reynos e senorios, e non con otro algtmo. Otrosi, tengo por bien e es mi merced que usedes e podades usar vos e los que vos por vos pusieredes en el dicho oficio e los sustitudos que ' See above, p. 81. 372 APPENDIX D de vos tubieren poder de la jurisdiccion de la justicia, assi cibil como criminal, que al dicho oficio de alcaldia pertenece de oir e de juzgar e librar e para facer execucion en las personas e vienes de qualesquier malfechores que en lo que toca al dicho oficio de alcaldia de oir e de librar e de ver e de terminar e pertenece segun que en la manera que en los privilegios de las dichas mestas e canadas se contiene, e segun que el dicho Gomez Carrillo e los que por si tenia en el dicho oficio, e los sustitutos usaban. Otrosi, es mi merced e voluntad que podades andar e andedes vos e los que vos pusieredes en el dicho oficio e los sustitudos que de vos tubieren poder por todas las partes de los dichos mis reynos y senorios, abriendo e requiriendo las canadas e los exidos e las veredas e los abre- vaderos e las dehesas por donde andan los ganados que los pastores tienen. E non pueden prendar vos e los dichos vuestros lugares the- nientes e los dichos sostitudos que de vos tubieren poder, o aquel o aquellos que f aUaren que labraron e cerraren las dichas canadas e exidos e veredas o abrevaderos, por la pena segun se contiene en el ordena- miento e cartas e previlegios que los dichos pastores han de los reyes onde yo vengo, confirmados de aqui e por esta dicha mi carta y por el dicho su traslado signado como dicho es. Mando el dicho Concejo e homes buenos de las dichas Mestas e Canadas de los Pastores, e a todos los otros concejos de todas las ciu- dades e villas e lugares de los dichos mi reynos e senorios que vos den e recudan e fagan dar e recudir con todas las soldadas e salarios e con todos los derechos e penas en que cayeren los malf'echores que al dicho oficio pertenezcan e pertenecer debieren en qualquiera manera. E que vengan a vuestros emplazamientos e Uamamientos e plazo e plazos, so la pena e penas que por vos o por los dichos vuestros lugares the- nientes o por los dichos sostitudos puestos. E si para facer e cumplir qualesquier cosas de ellas que tocan e tocaren e dependen e dependieren al dicho oficio menester obieredes ayiida vos o los dichos vuestros lugares thenientes o los dichos sostitudos que vuestro poder obieren para ello por esta dicha mi carta o por el dicho su traslado signado como dicho es. Mando al dicho Concejo e homes buenos de las dichas Mestas e Canadas de los Pastores e a todos los dichos concejos e alcaldes e jueces e merinos, alguaciles, maestres de las ordenes, priores, comendadores e sus comendadores, alcaides de los castillos e casas fuertes e lianas, e a todas las otras justicias e oficiales qualesquier de todas las ciudades e villas e lugares de los dichos mis reynos e senorios, por que den e PROPRIETARY ENTREGADOR-IN-CHIEF 373 f agan dar todo favor e ajaida que menester obiere para facer cumplir lo sobredicho e alguna parte e partes dello. E otrosi, es mi merced que la apelacion o apelaciones que de los dichos vuestros lugares thenientes e de los dichos sus sustitudos o de qualquier de eUos que vuestro poder o suyo obieren para ello, que ven- gan delante de vos el dicho Gomez Carrillo, e non delante otro alguno. E si sintieren agraviados de vos el dicho Gomez Carrillo, que puedan apelar o suplicar para ante quien de derecho debieren, e los unos ni los otros non fagades ende al por alguna manera, so pena de la mi merced y de diez mil maravedis a cada uno para la mi camara, por quien fin- care de lo assi facer e cumplir. E de mas, por qualquier e qualesquier de ellos por quien fincare e cumplir mando al home que la esta dicha mi carta mostrare e el dicho su traslado, signado como dicho es, que los emplazen que parescan ante mi en la mi corte, do quier yo sea del dia que lo emplazare fasta quinze dias primeros siguientes, so la dicha pena a cada uno, a dezir por qual razon non cumple mi mando. E de como esta dicha mi carta vos f uere mostrada o el dicho su traslado, signado como dicho es, e los unos e los otros la cumplieren. Mando so la dicha pena a qualquier escriuano publico que para esto f uere Uamado que dende al que vos la mostrare testimonio signado con su signo, por que yo sepa en como se cumple mi mandado. Dada en Valladolid, 30 dias de Noviembre, ano del nascimiento de Nuestro Seiior Jesu Christo de 141 7. YO LA REYNA. Yo, Martin Gonzales, la fice escriuir por mandado de Nuestra Se- fiora la Reyna Madre Tutora de Nuestro Senor el Rey * e Regidora de sus Reynos. ' John II (1406-54). The document is followed by a commission appointing Lope Vasquez de Acuna guardian of Gomez Carrillo, who was then five years old. In fact, this marked the transfer of the proprietary entregadorship to the Acuna family, which held it until the final sale of the office to the Mesta in 1568. See above, p. 82. APPENDIX E Exemption of the Town of Buitrago from the Juiusdiction of THE EnTREGADORES OF THE MeSTA, GRANTED BY FERDINAND IV OF Castile, 20 March, 1304 ^ Arch. Mesta, B~4, Buitrago, 1742 En el nombre de Dios, Patre, Fijo, y Espiritu Santo, y de Santa Maria, su Madre. For que entre las cosas que son dadas a los reyes senaladamente les es dado de fazer gracia y merced, y maiormente do se demanda con rrazon. E a el rey que la faze deue catar en ella tres cosas: la primera, que merzed es aquella que demandan; la segunda, es el pro o el dano que ende puede venir si la ficiere; la tercera, que lograr es aquel en que ha de facer la merced, y como que lo merescan. For ende nos, cantando esto, queremos que sepan por esto nuestro priuilegio los que agora son y scan daqui adelante, como nos, Don Fernando, por la gracia de Dios, Rey de Castilla, de Toledo, de Leon, de Galicia, de Seuilla, de Cordoba, de Murcia, de Jaen, del Algarbe, e Senor de Molina, por que los homes buenos del conzejo de Buitrago nos embiaron mostrar que ellos non hauian canada en su termino, nin la obieron fasta aqui en ningun tiempo; y hauian priuilegio de los otros reyes onde nos venimos en que les mandauan que ficiesen de sus terminos lo que eUos quisiesen en qualquier manera eUos mas se apro- vechasen de. ello. Y los pastores que entraban y salieron de las otras tierras con sus ganados a los extremes y se desviaban de las canadas ciertas, por facer a nos perder el nuestro derecho; y les pasauan por "el termino y les comien sus panes y los prados, y les facien muchos danos; y que por que los prendan o los emplazan por ello, que los alcaldes y los entregadores de los pastores que les levantan muchas demandas y muchas achaques por ello, y que les pendran do quier que lo suyo fal- lan. Por esta razon que pierden muchos de nuestros pecheros lo que han. Et embiaron nos pedir merzed, que pues que Canada non hauien en el su termino, que non tubiesemos por vien que los alcaldes nin los entregadores de los pastores oviesen demanda ninguna contra eUos. ' Not in Benavides, Memorias de D, Fernando IV. EXEMPTION OF BUITRAGO 375 Et nos por fazer vien y merzed, y por muchos seruicios y buenos que ficieron al Rey, Don Sancho, nuestro padre/ y a los otros reyes onde nos venimos, y a nos fasta aqui y fazan daqui adelante, tenemos por vien y mandamos que todos los vezinos de Buitrago y de sus terminos, que non rrespondan daqui adelante a los alcaldes nin a los entregadores de los pastores por demandas que les f agan en ninguna manera por cartas que los dichos alcaldes nin los entregadores sobre dicho haian tenido nin tienen daqui adelante. Pues que nunca obieron canada cierta nin amojonada. Et si los pastores quereUa ban de algunos vezinos de Buitrago o de su termino que lo demanden ante el alcalde o los alcaldes que libraron los pleitos a los vezinos de la villa por nos. Et si de su juicio se agrauia- ren, que les den el alzada para ante nos. Et mandamos y defendemos firmamente que ninguno non sean ossado de les yr nin de les pasar con- tra esta merzed que les nos faziamos al conzejo sobredicho en ningun tiempo por ninguna manera. Et si non, qualquier o qualesquier que lo fizieren pechan nos y en coto looo maravedis de la moneda nueba, y a los vezinos de Buitrago o a quien su boz tobiese todo el dafto y meno- scauo que por ende rrezibiesen doblado, et demas a los cuerpos y a lo que obiesen nos tomariamos por ello. Et mandamos a todos los conzejos, alcaldes, jurados, juezes, justi- cias, merinos, comedadores y a todos los otros aportellados de las villas y de los logares de nuestros reinos, que gelo non consientan y que les rrecabdan los cuerpos y lo que obieren, fasta aqui gelo fagan asi cum- plir. Et por que esto sea firme y eslable para siempre jamas, manda- mos sellar este preuilegio con nuestro sello de plomo. Fecho en Burgos, 20 dias de Marzo, hera de 1342 [a.d. 1304].^ * Sancho IV of Castile (1284-95), had rebelled against his father, Alfonso X, and was helped by many towns in the pasturage districts, including Buitrago, where Alfonso's patronage of the Mesta and his espousal of the interests of the sheep own- ers caused bitter dissatisfaction. Ferdinand's anxiety to retain the support given by these towns to his father, as well as to protect his income from sheep taxes accounts for the present decree of 1304. See above, p. 258. 2 The docimient is indorsed with the signatures of many infantes, ecclesiastical dignitaries, counsellors, and others. At the head of the list, immediately after the " Yo el Rey " of the king, is the name of " Don Maomat Abenazar, Rey de Granada, vasallo del Rey." APPENDIX F Procedttre in the Coukt of an Alcalde Entregador: Minutes OF a Session Held at the Town of Villafranca de la Puente del Arzobispo ^ IN June, 1457, to Make a Survey (Mojonamiento) of A Canada and to Prevent Enclosures of Parts of it Arch. Mesta, V-4, Villafranca, 1457 En Villafranca de la Puente del Arjobispo, primero dia del mes de Junio, ano del nascimiento de Nuestro Salvador, Jesu Christo de mil € quatrocientos y cinquenta e siete aiios, estando el concejo, alcaldes, regidores e omes buenos de la dicha villa ayuntados a su concejo a su campana tafiida, y estando presente el honrrado Bartolome de Figue- roa, guarda e vasallo del Rey, nuestro senor, y alcalde e entregador mayor de las mestas e canadas por el noble cabaUero y senor, Pedro de Acufia, guarda mayor del dicho Senor Rey e de su consejo e su alcalde e entregador mayor de las dichas mestas e canadas en todos los sus reynos y senorios, y en presencia de mi, Alfon Garcia de Paredes, escribano de nuestro senor el Rey y su notario publico en la su corte y en todos los sus reynos, y de los testigos de yuso escriptos, parescio ayi presente Juan Sanchez de Yanguas, procurador sustitudo que as del onrrado Concejo de la Mesta y de los senores e hermanos deUa, e dijo al dicho alcalde y entregador mayor que la Canada que pasa por termino desta dicha villa e junto con ella, que viene desde Alcolea por donde pasan los ganados yendo y venyendo a sus estremos, esta cerrada asi de panes como de viflas por manera que los ganados de los dichos sus partes e hermanos del dicho Concejo de la Mesta non pueden pasar por la dicha Canada Ubre, e que por cabsa de aquello que en la dicha canada fasen a los dichos sus partes e a sus pastores e rabadanes muchos males e pren- dias quebrantandoles sus fatos y llebandoles sus ganados, e que si de aquella guisa oviese a pasar, que por ello ha venydo e rrecrescido e viene e recrece de cada dia a los dichos sus partes muchos danos e costas. Por ende, dixo el dicho Juan Sanchez, en nombre del dicho Concejo de la Mesta e hermanos deUa sus partes, que pedia e requeria e pidio ' On the Tagus River, about sixty miles west of Toledo. 376 COURT OF AN ALCALDE ENTREGADOR -^77 e reqviirio al dicho alcalde e entregador mayor que viese e apease la dicha Canada, y por el vista la fallaria tal qual el desia que pedia e pedio al dicho alcalde e entregador mayor que abriese la dicha Canada, man- dando quitar y quitase las lavores e vinas que en la dicha caiiada estan, por manera que los dichos ganados y los dichos sus partes podiesen yr e venyr por la dicha Canada, e que en ella non fuesen prendada por cabsa de lo susodicho; e que sy lo asi fesiese el dicho alcalde e entre- gador mayor, faria bien y lo que devya, e cunpleria el seruicio e man- dado del dicho Senor Rey e guardaria las cartas e previlegios del dicho Concejo de la Mesta, sus partes, dadas e otorgadas por los reyes de gloriosa memoria, confirmadas por el dicho Senor Rey. En otra man- era dixo que protestava e protesto en nombre de los dichos sus partes de aver e cobrar del dicho alcalde e de sus bienes fasta tres mil doblas de oro de la vanda, que por cabsa de la dicha cafiada estar cerrada e non estar avierta les ha venido de dano, con mas todas las costas y daSos e intereses y menoscabos que sobre la dicha rason a los dichos sus partes que les ha recrescido y recresciete de aqui adelante; y que de como lo desia e requeria e pedia, dixo que lo pedia e pedio asi por testimonio para guarda y conseruacion del derecho de los dichos sus partes e suyo en su nonbre. E luego el dicho alcalde e entregador mayor dixo que, dando lo testigos de confirmacion, que esta presto de faser todo aquello que el dicho Senor Rey lo mando e es tenudo a faser de derecho; e que eso dixo que dava e dio por su respuesta al requirimiento e pedimiento a el fecho por el dicho Juan Sanchez, non consentiendo en las protesta- ciones contra el f echas ni en alguna dellas. E luego el dicho alcalde e entregador mayor dixo al dicho concejo e alcaldes de la dicha Villafranca de la Puente que lo diesen e nombren seys omes buenos de los mas antiguos vesinos del dicho lugar para que con el dicho alcalde anden e apeen la dicha Canada; lo qual les man- dava que f esiesen asy so las penas contenidas en las cartas e previlegios del dicho Senor Rey. E luego el dicho concejo e alcaldes de la dicha Villafranca de la Puente dixeran e nombraron por testigos al dicho alcalde para en lo susodicho a Pedro Alfon e a Lope Ferrandes e Alfonso Garcia Barvero e a Juan Mateos e Alfonso Ferrandes e a Sancho Martines, vesinos de la dicha Villafranca. E ansi mismo el dicho Juan Sanches en el dicho nombre de los dichos sus partes dixo que nombrava e nombro por testigos a los susodichos e a cada uno dellos, e los presentava e presento en la mejor manera e forma que podia e de derecho devia, de los quales 378 APPENDIX F e de cada uno dellos el dicho alcalde e entregador mayor tomo e re- scibio juramento sobre la sefial de la cruz e por las palabras de los santos evangelios, a do quiera que son escritas que ellos e cada uno dellos diran e depoman lo que sopieren e son presentados por testigos e que lo non dexaran de desir por amor ni por desamor ni por cosa que les sea dada ni prometida; e que si la verdad dixeren e juraren, que Dios Padre todo poderoso les a)rudase en este mundo a los cuerpos e en el otro a las almas, a donde mas avian de durar; e si por el contrario que Dios gelo demandase mal e caramente como aquellos que asabiendas juran el santo nombre de Dios en vano ya la confunsion que por el dicho alcalde les fue echado del dicho juramento, los dichos testigos e cada uno dellos dixeron e respondieron, " Si, juramos e amen." El dicho alcalde dixo que los avia por jurados e presentados en quanto podia e devia de derecho testigos. E luego el dicho alcalde e los dichos testigos presentados e nom- brados por el dicho concejo, e el dicho Juan Sanches e los alcaldes de la dicha Villafranca e el mayordomo del Senor Arfobispo unidos fueron a la Canada que va desde la dicha Villafranca a Alcolea. Y antes de la primera puente a mano esquierda, como vamos a la dicha Alcolea, fallaren estas vinas e tierras que se siguen: Una vifia de los cambrones; es de Gracia, vesina de la dicha Villa- franca. E de aUi pasaron la dicha puente a la dicha mano esquierda yendo a la dicha Alcolea, e fallaron las vinas e tierras que se siguen: Una vina que es de la Cofraderia de Santa Catalina. Otra vina ende junto que es de Sancho de los Freires. Otra tierra baroecho largo que es del Senor Arfobispo. Fallose mas en la dicha canada a la dicha mano esquierda otra tierra senbrada de trigo que es del Senor Arfobispo. E de alii fueron los dichos alcaldes e entregador mayor a dar los dichos testigos a dar en el termino de lo de Alcolea. E los dichos al- caldes e entregador mayor se bolvieron a la dicha primera puente e de aUi con los dichos testigos entro en la dicha canada como vamos a Alcolea a mano derecha, e fallo estas vinas e majuelos que adelante dira. Como pasamos por primera puente a la dicha mano derecha faUamos: Una vina que es de Seimuel de Fromista. Otra vina que es de Jubel, judio, vecino de la Puente. Otra vina del Rabi Moco. Otra vina de los clerigos de la dicha villa. Otra vina de Juan Gongales, escriuano. COURT OF AN ALCALDE ENTREGADOR 379 Otra vifia de Gracian. Otra vifia de Jubel, judio. Otra vifia de Nicolas Valero, vesino del villar. Otro majuelo de Ferrando Sanches, capatero. Otra vifia de Alfonso, gaitero. Otra vifia de Alfonso Sanches Dorado. Otra vifia de Alonso Sanches arrendado de Martin Sanches. Otra vifia de la mujer de Alonso Martin Ynchurriajo. Otra vifia pasando la segunda puente cerca de Alcolea, que es de dos fijos de Alfonso de Ordas. E de alii juntaron con el termino de la Alcolea e los testigos dixeron que per el juramento que avian fecho que aquello era Canada, e desde que la dicha puente e torres que estan en el Rio de Tajo fue aquello dado por cafiada e que era Canada, e que por alii pasan los ganados yendo e venyendo de sus estremos; e que asi la verdad por el juramento que avian fecho e que las dichas tierras e vifias que de suso van nom- bradas e declaradas estan en la dicha cafiada, e que son de las personas que nombraron. E luego el dicho alcalde y los dichos testigos venyeronse f asia la dicha villa, echando el cordel de la dicha cafiada por la dicha cafiada e cor- tando de las vides e cepas de las dichas vinas e fasiendo sus mojones e abriendo la dicha cafiada. E asi andando el dicho alcalde e entregador mayor e los dichos testigos se tomaron a la primera puente fasiendo sus mojones en la dicha cafiada e atraveso el arroyo e fueron a dar en el valladar de la villa de Grauar, quedo en la manera que lo faUaron; y de alii fue a dar a la vifia de Juan Ramires, clerigo, y va aderredor de la vifia por su valladar f asta en la esquina de arriba e de dar en el exido a lo alto; e asi de mojon en mojon fasta dar en el camino de las cas- quetas que va por medio del dicho exido; e va a las vifias e al torrico, e atraviesa el dicho camino e va de mojon en mojon por medio de las eras de la dicha villa; e va a dar a la esquina de un corral de Juan Santos, al cabo de arriba e toma de aqui a entrar la dicha cafiada entre las casas como siempre fue e va por el filo de las tapias de las casas a la dicha mano derecha fasta las tapias e cerca de la tierra de los ospitales, e va a derredor de la cerca a los palomares de los dichos ospitales e del palomar va a dar al Rio de Tajo e buelve el agua arriba fasta entrar en la dicha puente; e de la otra parte pasando la dicha puente quedan sus limites e mojones e viene de la dicha puente a dar al f osar de los judios, e va por las tapias de las vifias al rededor del dicho lugar orilla del exido fasta dar a las casas de Alonso Garcia Barvero, el viejo, e dende va por las faseras de las casas de Alonso Garcia Barbero, el mof o, e dende por 380 APPENDIX P la diclia f asera de a mano esquierda f asta dar en la puente del dicho Rio de Tajo; e aUi se encierra la dicha cafiada como queda amojonada por sus limites e mojones que en ella quedan f echas. El dicho alcalde e entregador mayor dixo que por quanto la dicha Canada que de suso va por el avierta e amojonada segvm que quedava quanto toca a lo de entre ambas puentes que estan entre la dicha Villa- f ranca e Alcolea non es enteramente del marco y cordel quel Rey mando por quanto alii desde una puente a otra es entre panes e vinas el dicho concejo de ViUafranca que presente estava dio para Canada e para emyenda de aqueUo que avia faUescido dio de mas en el exido de la dicha villa bien anchura de tres canadas. E mas, el dicho alcalde dixo que pues que los dichos testigos avian dicho e declarado ser Canada lo susodicho por sus dichos e deposiciones, e ansimismo el dicho concejo consentyo que dava e declarava e dio e declare la dicha cafiada por canada abierta e limytada e amojonada so las limites e confines e mojones que da e que mandava e mando al dicho concejo e alcaldes e omes buenos de la dicha ViUafranca que estoviese asi abierta la dicha canada, segim que el dexa para por donde pasen los ganados yendo e venyendo a los estremos; e que non sea cerrada ni desatados los dichos mojones, so las penas contenidas en las cartas e prevUegios del dicho Senor Rey e de los reyes de gloriosa memoria, dadas e otorgadas al dicho Concejo de la Mesta e hermanos deUa; e que sea asi guardado para agora e para siempre jamas; e por su sen- tencia difinicion judgando pronunciando asi lo mandava e mando e judgava e judgo en estos escritos e por eUos. E luego Sancho Garcia e Francisco Garcia, alcaldes de la dicha ViUa- franca, en nombre del dicho concejo dixeron que consentyan e con- sentyeron en todo lo susodicho, e que estan prestos de lo conplir e guardar segim que en la dicha sentencia se contyene e por el dicho alcalde e entregador mayor es mandado e sentenciado. El dicho Juan Sanches de Yanguas, en nombre del dicho Concejo de la Mesta e hermanos deUa, sus partes, dixo que lo pedia asi por testimonio para guarda e conseruacion del derecho de los dichos sus partes e suyo en su nombre. Testigos que fueron presentes a lo que dicho es: Maktin Sanches Serrano, Juan Gonzales, escrittano, Juan de Camargo, escruiano, vesinos de la dicha ViUafranca de la Puente. COURT OF AN ALCALDE ENTREGADOR 381 E yo, el dicho Alfonso Garcia de Paredes, escriuano e notario publico susodicho, que presente fue a lo que d^cho as en uno con los dichos testigos, a mandado e pronunciamento del dicho alcalde e entregador mayor e a ruego e pediment© del dicho Juan Sanches, escrevi lo que dicho es que va escrito en estas ocho fojas de papel de a quarto de pliego, con esta en que va mi sino, e debaxo de cada plana va mi rubrica acostimibrada e encima de cada una foja van cinco rayas de tinta negra e per ende fio aqui este mio signo a tal testimonio de verdad. Alfonso Garcia. APPENDIX G Instructions Governing the Conduct of Entregadores, Promulgated by Charles V, 12 January, 1529 ^ Arck. Mesta, C-3, Candeleda, 1534 Don Carlos, por la gracia de Dios, Rey de Romanes e Emperador semper augusto, e Dona Juana, su madre, . . . mandamos a los dichos alcaldes entregadores que en el uso e exercicio del dicho oflScio guarden la forma y orden siguiente: Primeramente, que los dichos alcaldes entregadores puedan andar e andan por las prouincias e canadas por donde van e vienen los ganados estremenos exercidando su oficio cada uno en las prouincias que le fueren senaladas en la manera que adelante se dira; e no anden ni pueden andar por otra parte alguna. Iten, que los dichos alcaldes entregadores oyan las querellas e las demandas que los pastores dan de aquellos que obieren querellas, e gelas fagan enmendar a los pastores probandolo con dos pastores e jurando ellos en su buena berdad. Otrosi, que los dichos alcaldes entregadores e sus lugares tenientes requieran las canadas e veredas e exidos e abrebaderos e majadas e dehesas por los lugares e partes que los dichos pastores que son del dicho Concejo de la Mesta General, con sus ganados fueren o vinieren o atruesaren o estubieren ansi en los dichos estremos como en las sier- ras; e prenden los que hallaren que las cerraron labraron por las p)enas que se contienen en el vedamiento e cartas e prouisiones que los dichos pastores y hermanos tienen, nuestros e de los reyes pasados, nuestros progenitores, e por los dichos rey y reyna, nuestros padre y madre, les fueron confirmados; e asi mismo deshagan lo que hallaren acrecentado en las dichas dehesas sin nuestra hcencia, e de los reyes nuestros progenitores. E la medida que han de hauer las dichas cana- das han de ser seys sogas de quarenta e cinco palmas de marco la soga; y esto se entienda de la Canada que fuere por las vinas o los panes; y que los dichos alcaldes entregadores cada un ano lo midan e fagan asi lo guardar. ' Issued because of complaints regarding the incompetence and corrupt prac- tices of the appointees of the Count of Buendia, proprietary entregador-in-chief . 383 INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTREGADORES 383 Otrosi, que el dicho alcalde entregador e aquel o aquellos que por el oviere de librar o el que por el andubiere, juzque las querellas que dieren los pastores, e hagan las entregas en todas las ciudades e villas e lugares por donde fueren e vinieren e atrauesaren o estubieren los dichos pas- tores o adonde se acaesderen. Otrosi, que el dicho Concejo de la Mesta le de personero o personeros para les complir de derecho por quanto nuestra merced e voluntad es que les guarden sus preuillegios que les dieron los reyes, nuestros pro- genitores, e por los reyes nuestros senores padre e madre les fueron confirmados. Otrosi, que los dichos entregadores ayan informacion, Uamada la parte principal o su procurador que tenga su poder vastante, de los montadgos e castillerias, rodas e peajes e otros derechos que Ueuaren e pidieren a los dichos pastores e a sus ganados contra derecho e contra sus preuillegios. E que les fagan restituyr lo que les fuere llebado ynjustamente e suspendan los dichos derechos si hallaren que nueua- mente impuestos o acrecentados sin tener para ello titulo o prouision de nos o de los reyes onde nos venimos. E la pesquisa que sobre ello obieren la ynbien ante nos al nuestro consejo e pongan plazo a la per- sona que los pedia o lleuaua, que paresca ante nos en siguimiento de la dicha causa dentro de quinze dias. Iten, si algunos prendieren o hizieren prender a los dichos pastores o los hirieren e hizieren herir, que peche trezientos marauedis de la moneda corriente, que dos blancas hazen un marauedi. Iten, qualquier que labrare las canadas o las cerrare, o las veredas o exidos o abrebaderos majadas o dehesas o pastes comunes o con- cegiles o realengos peche trezientos marauedis de la dicha moneda corriente. Iten, .qualquier o qualesquier que hizieren dehesas sin nuestra li- cencia e mandado, que peche trezientos marauedis de la dicha moneda, e la dehesa deshecha; e que el alcalde entregador e sus lugares tenien- tes no puedan dar dehesas de nueva a ninguna persona, ni conecio, ni confyrmar las que estubieren dadas, mas que las vengan a pedir ante nos los que las ouieren menester ni puedan confirmar las que esto- bieren dadas. Iten, qualquier que quebrantare cauana peche trezientos marauedis de la dicha moneda. Iten, que qualquier que quebrantare hato peche trezientos marauedis. Iten, que el que tomare morueco peche trezientos marauedis aunque el que lo tomare sea sermciadoir. 3^4 APPENDIX G Iten, qualquier que tomare carnero o oueja encencerrada que peche trezientos marauedis de la dicha moneda. Iten, que las fuerfas y las tomas que les fueren fechas y tomadas e forfadas a los pastores, que ge las fagan pagar los alcaldes entregadores con el trestanto. Iten, que ninguno presente escripto contra los pastores ante los al- caldes entregadores ni responda por abogado ni por otro alguno saluo per si mesmo luego de si o de no, ni el abogado ni otro alguno no re- sponda ni haga demanda. E si respondiere por escripto que peche trezientos marauedis de la dicha moneda; y el escripto que ansi fuere presentado ante los alcaldes entregadores los dichos alcaldes lo ries- quen e no vala; pero en las causas graues puedan alegar por escripto sin yncurrir en la dicha pena. Otrosi, es nuestra merced que el dicho alcalde entregador de las dichas mestas e canadas e sus lugares tenientes que por el fueren non- brados por alcaldes entregadores y en el nuestro consejo presentados e rescibidos cada e quando andubiere, entendiendo en el dicho oficio de las mestas e canadas por qualesquier ciudades e villas e lugares e partes que puedan traer e traygan vara de justicia, para que sean conocidos. Otrosi, que ellos y sus omes e oficiales que con ello andubieren que puedan traer e traygan armas ansy en la dicha nuestra corte como en los dichos lugares aunque estan vedadas, andando entendiendo en el dicho officio de mestas e canadas y no en otra manera. Otrosi, que les den posadas que no sean mesones, e guias ansi de omes como de vestias para lleuar qualesquier presos o prendas que hizieren o obieren ffecho andando o entendiendo en el dicho oficio pagando por ello lo que justamente merecieren. Otrosi, que los dichos presos que truxeren los puedan poner e pongan en la carcel publica de qualquier ciudad, villa o lugar donde esto acon- tesciere. E mandamos al carcelero o carceleros que los acojan e resci- ban e pangan a buen recaudo e les acudan con ellos cada y quando que ge los pidieren; e si no lo quisieren ansi ha^er que cayan e yncurran en las penas quel dicho alcalde entregador e sus lugares tenientes les pu- siere al qual damos poder complido para las executar en ellos e en sus bienes cada que en ellas yncurran. Otrosi, que los escriuanos publicos de las ciudades e viUas e lugares donde los dichos pastores de la dicha Mesta General con sus ganados fueren o vinieren o atravesaren o estuvieren donde el dicho alcalde se acaesciere con nuestro escriuano de las mestas; e le requirieren que el INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTREGADORES 385 uno de ellos vaya con el qual ellos diputaren entresi para yr con el dicho alcalde. E sy no lo dyputaren entre sy para yr con el dicho alcalde que qualquie dellos a quien el dicho alcalde requiere sea obligado a yr con el, pagandole su justo e debido salario cada e quando que menester; lo obieren en sus lugares quanto durare el termino de la villa o lugar donde esto acaesciere o del lugar mas cercano del dicho lugar o villa donde fuere escriuano. E que el dicho nuestro escriuano de las canadas o qualquier dellas den testimonio de las fuerjas que hizieren al dicho alcalde entregador al que por el andubiere en la manera que dicha es; e que otro ninguno escriuano no escriua ningund pleito deste oficio saluo nuestro escriuano de las mestas e canadas, o los que andubieren por el que al dicho oficio pertenescan, so pena de trezientos marauedis de la dicha moneda corriente. Iten, que el escriuano de la villa o lugar donde esto acaesciere con el escriuano de las dichas mestas e canadas de testimonio signado de su signo al que lo pidiere de aquello que ambos a dos escribanos enten- dieren; pero en lo que cada uno entendiere que lo de solo aquel ante quien pasare. Otrosi, que los dichos alcaldes entregadores no puedan Ueuar ni lleuen para sy ni para nuestro alcalde mayor entregador de las mestas e cafla- das las mestenas e ganados mostrencos mas que queden e finquen para el dicho conceio a quien los dichos mostrencos e mestenas pertenscen; e que los dichos alcaldes entregadores ge las fagan entregar. Otrosi, que los dichos alcaldes entregadores que fueren puestos e nombrados por el dicho alcalde entregador mayor no puedan poner ni pongan sostitudos; e caso que los pongan que no sean rescibidos por los conceios ni por personas particulares, e que no valga cosa alguna de lo que ansi hizieren los dichos sostitudos. Otrosi, que la apelacion o apelaciones que del dicho alcalde mayor entregador de las dichas mestas e canadas e de sus lugares tenientes se ynterpusieren vengan ante nos al nuestro consejo o ante el presidente e oydores de nuestras audiencias e chanciUerias, e no ante nuestro alcalde mayor entregador ni paira ante otro alguno. Iten, que en todos los casos suso dichos que el dicho alcalde o alcaldes entregadores para conocer e librar e determinar todas e qiialesquier causas en que entendieren por razon del dicho oficio se junta con el alcalde ordinario de qualquier ciudad, villa o lugar donde las tales causas se acaescieren, al qual mandamos que se junten con el dicho al- calde entregador e que anbos a dos juntamente hagan juramento de administrar justicia a las partes breue e fielmente, conforme a lo con- 386 APPENDIX G tenido en esta nuestra carta. E, fecho el dicho juramento, anbos a dos juntamente conozcan e libren e determinen las dichas causas publica- mente en la audiencia de la tal ciudad, villa o lugar conforme a las hordenanzas suso contenidas. E lo que de otra manera hizieren el dicho alcalde entregador o sus lugares tenientes que no vala. Pero que, siendo requerido el dicho alcalde ordinario por el dicho alcalde entregador, no se quisiere juntar con el, que en tal caso el dicho alcalde entregador conozca e determine las dichas causas. E si alguno dellos fueren recusado, mandamos que tome acompanado el qual haga la solenidad que las leyes de nuestros reyes en tal caso disponen, con el qual juntamente conozca e determine las dichas causas, e no sin el. Otrosi, que los dichos alcaldes entregadores o qualquier dellos sean obUgados a venir personalmente a uno de los concejos e ayxintamientos que hazen o hizieren los hermanos del dicho Concejo de la Mesta General cada un ano, y esten en el personalmente por el tiempo e ter- mino que durare hasta ser acaudado e dar quenta e razon cada uno de lo que en el dicho tiempo de su oficio ha fecho e traer a el todos los pro- cesos e pesquisas e sentencias que obieren fecho, e dar cuenta con pago de las penas que al dicho Concejo pertenescen e satisfazer a qualesquier querellosos que deUos o qualquier dellos obieren. Y el que no viniere al dicho Concejo, como dicho es, que dende en adelante no pueda usar ni use mas del dicho oficio, saluo sino mostrare legitimo ympedimiento porque no pudo venir. Otrosi, mandamos que los seys lugares tenientes que por el dicho Conde de Buendia, nuestro alcalde mayor, fueren nombrados por al- caldes entregadores, antes que usen el dicho oficio se presenten en el nuestro Concejo de la Mesta General para que el dicho Concejo y hermanos del y el presidente que nos alii ymbiaremos, si aUi estobiere, les senale las prouincias y canadas donde cada uno dellos debe usar y exercitar el dicho oficio de mestas y canadas. E vengan ante nos con el repartimiento o repartimientos que los dichos presidente e Concejo General de las dichas prouincias y canadas hizieron para que visto por el dicho nuestro Consejo les den y libren nuestras cartas para usar del dicho oficio cada uno para la prouincia e canadas que por el dicho presi- dente e Concejo fueren a cada uno senaladas, usen el dicho oficio con- forme a lo en esta carta contenido e no en otra parte alguna, so las penas en que caen e yncurren los que usan de oficios para que no tienen poder e facultad. Por que vos mandamos a todos e a cada uno de vos en vuestros lugares e jurisdiciones que veays los dichos capitulos que INSTRUCTIONS TO ENTREGADORES 387 de suso van yncorporados e los guardays e cumplays e fagais guardar e cumplir en todo e por todo segund que en ellos se contiene.^ . . . ' The document concludes with the allocation of the jurisdiction of Francisco de Benao, an entregador, in the bishoprics lying between Le6n and Burgos on the north and Badajoz on the south. APPENDIX H Credentials of a Representative (Procttrador) of the Mesta, issued at Moron in August, 1528 Arch. Mesta, C-3, Candeleda, 1529 Sep AN quantos esta carta de poder vieren, como nos el Concejo, presi- dente, alcaldes, caualleros, escuderos, oficiales e omes buenos de la Mesta General de CastiUa, de Leon, e de Granada, que nos a)aintamos en esta villa de Moron por el mes de Agosto deste presente ano de quinientos e veynte e ocho afios, segun que lo auemos de uso e de cos- tumbre de nos ayuntar en cada un ano en las sierras a nuestro concejo e junta general, otorgamos e conocemos que por nos y en nonbre de todos los otros nuestros hermanos e senores de ganados, ansi de los que estan presentes como de los que estan ausentes, que damos e otorgamos todo nuestro poder complido, libre, e llenero e vastante, segund que lo nos hemos e tenemos, e segvmd que mejor e mas complidamente lo podemos e debemos dar e otorgar de derecho a vos, Simon Sanchez de Alfaro, vesino de la Villa de Ceruera, para que por nos y en nonbre de los dichos nuestros hermanos podays pedir e demandar, recibir e auer e cobrar todos e qualesquier maravedis, pan e vino e oro y plata e moneda amonedada, e otros qualesquier bienes que a nos sean debidos por qualesquier personas o concejos o universidades, ansi por contratos o conocimientos como que nos ayan lleuado a nos e a los dichos nuestros hermanos ynjusta e no debidamente. E para que de los maravedis e otras cosas que ansi recibierdes e co- brardes podades dar e dedes e otorgar e otorguedes vuestra carta cartas de pago e fin e quito, las que quisierdes e por bien vierdes, las quales valgane sean firmes bien, ansi como si nosotros mismos. E los dichos nuestros hermanos las diesemos e otorgasemos presentes seyendo. Otrosi, vos hazemos nuestro legitime suficiente e abundante pro- curador generalmente para en todos nuestros pleitos e quexos e querel- las ceuiles e criminales mouidos e por mouer, que nos e los dichos nues- tros hermanos tenemos con qualesquier conceios e personas particulares de qualquier estado o condicion o preheminencia que sean o ser puedan, o eUos o qualquier deUos han o esperan hauer o mouer, e contra nos qualquier de nos los dichos nuestros hermanos, ansi en los pleitos 38S CREDENTIALS OF A PROCURADOR 389 moiiidos como en los por mouer, ansi en demandando como en de- fendiendo. E para que sobre la dicha razon podades parecer e parscades ante sus magestades e ante los senores del su muy alto consejo, presidente e oydores que residen en las audiencias e chancillerias de Valladolid e Granada, e ante qualquier alcalde entregador de sus magestades e otros juezes e justicias e oficiales qualesquier que sean, eclesiasticos como seglares, e ante qualquier dellos que de nuestros pleitos e ne- gocios tengan poder de oyr e Hbrar e conocer, e presentar qualesquier probanda e probanfas e escripturas e preuillegios, obKgaciones, e pedir execucion dellas e sobre ello hazer e hagades todos los requirimientos, pedimientos, demandas, e protestaciones, e emplazamientos, e pedir execuciones, prisiones, venciones, e remates de bienes, e todos los otros autos e diligencias que nosotros hariamos e los dichos nuestros hermanos e hazer podriamos presentes seyendo, aunque sean tales e de aqueUas cosas que segun derecho requieran auer nuestro especial man- dado e presencia personal. E para que ante los dichos alcaldes entregadores o qualquier dellos podades pedir e demandar e requirir que vean e visiten las canadas e veredas e majadas exidos e dehesas e abrebaderos e pastos comunese concegiles. E a los que haUaren que los tienen labrados, cerrados, o ocupados gelo manden dexar e desembargar para paso e pasto e serui- dumbre de los ganados de nos el dicho Concejo e hermanos del. E aqueUos condenen en las penas que han caydo e yncurridos por eUo conforme a la carta e prouision de Su Magestad a ellos dirigida. E para que podades cobrar e cobredes enteramente las penas e quales- quier otras cosas que a nos pertenescan sin hazer suelta alguna, e de dar cartas de pago de eUo que recibierdes. E para que podades en nuestras animas fazer qualquier Juramento o juramentos de calimia e decisorio e de verdad dezir e pedir ser hechos por las partes contrayas; e para concluyr e cerrar razones e pedyr e oyr sentencia o sentencias, ansy loqutorias como difinitibas, e consentyrlas e apelarlas, e dar quien las siga las que apelardes donde seguirse deban. E si necesario fuere sobre la dicha razon e sobre todo lo susodicho e sobre cada una cosa e parte dello, podades sostituir e sostituiades im procurador o dos o mas, los que quisieredes e por bien tobieredes, e los reuocar cada e quando que bien visto vos fuere, quedando todavia vos, el dicho Simon Sanchez de Alfaro, en el dicho oficio de nuestro procura- dor principal. E para que si necesario fuere sobre la dicha razon obli- 390 APPENDIX H gamos, nos podays obligar a nosotros mismos e a todos nuestros bienes muebles e rayses, hatos e cabanas abides. E por auer e de los dichos nuestros hermanos de auer, e que abremos por firme rato e grato estable a valedero para en todo tiempo del mundo todo lo que por vos, el dicho Simon Sanchez de Alfaro, fuere fecho e pedido e demandado e resci- bido e cobrado, carta o cartas de pago, dado e otorgado, e todos los otros autos en nuestro nombre fechos e razonados e procurados e alega- dos e de no jt: ni venyr contra ello en tiempo alguno, ni por alguna manera, so espresa obKgacion que para ello hazemos de nuestras per- sonas e vienes, e quan cumplido e vastante poder como nos avemos e tenemos por nos y en nombre de todos nuestros hermanos e senores de ganados para todo lo que dicho es e para cada una cosa e parte dello otro tal e tan cumplido. E ese mismo damos e otorgamos a vos, el dicho Simon Sanchez de Alfaro, con todas sus yncidencias e dependencias, emergencias, anexidades, e conexidades; e si necesario es releuacion vos releuamos de todo carga de satisfaccion e caucion e fiaduras, so aqueUa clausula del derecho que es dicha en latin judicio sive judicatum solui, con todas sus clausulas acostumbradas e oportunas, so la dicha obligacion. E por questo sea firme e no venga en duda, otorgamos esta carta de poder en la manera que dicha es ante los nuestros escriuanos de los fechos e negocios deste nuestro ayuntamiento la qual queremos que valga por medio de ano primero siguiente que comenjar a correr el primero dia de hebrero del ano que viene de mill e quinientos e veynte e nueve anos fasta ser complido el dicho medio ano, que es fasta otro eoncejo que se hara en las sierras. Que fue fecha e otorgada en la dicha viUa de Moron a primero dia del mes de Setiembre, ano del nascimiento de Nuestro Senor Jesu Christo de mill e quinientos e veynte e ocho anos. Testigos: Antonio de Rio. Pedro Malo, regidor. Juan de Rybera. Frutos Paton. Hermanos del Concejo. Escriuanos: Diego Gomes Gaerido. Garcia de Caties. APPENDIX I Ordinances governing the Collection of the Servicio y MONTAZGO, OR ROYAL ShEEP ToLL, I4 FEBRUARY, 1457 Arch. Mesta, B-i, Badajoz, 1727 Don Henrrique, por la gracia de Dios, Rey de Castilla, de Leon, de Toledo, de Galecia, de Seuilla, de Cordoua, de Murcia, de Jaen, de los Algarbes, de Algecira, Senor de Vizcaia y de Molina, a todos los conce- jos, alcaldes y jurados y jueces y justicias, merinos y alguaciles, maes- tres de las hordenes y priores y comendadores y alcaides de los castillos y casas f uertes y lianas, y a todos los otros oficiales aportillados quales- quier de todas las dudades, villas y lugares de los mis reynos y senorios, asi realengos como abadengos y ordenes y vehetria, y otros senores qualesquier, o a qualesquier a qualquier de vos a quien esta mi carta f uere mostrada o el traslado della, signado de escribano publico, salud y gracia. Bien sabedes en como yo he de hauer en cada ano seruicio y mon- tazgo de los ganados de mis reynos que entraren e los estremos y salen dellos; e otrosi de los ganados que fueren fuera de sus terminos a ben- der en las ferias o en los mercados o en otros lugares qualesquier, que no llebaren albala de como son serbiciados que pagan serbicio de ellos; otrosi de los ganados que fueren fuera de sus terminos de las villas y lugares donde moraren, e non ovieren serbiciado, que maguer que tomen a sus terminos o esten fuera dellos, que los serbisen y mont- asguen vien y verdaderamente en cada un ano, aunque no tornen a sus terminos, como dicho es. El qual dicho serbicio y montazgo fue mi merced de mandar ar- rendar por seis afios, que cumpliran por el dia de San Juan de Junio de el ano que vendra de mil y quatrocientos y sesenta y dos afios; por que se coja y pague en la manera e con las condiciones que aqui dice en esta guisa; De 2000* bacas o nouillos o toros o erales que fueren redrados de sus madras, paguen por cada locx) 3 bacas o nouillos, y dende arriba y dende ayuso a este respecto; y mas de guarda 18 maravedis. Y de 100 puercos, i el mejor, y de cada puerco i dinero, y dende arriua y dende ayuso, a este respecto. * In transcribing the numerals, figures have been used, instead of the words of the original. 392 APPENDIX I Y de looo obejas y carneros y cabras y cabrones, s reses de cada looo de lo mejor; y de los montazgos, segun se usaren, se paguen a 3 maravedis de cada 1000 por la guarda, y dende arriba y dende ayuso a este respecto. Y de lo merchaniego ' que se comprare en las ferias o en los mercados o en otros lugares qualesquier, que binieren o fueren fuera de los caminos, de cada cabeza de baca, nobillo o buey, 7 dineros; y de los carneros, obejas, cabras y cabrones, de cada caueza 2 dineros. Otrosi, que todos los ganados recios que entraren en las dehesas que scan fuera de sus terminos, antes que los metan en dichas dehesas, que sean tenudos de los contar por ante escribano publico; y que no los saquen de las dehesas sin licencia y albala de los dichos mis arrendadores mayores de esta dicha renta, o de sus acedores pudiendo ser hauido ser hauidos. Y si no que lo fagan sauer por ante escriuano pubUco, o a qualquier de los alcaldes de el lugar do esto acaeziere, por que se pueda sauer la verdad para cobrar de ellos el derecho de la dicha renta. Y si de otra guisa los metieren o los sacaren sin pregonar, que los pierdan por descaminados, y que sean para los dichos, mis arrendadores, que de mi arrendaren la dicha renta, y el escriuano o escriuanos por ante quien pasaren los ganados, asi a entrada como a salida, no estando alii los mismos arrendadores, que sean tenudos de dar y de copia de todo lo que por el pasa o pasare, so pena de la protesta- cion que contra el fiziere el arrendador. Otrosi es mi merced que si algunos de los gandos estubieren en las dehesas fuera de sus terminos antes del dia de San Juan de Junio de el a no pasado que comenzo la dicha renta, que los que ansi tubieren los dichos ganados en las dichas dehesas sean tenudos de los contar por ante escribano pubhco, antes que los saquen de las dichas dehesas, so la pena suso dicha, por que el arrendador o arrendadores que de mi arrendaren la dicha renta puendan sauer quanto es el dicho ganado, para cobrar de eUos el derecho que hubiere de haber. Y el alcalde de la villa o lugar sea tenudo de lo facer pregonar asi, si fuere requerido por los dichos arrendadores, o por los que por ellos lo hubieren de hauer orecaudar. Todos los ganados merchaniegos y trauesios que fallaren los terminos donde han de pagar el dicho seruicio y montazgo de 100 reses, i, asi de cabras y cabrones y carneros, ovejas y puercos. Otrosi, que todos los montazgos que fallaren los dichos ganados desde que entraren en los dichos puertos e en adelante entrando en los terminos, que sean tenudos de pagar a la salida los ganados que ovieren a pagar segun el quento del ganado que metieron a las entradas por los dichos puertos; y que el arrendador sea tenudo de tomar a la salida en los dichos puertos acostumbrados por el ganado que hubiere de hauer por los dichos montazgos que el dicho ganado fallaredes de que entrare por los dichos puertos adentro: Carnero con su lana; y si el dicho pastor vendiere los dichos carneros no los trajere a la tornada, que el dicho arrendador e seruidor que sea tenudo de tomar obeja con su hijo o hija e pagar 4 maravedis de costa de la obeja con su fixo o fixa; y que el rebujal que oviere con el dicho ganado obejuno o cabruno o porcuno no se entienda rebujal sino que la res que hubiere parni ' See above, pp. 43 f . COLLECTION OF SERVICIO Y MONTAZGO 393 el pastor, y que esta res de rebujal sea estimada en 25 maravedis en esta moneda que facen 2 blancos i maravedi, y que sea en escosencia del arren- dador de tomar la res o jyague el pastor los maravedis que en la su parte montare, qual el dicho mi arrendador mas quisiere. Otrosi, que los ganados bacunos que entraren per los puertos acostum- brados que se quenten e paguen los marauedis que ban de hauer de guarda e albala, e por quento de la entrada paguen a la salida el seruicio y montazgo que deuiere y hubiere a dar, asi de lo follado fasta la dicha entrada de los puertos, como lo que despues foUare fasta la salida; y que lo pague luego en el puerto o puertos por do salieren a la salida, quando el dicho ganado saliere por el dicho puerto de la entrada. Otrosi, que sea guardado a los pastores dos reses cencerradas de cada 100, y no mas; y se entienda 20 reses cencerradas al 1000. Otrosi, que los arrendadores aue arrendaren la dicha rent a scan tenudos de yr o embiar a los dichos puertos a reciuir los dichos derechos en la manera que dicho es, fasta primero dia del mes de Octubre de el dicho ano pasado; y que los dichos mis arrendadores, o el que lo hubiere de hauer por eUos. scan tenudos de continuar a contar el dicho ganado cada dia de sol a sol como viniere cada cauana en esta manera: Que la primera cauana como Uegare que luego sea contada y serbiciada y montazgada; y que quenten la segunda e dende adelante cada uno como viniere; y si acaesciere que dos o tres cauanas llegaren en uno, que quenten la primera que llegare o la que procurador de concejo mandare; e que no cese de continuar a contar como dicho es el tiempo que es necesario para comer; e si lo non quisieren fazer, que lo haga la justicia que fuere en los dichos puertos a costa de el arrendador; pero si non fueren o embiaren los dichos arrendadores en el dicho tiempo, que el juez de la jurisdiccion donde fueren los dichos puertos, que puedan poner fieles a costa de la renta para reciuir los dichos derechos de los dichos ganados de lo que deuieren, fasta la llegada de los dichos puertos; e eso mismo se entienda en la saUda en la manera que dicho es. Otrosi, con condicion que no sean salbados en esta dicha renta ninguna persona de pagar por los ganados que trageren o estubieren fuera de sus terminos el dicho derecho que a los dichos mis arrendadores pertenece o pertenecer deue de los dichos ganados, porque digan que son vecinos de un lugar, nin por uso nin por costumbre salbo si en el dicho lugar do moraren e tubieren vecindad de su casa poblada la maior parte de el ano con la muger e sus fixos; y que de ese lugar do tubiere la tal vecindad e tubiere su ganado, y do fuere vecino goze y no de otro ninguno. Otrosi, que los dichos arrendadores o quien su poder hubiere entendiese que hera pro de la dicha renta pudiesen mudar qualquier o qualesquier puertos donde se cojen e reciuen los derechos pertenecientes a la dicha renta e a otras partes e lugares do quisiese haciendolo a pregonar pubUcamente en el Concejo de la Mesta, por que viniese a noticia de todos; e que yo y los dichos mis contadores maiores mandaremos dar y diciesemos proui- siones que para en fauor de ello menester hubiesen; y si el dicho Concejo de 394 APPENDIX I la Mesta e los pastores e senores de ganado no lo quisiesen ansi fazer e Cumplir, que fuesen tenudos a todas las personas conthenidas en las condi- ciones de este mi quaderno, que hablan en que manera sea de pagar los derechos de la dicha renta. Otrosi, con condicion que los ganados francos que han en la dicha renta por preuilejio estan puestos por salbados por quanto en los preuUejios que tienen de las dichas franquezas se contiene que sean de sus cauanas y no de sus pastores, y fierro y senal y por virtud de los dichos preuUejios facen muchas ynficas yncubiertas, pasando los dichos ganados por virtud de las dichas franquezas, siendo de otras personas por ciertas abenencias que con ellos fazen, por que pasan con las dichas franquezas, y aun faciendoles gracia de los derechos que deuen de pagar, no siendo los tales ganados suios ni de sus cauanas nin de su fierro y senal; por lo qual viene gran dafio a la dicha renta, por ende que los monasterios y otras personas que ansi tubieren las dichas que estan puestas por salbadas, como dicho es, no puedan pasar ni pasen otros ganados algunos por los puertos de la dicha renta por virtud de las dichas franquezas que tienen sin pagar los derechos pertenecientes a la dicha renta, salbo los ganados que fueren suios y de sus cauanas y pastorias, que an contiene en sus preuilejios; y si otros ganados algunos pasaren por los dichos puertos y de otras personas que no sean suios como diz que se han hecho fasta aqui, que estos a tales paguen los derechos segun los pagan las otras personas que pasan ganados por los dichos puertos, so las penas con- thenidas en este dicho mi quaderno; y que para eUo sean dadas las pose- siones que para se hacer y cimipUr necesarias sean y con otras condiciones que estan asentadas en mis hbros. Y por quanto los dichos Rui Gonzales de San Martin y Pedro San- chez de Aguilar no contentaron enteramente de franzas a la dicha renta en tiempo deuido, los dichos mis contadores maiores la tomaron a el almoneda, y andando en elk por quanto no se fallo quien diese por ella precio alguno, la tomaron para mi en el precio y cantia que la tenian arendado los dichos Rui Gonzales y Pedro Sanchez. Y despues lo ar- rendo de mi por los dichos seis anos con el recaudador de ella Luis Gon- zales del Castillo, vecino de la villa de Medina del Campo, por otra cierta cantidad de maravedis, por virtud del remate que de ella fue fecho, con el dicho salbado y condiciones que hauian sido rematadas en los dichos puertos Pedro Sanchez y Rui Gonzales; el qual pidio por merced que se mandase dar mi carta de quaderno para que la recudiesedes y ficiesedes recudir con la dicha renta de dicho seruicio y montazgo desde dicho primero ano. Y por quanto el fizo y otorgo por ante mi el escriuano de rentas por la dicha renta de los dichos seis aiios cierto recaudo y obUgacion y die cierto saneamiento de ella en quanto a el dicho primero ano que esta asentado en los mis libros. COLLECTION OF SERVICIO Y MONTAZGO 395 Y hubelo por bien, por que os mando vista esta mi carta o el dicho su traslado signado como dicho es, a todos y a cada uno de vos en vuestros lugares y jurisidiciones, y a todos los otros pastores e rabadanes y merchaniegos y viandantes y camineros y sencres de ganados, y a todos los otros que los guardan, que dedes y f agades recudir al dicho Luis Gonzales del Castillo, mi arrendador y recaudador maior, o a quien su poder hubiere firmado de su nombre e signado de escriuano publico, con todo el seruicio y montazgo y con todos los derechos que a la dicha renta pertenecen y pertenecer deben, en qualquier manera esta dicho primero ano que comenzo por el dia de San Juan de Junio de el dicho ano pasado de 1456; y se cumplieron por el dia de San Juan de Jimio de este dicho ano de la data de esta mi carta, bien y cumpUdamente, en guisa que le non mengue cosa ninguna, segun que mejor e mas cum- plidamente recudisti e ficistis recudir en los anos pasados a los otros arrendadores e recaudadores maiores que fueron de la dicha renta, e asi por el dicho Rey mi senor y padre como por mi, a los que lo obieren de hauer y recaudar por ellos, segun se contiene en las leyes conthenidas en este mi quademo, que hablan en razon de como han de pagar los dichos derechos los dichos pastores e rabadanes y viandantes e cami- neros; e que ninguno ni algunos no se escusen de pagar el dicho seruicio y montazgo e las otras cosas sobre dicho es; e que ningunos pastores ni rabadanes ni merchaniegos ni viandantes ni camineros ni otros algunos por cartas e por preuilegios que de mi tengan, ni de los reyes donde yo vengo, ni por otra razon alguna, salbo los susodichos que son salbados en este dicho mi quademo. Y defiendo firmemente que ninguno ni algunos sean osados de en- cubrir ni encubran el dicho seruicio y montazgo nin los otros derechos que a la dicha renta pertinecen y pertenecer deben en qualquier ma- nera, nin de los tomar ni lleuar por f uerza ni en otra manera alguna, nin pasar ni pasen con sus ganados sin los contar en persona del dicho mi arrendador y recaudador maior o de sus lugares thenientes, si ay estu- biere, e si no, antes los dichos fieles a las entradas de los ganados a los extremos e quando saheren de ellos, ansi francos como no francos, que haian a los dichos extremos p)or las canadas y lugares ciertos y acostum- brados, por do suelen pagar y cojer el seruicio y montazgo, segim sea costumbre en los anos pasados. E si por otros los pasaren e los non pagaren, mando pierdan el ganado por descaminado; y que sean para el dicho mi arrendador y recaudador maior. Y por quanto el dicho seruicio y montazgo se coje y recauda en los lugares yermas donde no hay justicia, que el dicho mi arrendador y 396 APPENDIX I recaudador maior, o el que lo hubiere de recaudar por el, pueda tomar el dicho descaminado, otrosi predar a las personas que lo non quisieren pagar el dicho seruicio y montazgo per los maravedis que lo hubieren a dar por el dicho seruicio y montazgo. Y que desde el dia que fiziere la dicha prenda y tomare el dicho descamino fasta tres dias primeros siguientes, la llebe a presentar ante lui escriuano publico e ante un alcalde de la ciudad, viUa o lugar donde tomare el dicho descamino y fiziere la dicha prenda, por que el dicho alcalde le faga sobre ello cumpli- miento de justicia a el qual dicho alcalde mando que lo cumpla y faga luego, asi f aciendo Uamar a la otra parte y oir lo que decir quisiere, so pena de 10,000 maravedis para la mi camara. Y si el dicho alcalde fal- lare, que deue mandar entregar al dicho mi arrendador o recaudador maior el dicho ganado que asi f uere tomado por descaminado, que se lo de y entregue luego. Otrosi, fallare que debe mandar bender las dichas prendas que la mande bender y entregar luego a el dicho mi arrendador y recaudador maior de lo que perteneciere e hubiere de hauer, segxm las dichas mis condiciones. E a qualquiera o qualesquier que comprare el dicho ganado o prendas que por mandado del dicho alcalde f uere vendido, por esta mi carta o por el dicho su traslado signado como dicho es, se lo fago sano. Y si el dicho mi arrendador o arrendadores maiores o el que lo hubiere de recaudar por el menester oviere ayuda para tomar el dicho ganado por descaminado a facer las dichas prendas, mando a vos los dichos concejos, justicias y oficiales que les dedes fauor y ayuda que para ello menester hubiere. E los unos ni los otros non fagades nin fagan ende al por alguna manera, so pena de la mi merced y de 10,000 maravedis para la mi camara. Y de mas, por qualquiera y quales- quier de vos por quien fincare de lo ansi f azer e cumplir, mando a el ome que esta mi carta mostrare o el dicho su traslado, como dicho es, que vos emplazaren que parescades ante mi en la mi corte do quiera que yo sea, los concejos por buestros procuradores e imo o dos de los oficiales de cada lugar personalmente con poder de los otros, de el dia que OS emplazare fasta quince dias primeros siguientes, so la dicha pena cada imo, a decir por qual razon non complides mi mandamiento y de como esta mi carta os f uere mostrada, o su traslado signado como dicho es. E los unos nin los otros non lo cumplieredes, mando so la dicha pena a qualquier escriuano publico, que para esto fuere Uamado, que dende a el que os la mostrare testimonio signado con su signo, por que yo sepa en como cumplides mi mandado. COLLECTION OF SERVICIO Y MONTAZGO 397 Dada en la ciudad de Burgos a 14 dias de Hebrero, ano del nacimiento de Nuestro Senor Jesu Christo de 1457. YO EL REY. Alonso de Quinxantlla. Diego Arias. Garcu Gonzales. Alonso de Oviedo. Rodrigo del Rio. APPENDIX J Royal Instructions to a Special Inquisitor (Juez ComisarioO TO investigate Taxes paid by Mesta Members, i8 August, 1489 Arch. Mesta, U-i, Vheda, 1492 Dona Ysabel, por la gracia de Dios, Reyna de Castilla, de Leon, de Aragon, de Sejilia, de Toledo, de Valencia, de Galizia, de Mallorcas, de Seuilla, de geredena, de Cordoua, de Corgega, de Murfia, de Jaen, de los Algarbes, de Algezira, de Gibraltar, Conde y Condesa de Bar- Selona e Senora de Viscaya e de Molina, Duquesa de Atenas e de Neo- patria, Condesa de Rrosellon e de Cerdania, Marquesa de Orestan e Goceano, a vos, Luis Gonfales de Sepulveda, contyno ^ de mi casa, el qual fago juez mero executor, salud e gracia. Sepades que Rodrigo Dias de la Villa, en nombre e como procurador del Concejo, alcaldes, cauaUeros, escuderos, oficiales e omes buenos de la Mesta General de Castilla e de Leon, me hizo relajion por su petigion que ante mi en mi consejo presento disiendo que yendo ciertos ermanos del dicho Concejo de la Mesta a ervajar con sus ganados a los estremos atravesando de unas partes a otras, les avian seydo fechos muchos agravios, cohechos e sinrazones contra el thenor e forma de las leyes de mys reynos e de las cartas que cerca dello asy por el Rey, mi senor, como por mi son dadas. Espef iaknente el Alcayde de Montiel que diz que Uevo al mayoral de Feman Gomes de Caja, mi contador, siete mil y siete cientos maravedis de un derecho que dixo seruicio e montadgo, aviendolo ya pagado en otros logares acostumbrados aquien e como deuia e segund lo que en las leyes del cuademo del seruisio. E diz que el Alcayde del Albanbra llevo ocho cameros de asadura e castilleria ^ estando lo tal vedado e def endido, non lo poniendo ni deviendo lleuar. E asy mismo en la cib- dad de Ubeda an Uevado de cada hato que por los enzinares de Baeja pasan, un florin e una borra de un derecho que dizen caualleria, estando def endido por las dichas leyes. E asy mismo diz que llevaron a muchos hermanos del dicho Concejo de la Mesta en las villas de Xorquera e Albafete e Larroda e Ymesta e Santistevan del Puerto, e en otros lo- ' See above, pp. 213 fit., 277 f. ' See above, p. 215. ° For definitions of these and other taxes herein mentioned, see Glossary. .198 INSTRUCTIONS TO A JUEZ COMISARIO 399 gares de aquellas comarcas ciertos derechos so color e diziendo que eran seruifio e montadgo e borras e asaduras, aviendo ya pagado el dicho seruifio e montadgo a quien e come devian; e non les podiendo lleuar las dichas borras por estar lo tal defiendo. E a Franfisco de Villatoro los judios portadgueros ^ de Medellin le llevaron mill e trezientos mara- vedis de portadgo e un camero siendo su ganado cabanil. En lo qual todo diz que eUos han rescibido mucho agrauio e dafio, e lo esperan rescibir de aqui adelante, si non se remediase. E el dicho Rodrigo Dias en el dicho nonbre me suphco e pidio por merzed en el dicho nonbre sobre ello le mandase prouer por manera que lo que asi les estaua Ueuado les les fuese lleuado e restituydo, e que de aqui ad- lante lo non pidiesen ni lleuasen, so aquellas penas en que caen los que lleuan los semejantes derechos. Sobre lo qual presento ante mi en el mi Consejo ciertos testimonios, e fueron thomados e resfibidos ciertos testigos, lo qual todo por los del mi Consejo visto fue acordado que deviamos mandar dar esta nuestra carta para vos en la dicha razon. E yo toue lo por bien, por que vos mando que luego que con esta mi carta f uerdes requerido vades a las dichas cibdades e villas e logares e a cada ima dellas e a otras quales- quier partes donde fuere nefesario. E Ilamadas las partes, fagays pesquisa e ynquisifion por quantas partes e maneras saber lo pudierdes e que cantidad e so color de que derecho han lleuado a los dichos her- manos del dicho Concejo de la Mesta lo susodicho. E cada una cosa e parte dello, e todo lo que hallardes lleuado ynjusta e non devidamente contra el thenor e forma de las leyes de mis reynos e de sus preuillejos e de las cartas quel Rey, mi senor, e yo avemos man- dado dar, fagays tomar e restituyr al dicho Concejo de la Mesta e a su procurador en su nonbre. E esecuteys en ellos e en cada uno dellos las penas en las dichas leyes e cartas contenidas, ca para ello vos doy poder conpUdo por esta mi carta.^ E mando a las partes a quien citan e a qualesquier personas de quien entendierdes ser ynformado que vengan e parescan ante vos a vuestros Uamamientos e enplazamientos a los plazos e so las penas que de mi para les pusierdes, las quales yo por la presente les pongo e puesto. Para lo qual asi mismo vos doy poder conplido por esta mi carta, e es mi merged e voluntad queste ' On the anti-Semitic activities of the Mesta and its part in the expulsion of the Jews, see above, p. 217. ' It will be observed that in this instance the special inquisitor was not required to report the conclusions of his investigations to the Royal Council, but was on the contrary authorized to enforce his decisions forthwith. See above, p. 214. 400 APPENDIX J desenhazer lo susodicho ciento e veynte dias. E que ayades e llevedes de salario para ayuda a vuestra costa e mantenimiento cada uno de los dichos ciento e veynta dias dozientos e finquenta maravedis. E para un escriuano que con vos vaya ante quien pase lo susodicho setenta maravedis. Los quales vos sean dados e pagados de los bienes de los que f allardes para los quales aver e cobrar e para f azer sobre ello todas las prendas, premias, execujiones, vengiones, prisiones e remates de vienes que negesarios e conplideros sean. Vos doy asy mismo poder conplido por esta mi carta con todas sus yncidenjias, dependengias, mergenfias, anexidades, e conexidades, e non hagades ende al. Dada en la jibdad de Jaen, a diez y ocho dias del mes de Agosto, ano del nasgimiento de Nuestro Sefior Jesu Christo de mill e quatro cientos e ochenta e nueue afios. YO LA REYNA. Yo, Alonso de Avila, secretario del Rey e de la Reyna, nuestros senores, la fize escreuir por su mandado. BIBLIOGRAPHY SYNOPSIS N06. I. Bibliographies i II. Soiirces i6 A. Manuscripts 16 1. The Archive of the Mesta (Madrid) 16 2. The Royal Academy of History (Madrid) 25 3. The Archive Historico Nacional (Madrid) 33 4. The Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid) 36 5. Other national Spanish archives 45 6. Spanish town archives 48 7. The Archivo del Duque de Osuna (Madrid) 62 8. British Museiun 69 9. Archives in Paris 71 B. Printed Works 75 1. Mesta codes and documents 75 2. Local laws and ordinances 83 3. Other printed sources 122 in. Secondary Works 146 A. Discussions of the Mesta 146 B. Sheep migrations in other countries 165 C. General agricultural works I. BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1. Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid). Coleccidn de Frier os y Car- tas-pueblas de Espaiia. Madrid, 1852. An indispensable guide, especially helpful as one of the few available aids for the investigator in the rich archives of the Academy. 2. The same, tndice de los Documentos procedentes de los Monaslerios y Conventos suprimidos. Tom. i (no others published). Madrid, 1861. Has many excerpts and lengthy summaries. 3. The same. Coleccidn de Cdrtes de los antiguos reinos de Espaiia. Mad- rid, 1855. A useful chronological guide to printed and ms. source materials, largely in the Academy's library. 4. Agapito y RevUla, Juan. Los Priiiilegios de Valladolid — tndice, Capias, y Extractos .... Valladolid, 1906. A convenient guide to much good material in the town archive of Valladolid. 402 BIBLIOGRAPHY S- Archive Historico Nacional (Madrid). Indice de los Documentos del Monasterio de Sahagun. Madrid, 1874. Liberal extracts and summaries; a useful glossary. 6. Barrantes, Vicente. Aparato Bihliogrdfico para la Historia de Extre- madura. Madrid, 1875-77. 3 vols. This edition displaces the earlier one in 2 vols. (1865), which was full of gaps and errors. The present edition is an exhaustive guide to materials, both ms. and printed, on the great summer pasturage region of the Mesta. 7. Boissonnade, P. " Les Etudes relatives a I'histoire economique de I'Espagne." In Revue de synthase historique, 1910-12. 8. Catalina Garcia, Juan. Datos Bibliogrdficos sobre la Sociedad EconS- mica Matritense. Madrid, 1877. A scarce but very useful pubhcation; lists much valuable fugitive material now in the Ubrary of that Society. 9. Colmeiro, Manuel. Biblioteca de los Economistas Espanoles de los Siglos XVI, XVII, y XVIII. Madrid, 1880. Indispensable. 10. Foulche-Delbosc, R. Bibliographie des voyages en Espagne et en Por- tugal. Paris, 1896. Convenient in this investigation as a guide to material on Estremadura. 11. Jordana y Morera, Jose. Apuntes Bibliogrdfico-forestales. Madrid, 1875. A useful compilation of titles, both printed and ms., on forestry, with much on stock raising; privately printed. 12. Munoz y Romero, Tomas. Diccionario Bibliogrdfico-Hisldrico de los antiguos Reinos, Provincias, Ciudades, Villas . . . Madrid, 1858. Re- markable for its thoroughness, accuracy, and utility; one of the two con- stant bibliographic aids to the present investigation (see No. 15). 13. Perez Pastor, Cristobal. Bibliografia Madrilem . . . Siglo XVI. Madrid, 1891. Supplemented by two later volumes on the early seven- teenth century; lists the early editions of the Mesta codes. 14. Rada y Delgado, Juan. Bibliografia Numismdtica Espanola. Ma- drid, 1886. This and the preceding item were published by the Biblioteca Nacional. 15. Ramirez, Briulio Anton. Diccionario de Bibliografia AgronSmica. Madrid, 1865. An exhaustive compilation of 2375 titles, including mss., analyses of files of obscure periodicals, summaries of early pamphlets', etc.; a work which will stand comparison with the best of the better known bibliographies in any language or on any subject. n. SOURCES A. Manuscripts I. The Archive of the Mesta The Mesta began very early the collection and organization of docu- ments concerning its various activities. In fact, there are indications of an informal accumulation of materials for the use of its attorney as early as 1371, though the first definite evidence of a systematized archive does not occur imtil the recognition of the Mesta by Ferdi- BIBLIOGRAPHY 403 nand and Isabella as one of the administrative arms of the central government. The Archive was stored at the monastery of Guadalupe, in the heart of the winter pasturage region, until about 1595, when it was transferred to Villanueva de la Serena, another of the favorite towns for the winter meetings of the herdsmen. There it remained until 1 62 1, when it was removed to Madrid, to be stored in the church of San Martin until the early years of the eighteenth century. It was then installed in its present abode in a house on the comer of the Calle de las Huertas and the Calle de Leon, across the street from the Royal Academy of History, where it reposed, untouched by his- torians, for some two hundred years. In view of all these travels and of its constant use as an arsenal for the ever busy legal staff of the Mesta, the excellent condition and the completeness of the files of documents are remarkable. Out of its total of 6000 or more separate manuscript items, several hundred of which are stout folio volumes, less than twenty sheets are in a seri- ously damaged condition, and the different series of documents are marred by no important gaps. The Archive is now well arranged and accessible, and its value in fields of research beyond the limits of the present study should prove inviting to other students. Its long and imbroken files of judicial materials, for example, afford a rare op- portimity for the examination of mediaeval Castilian judicial proced- ure and the development of the technique of Utigation. The Archive abounds in sources of tempting possibiUties in the field of general agrarian history: pubUc lands, commons, forests, etc. In general, its strongest period lies in the sixteenth century, with ample sources both before and after that golden age of Spanish history. A word on its completeness, before taking up the different sections in detail. An examination of the usual Spanish libraries and archives, both national and local, private and public, brings out at once the fact that they contain few if any sources on the Mesta: a circumstance which is probably the explanation of the absence of any careful study of the subject. For an institution which aroused such prolonged and vehement hatred, the Mesta is surprisingly iminvestigated. The credit for this immunity may be ascribed to the craft of a few of that body's astute legal agents, who, in 1621, secured a royal order by which they were authorized to remove from the great archive at Simancas, and all other public record oflSces, all documents bearing on the Mesta. These were deposited in the Archive of that organiza- tion, where they remam to this day. They were supplemented in 404 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1642 by the fruits of further searches, this time in the private archives of all families which had ever had an official of the Mesta among their members. The thoroughness with which this work was done is evi- denced by the rarity of documents outside the archive of which a copy is not to be found in the neatly tabulated bundles of this collection. 16. Indices: (o) The earliest of these is a list written about 1474, on 142 sheets (n. t. p.,n. d.). (6) Registro de Scripturas de la Mesta {ca. 1515). A list of the docu- ments stored in the monastery of Guadalupe. Ms. (c) Registro de las Scripturas y Executorias que tiene la Mesta (co. 1610). Ms. (d) Invenlario de los Privilegios, Executorias y demas . . . (Madrid, 1624). This is a list of documents in the archive at the time of its transfer from ViUanueva de la Serena to Madrid. Printed. (e) Abecedario de las Provisiones . . . sacadas del Archive de Simancas. (17 vols, ms., begun ca. 1625; printed in 1629). (/) Ymbentario de los Vienes, Executorias, y Papeles . . . de la Mesta. Ms., covers acquisitions of 1645-70. (g) Ynventario de las Executorias, Libros, y demas Papeles . . . Ms., 1728, 2 vols. {h) Registro de Escripturas del Concejo de la Mesta (covers 1752- 61). Ms. (j) Inventario del Archive de la Mesta. Large foHo ms., 1832; the last and most useful of these indices, though it must be used only as a chronological guide; its summaries are useless. 17. Cuentas. 13 large folio vols, and 4 bundles, all ms. These are the accoimts of the Mesta. They cover the period 1510-1836, with only one gap, 1568-83. 18. Acuerdos. 26 large foHo vols. Ms. The minutes of the semiannual meetings, 1499-1836. 19. Executorias. 53 bimdles of mss., arranged by towns in alphabetical order. They comprise the briefs, documentary evidence, and decisions in some 3500 suits between the Mesta and various cities and individuals. They range from 1401 to 1836, and form by far the most valuable single group of material in the Archive. They are cited thus: T-2, Toledo, 1488, meaii- ing " legajo (bundle) T-2 of the executorias on Toledo, document of 1488." The date does not always indicate the year of the material contained in the document, which is frequently earher. 20. Provisiones and Privilegios Reales. 15 bundles, ms. These com- prise the oldest documents in the archive, the royal charters, beginning with that of 1371, which gives the text of the first one of 1273. Some are beautifully illuminated, and, taken together, they form an unusual collec- tion of the royal autographs of four centuries. These documents are the only ones in the Archive that have hitherto been known to scholars, since most of them were printed, with ntunerous errors, in the codes cited below (Nos. 75-82). BIBLIOGRAPHY 405 21. Relaciones de los Alcaldes Entregadores. 62 vols., ms. Reports of these itinerant judicial protectors of the Mesta to the semiannual meet- ings of that body. 1550-1796. 22. Visitas de Canadas, Veredas, y Terminos. 79 vols., ms. Testimony taken by the entregadores while on their tours of inspection of the sheep highways. 1560-1750. 23. Servicio y Montazgo. 3 bundles, ms. Records kept at the royal toll gates of the flocks as they passed southward. 1585-1720. These are copies of the only considerable body of Mesta materials still remaining in the Archive of Simancas. 24. Pleytos de Le6n, de Soria, de Segovia, y de Cuenca. These comprise about 600 bimdles, each containing the ms. records of some 40 or 50 cases heard by the entregadores. They are not of any great importance, because the digests of them appear in the collections cited above (Nos. 21-22). It should be particularly noted that, although none of the above sets of documents appears to begin previous to 1400 and most of them start well on in the sixteenth century, nevertheless they contain quantities of transcripts of documents, introduced as evidence, which date back to 1250 and before. 2. The Royal Academy of History {Madrid) The valuable collections of this society are chiefly useful for town charters, ordinances, records of local litigations, and royal privileges. In view of the comparative inaccessibility of the catalogue, some of the printed bibliographies listed above (Nos. 1-3, 12) were indispen- sable. Six of the collections in this archive have inventarios or indices: Salazar, Sarmiento, Vargas y Ponce, Mata y Linares, Abella, and Bautista Munoz. These lists are nearly useless, though they do serve to indicate the general nature of each set of papers. Other col- lections of the Academy, which are not equipped with such lists, are noted in bibliography No. i, listed above. Of these six, the first two were the ones which proved most useful in the present investigation; the others contain excellent series of documents on Spanish America, copies of which are probably in the Archivo de Indias, in Seville. The Academy has a number of valuable manuscripts on pastoral affairs in its Traggia and Sempere collections, the latter a splendid reposi- tory of almost imtouched economic materials. An uimamed set of transcripts of local docimients from church and town archives was also very fruitful. 25. Salazar. The volumes most used were marked 1-36: Indice del archivo de la Orden de Calatrava: a collection which is now in the Archivo Historico Nacional. It has been 4o6 BIBLIOGRAPHY well indexed by Uhagon {cf. Boletin de la Real Academia de Eistoria, xxxv, pp. 5-167), but this ' I-36 ' Salazar index gives brief notes on some documents which appear to have been lost in the transfer of the collection to the National Archives. I-37, 40, and 41: Escrituras y Cartas de Privilegio. Copies of mss. pertaining to the Military Orders, chiefly Calatrava. K-3oand3i: Rentas Reales and Real Hacienda. Seventeenth- century mss. and prints on royal finances. O-13 and 15: Privilegios de Burgos. The former has a list of the documents in the cathedral of Burgos; a valuable series, with much on rural conditions, taxation, and land laws. X-i. Memoriales sobre las Yerbas de Villanueva. Discussions (mostly early prints) of the pasturage of the Mesta's winter home. 26. Sarmiento. Vol. v: Miscellaneous materials on agriculture, chiefly eighteenth century. This collection is mostly on Galicia. 27. Sempere. Papeles Varies sobre Economia Politica. 8 vols. Mss. copies compiled by the famous Spanish economist, Juan Sempere y Guarinos. They are numbered 12-24-5, B-124 to -131, inclusive. An indispensable source for any line of investigation in Spanish economics or economic his- tory. The set contains not only many original documents, but also many unpublished papers by their prolific compiler, with valuable notes and citations. 28. Traggia. Vol. 19. Numbered B-153. A digest and guide, with frequent excerpts, to the local archive of Teruel, one of the leading pasturage towns of southern Aragon. 29. Monasterios Suprimidos, Documentos de los. A mass of materials, parts of which are listed in No. 2. 30. Coleccion de Privilegios, Bulas . . . de las Iglesias de Espaiia. Num- bered 25-i-C-i to C-23 inclusive. A valuable compilation of transcripts and lists made by royal command in the eighteenth century, in the course of a search through the archives of the more important churches in the country. 31. Abella. This collection, which is Aragonese, was found useful for local agricultural matter, especially vols, xvii, xviii, xxii, numbered B-151 ff. 32. Colecci6n de Fueros y Privilegios y Ordenanzas de varios Pueblos del Reyno. Numbered 12-19-1/35 ff. An invaluable collection of twenty or more volmnes with slightly varying titles. In addition to these collections, occasional references were found in the Floranes (vols, i, xv), the Velasquez (vols, i, v, vii), and the Salva (vols, xxxv, xxxix) manuscripts, and in other single volumes numbered E-127, 12-19-2/36 and 2/38. All of the above are manuscripts, unless otherwise noted. BIBLIOGRAPHY 407 3. The Archivo Hisldricq Nacional (Madrid) This collection, which is housed in the upper halls of the National Library in Madrid, is, on the whole, fairly well equipped with indices and guides. It was found to be useful for three groups of material: documents of the Military Orders, especially that of Calatrava; data on various monasteries; and materials on the Royal Council or Consejo Real. 33. Calatrava. The most useful part of this rich collection was the group of Documentos Reales which contains royal privileges to the order. For index, see above, No. 25. 34. Beruela, Lorenzana, Guadalupe, and Ona (monasteries). Docu- mentos Reales: these royal privileges are in the tumbos or collections of parchments of these monasteries. The ones used in the present study are mostly of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and deal with pasturage privileges. 35. Consejo Real. A collection of some 2000 bundles of documents, mostly of the eighteenth century, dealing with the business of the Royal Council. Because of the position of the President of the Mesta as senior member of that council, many of its dehberations were taken up with the affairs of the sheep owners. The legajos (bundles) which were most fre- quently consulted were nos. 48, 227, 434, 752, 817, 819, 877, and 1446, and, in the Sala de Gobierno (a division of the same), nos. 252, 338, 341, 345, 348, 371, 413, 436. 4. The Biblioteca Nacional {Madrid): Sala de Manuscritos Very few documents were found on the Mesta in this collection, which has been indexed in Bartolome Jose Gallardo, Ensayo de una Biblioteca Espanola (Madrid, 1863-89, 4 vols). There is only one which deals specifically with the subject (No. 36, below), but several others touch upon it incidentally. 36. Memorial al Rey D. Felipe III sobre la conservacion de . . . la Mesta . . . 1619. 6 pp. A memorial to the crown to save the Mesta from the ravages of the reformers of that period. Ms. H-252, pp. 250 ff. 37. Privilegio de Ja5Tne I a la Casa de Ganaderos. Charter of that body of Saragossa, 1218. Ms. 8702. Another ms. on same: Ms. 10332. 38. Relacion de lo que han informado !os Corregidores . . . de la la- branza y crianza. Discussion of rural conditions by agents of the crown, end of the sixteenth century. Ms. 9372. 39. Ordenanzas de Toledo sobre el Ganado vacimo . . . ovejuno. Re- ports on sheep and cattle in Toledo, 1395-1454. Ms. 13080. 40. Hermandad vieja de Toledo — confirmaci6n para . . . los gana- deros . . . Docmnents regarding the taxation of sheep, 13385. Ms. 13100. 408 BIBLIOGRAPHY 41. Salanova, Pedro. Apuntamiento por orden . . . sobre tributes. Eighteenth-century definitions of various taxes. Ms. 13126. 42. Cano, Alonso. Papel . . . sobre el origen de la Cabana real . . . 1764. Ms. 17708. Another copy in the British Museum; also printed in BibUoteca general de Historia, Ciencias, Artes . . . i, pp. 5-32 (Madrid, 1834). A florid defence of the Mesta and of the sheep industry, as opposed to agriculture. 43. Fueros y Privilegios de Ciceres. Ms. 430. An important compila- tion of documents from the town archive of Caceres, one of the leading places in the western pasturage region. The volimie (683 pp.) is indexed in Barrantes, i, pp. 384-388 (see above, No. 6). Many of these documents were printed in Ulloa y Golfin's collection of the same name, which appeared, without title page or concluding pages, about 1676. Only four copies of this Ulloa reprint are known to exist. Many of the documents have to do with the Mesta. 44. Ordenanzas rurales de Sevilla. Ms. D-81. A fourteenth-century col- lection of 122 articles. 5. Other National Spanish Archives The scarcity of material on the Mesta outside its own collection (see above, p. 404) is especially noticeable in the national Spanish archives not discussed thus far. 45. In the great archive at Simancas, besides the small group of manuscripts on the royal sheep tax already mentioned (see No. 23), there are a few items in the collection caUed Diversos de Castilla, indexed in 1908 by Julian Paz (titles numbered 117, 909, and 1643). 46. The Archivo de Fomento at Alcala de Henares is given over to administrative materials of the period since 1700, with a few docu- ments of the previous century. The only sources available there are in the Seccion de Hacienda (Treasury), which has one packet of 67 documents on renta de tanas (royal income from wool, 1699-1819), and a few items on the royal sheep tax or servicio y montazgo. 47. The Archivo de la Corona de Aragon (Barcelona) contains a few documents on the sheep industry in that kingdom during the reign of James 11 (1291-1327),. in the series marked Escrituras de Jayme II. 6. Spanish Town Archives Because of the constant contact between the Mesta and the towns, the importance of the archives of the latter can be understood at once. A systematic search was made in the town collections in those parts of the country where the Mesta had been particularly active. In most cases it was found that the more important documents existed BIBLIOGRAPHY 409 in duplicate in the Mesta archive, but many others were unearthed (in some cases, literally so) which amply repaid the trouble taken. The town archives are an almost miknown field of research in Spanish historiography. There are signs, however, that this may not long be the case. (See Ballesteros, Cuestiones histdricas, Madrid, 1913, pp. 197-201, for a brief compilation of references and comments on local archives.) The three most useful and best arranged of these local collections are those at Cuenca, Burgos, and Madrid, named in the order of merit. A secondary group comprises Caceres, Plasen- cia, and Leon. 48. Badajoz. Has much material on Paino y Hurtado, who as a deputy from Badajoz led the fight against the Mesta in the eighteenth centiury. The minutes of the town council begin about 1570, and touch upon the Mesta occasionally in connection with local pastures. 49. Burgos. Has a serviceable card index, chronological and by subject matter. One of the most orderly and accessible towa archives in Spain. Its accounts are complete from ca. 1375 to the present time, which makes them the oldest series of any seen in the course of this investigation, and perhaps the oldest in Spain. Palencia claims to have the next oldest. 50. Caceres. See above, No. 43, for Usts of the impwrtant documents in this archive from the reign of Isabella, 1474-1504, many of which deal with the Mesta. The town accounts, Cuentas Antiguos, begin in 1503. This archive has several documents on pasturage which date from 1280 on. The town ordinances of 1477, several bundles of manuscripts on waste lands, pastvires, and woodland (marked baldios, dehesas, and monies, respectively) also proved fruitful. 51. Cuenca. The most useful local archive in Spain, from the point of view of the present subject, with regard both to the quahty of its materials and to their arrangement. As centre of one of the four districts or quadriUas of the Mesta, Cuenca was always prominent in the pastoral history of the country. A large sixteenth-century Becerro or compilation contains copies of all documents in the archive before that time. The originals of these are obtainable at once. They date from the year 1300 and cover all phases of the Mesta's activities, especially the functions of its entregadores. 52. Guernica. The ancient capital of Viscaya and of the two adjoining provinces. Though containing httle on sheep raising or rural conditions, the archive in the Casa de Juntas is a most valuable repository of materials on local government in the north coast region. There are ms. indices of smaller and less accessible town archives of the vicinity. The accovmts begin in the late fourteenth century. 53. Huesca. The centre of industrial activity in mediaeval Aragon. Its archive, which is rich in gild materials, has been described in Ricardo del Arco's Apuntes sobre el antiguo Rigimen . . . de Huesca (Huesca, 1910). See No. 104. The Biblioteca Provincial of the town also has some ms. ma- terials upon fourteenth-century prices. Cf. Resista de Huesca, i, pp. 159 ff. 410 BIBLIOGRAPHY 54- Leon. Well arranged, but has very few documents previous to the sixteenth century; in general, not so strong a collection as commonly supposed (see BaUesteros, noted above, p. 409); useful on the Mesta for local ordinances of 1584 and royal privileges of 1509 regarding pasturage. 55- Madrid. A lar^e though seldom visited collection, well indexed; exceptionally full on industrial activities of the sixteenth century: gilds, market regulations, prices. On the Mesta, sect. 2 of this collection has four legajos on local sheep laws of the seventeenth century. The older ma- terials of this archive have been printed in Palacio, Documentos del Archivo de Madrid (Madrid, 1888-1909, 4 vols.), which gives clues to further ma- terials on the relations between the Mesta and Madrid. See No. 108. 56. Plasencia. There is an eighteenth-century inventory of this town archive in the Royal Academy of History, Madrid (2S-1-C-7; see above, No. 30), combined with a list of the documents in the church there. Al- though the documents have been since rearranged, this list can for the most part be readily checked up. Paredes Guillen, the venerable Plasencian, has in his library a valuable set of transcripts of documents from this archive, as well as helpful digests of the materials in other town collections of the vicin- ity. The town collection is particularly valuable on pasturage law of the first half of the fourteenth century, especially 1310-40. 57. Saragossa. The Archivo Provincial in this city has a ms. copy of the town ordinances of Daroca, one of the pasturage towns of southern Aragon. It also has a set of accounts beginning in 1414. The most valuable archive in this city, however, from the point of view of this study, is that of the Casa de Ganaderos de Zaragoza, a gild of sheep owners established in 1218 and in active life today. Although its archive is not so large or so well arranged as that of the Mesta, it is older and quite as unknown. Its ancient royal privileges and some of its judicial ofl&cers' sentences were very useful. Many valuable prints of early documents were also drawn upon. See above. No. 37, for citations of ms. copies of two of the royal privileges of this organization. 58. Segovia. A disappointing collection, in view of the importance of that town as the centre of the wool trade during the regime of the Mesta. Vergara, Ensayo de una Coleccidn BiUiogrdfico-Biogrdfico . . . de Segovia (Guadalajara, 1903), cites a few documents of pastoral interest (nos. 245- 247, 1 138). Beyond these the archive has nothing of interest on the Mesta, save a few records of entregador cases. 59. Seville. Has five eighteenth-century reports on the sheep highways of its vicinity, much valuable material on gilds, including details on a local sheep owners' organization; of little use for the period before 1700. See Velazquez, Archivo Municipal de Sevilla (Seville, 1859; 2d ed., 1864). 60. Soria. Useful, though not so much so as might be expected in view of Soria's position as the chief city of the Mesta. Some sixteenth-century data on migrations of sheep into Aragon. The town accounts begin in 1 547. 61. Toledo. Somewhat difficult of access, but good, especially on local sheep regulations and on market laws. The Ordenanzas Antiguas de Toledo (Toledo, 1858) gives indications which are needed in tracing down the com- plicated filing system in use in the archive. BIBLIOGRAPHY 4II The archives at the Escorial and at Villanueva de la Serena, where the Mesta archive was stored in the seventeenth century, do not con- tain sufficient material on this subject to warrant their being Usted here. 7. Archivo del Duque de Osuna (Madrid) This notable collection is now in the hands of a committee of credi- tors (Conde de Romanones, chairman). It is not to be confused with the Biblioteca of the Duque, which is in the Biblioteca Nacional (Sala de Manuscritos), and of which a Catalogo abreviado was pub- lished by Jose Maria Rocamora in 1882. A brief description of the above archive was published in the Revista de Archives (xv, p. 79) by Francisco Alvarez Osorio, but the truly extraordinary richness of the collection has yet to be revealed. A fairly exhaustive search for materials on pastoral and general rural history uncovered quantities of sources of prime importance. The house of Osuna has long been one of the most be-titled of Spanish families. Through some good fortune, the private archives of most of these titles have been gath- ered together, and elaborately inventoried, by families, in some twenty or more volimies. Many of these families had their lands in the track of the Mesta migrations, and the result has been the ac- cumulation of hundreds of useful documents on pastoral matters dating from 1285 onward. These deal with every side of the Mesta's activities, and they are especially valuable in that they reflect the opposite views from those frequently expressed in the data in the Mesta archive; for these families were almost the only opponents of the Mesta who were able to stand against it. The families whose collections have been especially consulted are: 62, Bejar; 63, Gibra- leon; 64, Infantazgo; 65, Jadraque; 66, Manzanares; 67, Mendoza; and 68, Santillana. This archive is, perhaps, the most valuable single collection of materials on the general economic history of Spain. The great national archives at Simancas and Madrid are made up to a large extent of official decrees and materials of pohtical and legal import. This collection, on the other hand, ranges through the every- day activities and ordinary life of a large part of the Spanish people, from the year 904 down to the close of the eighteenth century. 8. British Museum (London) The Spanish manuscripts of this library have been well catalogued by Gayangos {Catalogue of Spanish Manuscripts in the British Mu- 412 BIBLIOGRAPHY seutn, London, 1877, 2 vols.). The collections found particularly useful were: 69. Add. 9915-34, 28303, 28351, 28361-4, and 28423. 70. Eg. 417, 505-513, and 2084. These deal with local sheep owners' gilds of the fourteenth cen- tury, Canada rights, taxes on sheep and wool, and pasturage laws of the sixteenth century. Some valuable early Spanish tracts on economic subjects are bound with these manuscripts. 9. Archives in Paris Here one has the advantage of two carefully prepared inventories: Alfred Morel-Fatio, Catalogue des manuscrits espagnoles (Paris, 1881- 92), and Ministfere des Affaires fitrangeres, Inventaire sommaire des Archives . . . des Affaires £trangeres, Fonds divers (Paris, 1892); Es- pagne, pp. 125-217. In the Bibhotheque Nationale, there is but one important manuscript item on the Mesta: 71. Esp. 66. Registre de confirmations de . . . Charles-Quint, which contains (pp. 11 ff.) the ordinances of the town gild, or mesta, of sheep owners of Baeza, 1SS2. The Archives des Affaires fitrangeres has, in its Fonds Divers: 72. Esp. 54. Pieces relatives aux tribunaux . . . et finances de la Mesta, 1621-47. This is in Memoires et Documents, Espagne, T. 47, fols. 144-152. In the Archives Nationales, Collection Tiran, there is also: 73. Lista de los Senores del Consejo que han presidido en el Concejo de la Mesta . . . 1670-1772. On another such list, see below. No. 81. The Bibliotheque de Sainte-Genevieve has an important item in two pages of ms. notes in a copy of the Concordia de 1783 (see below. No. 79), written by one Daunon: 74. (Notes on an interview with Labene, secretary of the French Em- bassy in Madrid, with regard to Campomanes' intentions and policy toward the Mesta at the time that he was planning the dissolution of that body; ca. 1 7 70-1 783). B. Printed Works The chief collections where the following printed sources have been found are the Archive of the Mesta; the Sala de Raros of the Biblio- teca Nacional (Madrid); the BibUoteca del Institute de San Isidro (Madrid), an excellent collection of early printed books, especially BIBLIOGRAPHY 413 on legal subjects; the British Museum (London), whose valuable series of collected Spanish tracts (nos. 1320 1 6-10, 1321 k 6 ff. -^ about 15 volumes) has reposed imcatalogued in its basement since Gayangos' time, some forty years ago; the Hispanic Society of Amer- ica (New York); and the Konigliche Bibliothek (BerUn), which has recently, under Konrad Haebler's direction, built up a good collec- tion of early Spanish prints. The Ticknor Collection (Boston) and the Harvard Law School Library (Cambridge) also have a few items not listed here, but bearing on the general topic of Spanish land law. Perez Pastor's Bibliografia (see above, No. 13) is useful to check up some of the earher Mesta codes, though he has omitted several. It is unnecessary here to list the scores of contemporary reprints of laws and decrees on this subject, because these appeared in some one of the compilations here enumerated. Of these reprints there are copies in all of the libraries named above, but the Bibliotheque Na- tionale (Paris) is especially well equipped with this class of materials (see Morel-Fatio, " Cinq recueils de pifeces espagnoles," in the Revue des bibliothdques, Jan.-March, 191 1). I. Mesta Codes and Documents (arranged chronologically) 75. Copilacidn de todas las Leyes y Ordenan^as del Honrado Concejo de la Mesta general de CaslUla y de Le6n ... 34 leaves. N. t. p., n. d. This is the first printed code of the Mesta. Pastor notes a copy in the possession of Sancho Rayon, a Madrid collector. There is also a copy in the British Museum, Add. 9929, fols. 311-343. The final document of this copilacidn is dated 1526, at Toledo, which may be a clue to the date and place of pub- lication, though Pastor, Imprenta en Toledo (Madrid, 1887), does not list such a item. In this connection it may be noted that the Mesta accounts (above. No. 17) record expenses in 1516 for printing 1000 copies of certain Leyes de Juan II, which are embodied in this copilacidn. This would indi- cate a piecemeal publication, and not the complete code, as implied by Pastor (above. No. 13), p. 15. 76. Libro de los Privilegios y Leyes del Ilustre y muy Honrado Concejo de la Mesta . . . Madrid, 1569. This code succeeded No. 75. It was revised in 1582, 1586, 1590, 1595, 1609, 1639, and 1681. These were simply compilations, with no attempt at analysis or arrangement. They were all displaced by the Quaderno of 1731 (No. 77). Elaborate analyses of most of these wiU be found in Pastor (above. No. 13), though the 1582 edition, which is in the British Museum, has es- caped him. It is interesting to note that the two editions in the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale (1586 and 1595) are from Colbert's library; and the marginal annotations in them indicate that the introduction into France of an organization like the Mesta was contemplated by him, along withjthe importation of merino sheep. 414 BIBLIOGRAPHY 77. Diez Navarro, Andr6s, ed. Quaderno de Leyes y Priidlegios del Hon- rado Concejo de la Mesta. Madrid, 1731. The most comprehensive code of the Mesta. 78. Memorial ajustado hecho en Virtud de Decreto del Consejo del Expedi- ente considtivo que petide en el . . . entre D. Vicente Paino y Hurtado, dipu- tado . . . de Estremadura y el Honrado Concejo de la Mesta. Madrid, n. d. (1771 ?). This is a preliminary statement of the case which was taken up in earnest in the two volumes noted below (No. 79). 79. Memorial ajustado del Expediente de Concordia que trata el Honrado Concejo de la Mesta con la Diputacidn General de Extremadura ante el Conde de Campomanes . . . Madrid, 1783. 2 vols. This truly monumental compilation contains all of the evidence and arguments at the hearing held by Campomanes on the points at issue between the Mesta and the pasturage province of Estremadtira, whose case was presented by Paino y Hurtado (see above. No. 48). All of the royal charters and ordinances, and many documents not available in other works are collected in these two large volumes. See No. 74. 80. Resumen de los principales privilegios del Honrado Concejo de la Mesta, dispuesto para el uso de los hermanos . . . Salamanca, 1815. 15 pp. In- teresting as indicating the enforcement of many of the most ancient Mesta charters over five hundred years after their promulgation. 81. Brieva, Matlas, ed. Colecci&n de Leyes, Reales Decretos y Ordenes, Acuerdos y Circidares pertenecientes al Ramo de Mesta. 1729-1827. Madrid, 1828. The last code of the Mesta; supplements No. 77; has a list of all the presidents and meeting places of the Mesta for the period 1500-1827. Cf. No. 73- 82. Gomez Valverde, Manuel, ed. El Consultor del Ganadero. Madrid, 1898. A useful compilation of ancient and modern pastoral laws, with brief historical notes. 2. Local Laws and Ordinances The same reason which prompted the examination of town archives (see above, p. 408) explains the presence of this section in the bib- liography. There have been listed here only such compilations as were found useful on pastoral laws and practices. Nos. i and 12, above, were indispensable in the search for this class of material. It will be noted that practically all of the towns cited are in the central and southern pasturage regions, with a few in the northern wool marketing centres (Bilbao, Leon, Burgos). For the most part, the materials fotmd in these town codes were on local sheep regulations and the organization of the local mestas, or shepherds' gilds. (a) Collections of Town Charters 83. Gonzalez, Tomis, ed. Coleccidn de Privilegios, Franquezas, y Fueros. Madrid, 1829-33. 6 vols. Vols, i-iv, Provincias Vascongadas. Vols, v- vi, CastUla. Local documents from the archive at Simancas. Covers the whole of the Middle Ages. BIBLIOGRAPHY 41S 84. Munoz y Romero, Tomas, ed. Coleccidn de Fueros Municipales y Cartas Pueblas . . . Vol. i (no others published). Madrid, 1847. Covers the period 780-1250. Valuable notes. 85. Larruga, Eugenio, ed. Memorias polUicas y econdmicas sobre los frutos, comercio, fdbricas, y minas de Espana. Madrid, 1 785-1800. 45 vols. A rich collection of local ordinances and charters, which are to be used with caution, however, since the editor has not always been careful to give the complete texts. {b) Charters of Individual Towns 86. Albarradn. Suma de fueros de las ciudades de Santa Maria de Albar- razin. . . Valencia (?), 1531. 87. The same. Ordinaciones y estatutos de la comunidad de Albarrazin. Saragossa, 1647. Other editions, with important changes, 1678, 169c, and 1696. The comunidad was the rural organization of all small towns around the dty, for the purpose of administering pasturage and common lands. There were four such comunidades in Aragon (see below, Nos. 99, loi, 117), which comprised a total of over 150 small towns, and took in most of the large pasturage districts in that kingdom. 88. The same. Insaculacidn y ordinaciones de la ciudad de Albarrazin. Saragossa, 1655. Other editions, with important changes, 1666, 1678, 1690, and 1696. 89. The same. Breve instrucci&n para los jurados de las aldeas de Albar- radn. Saragossa, 1690. RegiJation of the aldeas or suburbs of Albarradn. 90. Almotilla. Ordinaciones del termino de la A. Saragossa, 1679. Ordi- nances of a pasturage district near Saragossa. 91. Aviles. El Fuero de A. Fernandez-Guerra, ed. Madrid, 1865. Use- ful glossary. 92. Badajoz. Ordenanzas de la ciudad de B. Madrid, 1767. Good ma- terial on the pasturage regulations of this ancient opponent of the Mesta. 93. Baena. Antiguas ordenanzas de B. Valverde Perales, ed. Cordova, 1907. Has an excellent set of local mesta regulations of the fifteenth century. 94. Bilbao. Ordenanzas de la noble villa de B. Bilbao, 1711. Other edition, 1797. Good data on the local wool market of this important ex- port town. These ordinances are not to be confused with the much more famous regulations of the consulado of Bilbao (see next item), which are, bibliographicaUy, much less of a rarity. 95. The same. Ordenanzas de la Uustre universidad y casa de contratacidn . . . de Bilbao. Many editions, beginning in 1737; one of the best is Madrid, 1787. First 17 chapters translated into English, New York, 1824. This trade house or consulado {universidad is used in the old Spanish sense of corporation) handled most of the wool exported from Castile. Its rich archive has recently been made known by the exhaustive work of Guiard, Htstoria del Consulado . . . de Bilbao, vol. i (1511-1659). Bilbao, 1913. 96. Brihuega. Fuero de B. CataUna Garcia, ed. Madrid, 1888. 97. Burgos. Ordenanzas de la Ciudad de B. 1747. Data on the wool trade, which was concentrated at this point after leaving Segovia en route to the north coast. 41 6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 98. C5,ceres. Fuerosy privUegiosdeC. Pedro Ulloa yGolfin, ed. (1676?). This is the valuable compilation referred to above (No. 43). It is iinqiies- tionably — from the point of view of the student of general Spanish his- tory — the most valuable compilation of local materials yet published. There are four known copies, one of which is in the Hispanic Society's library in New York, and another in my possession. 99. Calatayud. Ordenanzas de la Junta de Govierno y Pueblos de la Comunidad de C. Calatayud, 1751. Another of the four Aragonese comuni- dades (see above, No. 87). 100. Cuenca. Forum Conche. B. H. Allen, ed. University of Cincinnati Studies, 1909-1910. Other editions of this notable fuero, which served as the model for many later ones (it is dated 11 77), are by Cerda and by Cata- Mn. Allen's is the best, though it has many shortcomings. Cuenca's im- portance in the Mesta gives special significance to the pastoral regulations of this famous charter. loi. Daroca. Ordenanzas reales de la comunidad de D. Saragossa, 1741. (See above. No. 87.) 102. Garde (Valle de Roncal). Ordenanzas municipaies de la villa de G. In Cultura Espanola, February, r9o6, pp. 35-44. Has sixteenth-century pasturage laws. 103. Granada. Ordenanzas que los muy ilustres senores de G. . . . man- daron . . . Granada, 1552. Other ed., 1672. This compilation stands next to those of Caceres and Seville as the most generally useful of the town ordinances and codes here cited. 104. Huesca. Apuntes sobre el antiguo Rigimen . . . de H., by Ricardo del Arco. Huesca, 1910. See No. 53. Has good data on sheep taxes and local wool market regulations. 105. Leon. Ordenanzas para el Govierno . . . de L. Leon, 1669. Has pasturage and sheep regulations of importance because of that city's posi- tions as centre of one of the four districts or quadrillas of the Mesta. 106. Madrid. Tralado breve sobre las ordenanzas de M. Madrid, 1660. Torijo, ed. 107. The same. Ordenanzas de M. 1791. 108. The same. Documentos del archivo . . . de M. Palacios, ed. Mad- rid, 1888-1909. 4 vols. See No. 55. This collection reprints most of the more important local docimients, without notes or citations of sources. In- cludes a good set of fourteenth-century pastoral laws. 109. Murcia. Los muy illustres senores M. mandaron imprimir las orde- nanzas. Murcia, 1695. Important because of the use of the commons of Murcia by the flocks from Cuenca and other Mesta towns. no. Plasencia. Fuero de P. Jose Benavides, ed. Rome, 1896. Ms. copies of this notable code, which is full of pastoral materials, are in the Academy of History (E-126, fols. 168 ff.) and the Biblioteca Nacional (D-714). See also Revista de Extremadura, viii (1906), pp. 481-494; iii (1903), pp. i72-i8r, 433-441. III. Salamanca. Fuero deS. Diputacion provincial, eds. 1877. This edition, which is reaUy the work of ViUar y Macias, is better than that by BIBLIOGRAPHY 417 Sanchez Ruano (1870). The town was on one of the three great routes of the Mesta, and has therefore many important sheep regulations in its charter. 112. San Phelipe. Ordenanzas para el govierno de S. P. 1750. Local sheep regulations of one of the important towns on the southeastern route of the Mesta flocks from Cuenca. 113. Santiago. FuerosmunidpalesdeS.ydesutierra. L6pez Ferreiro, ed. Santiago, 1895, 2 vols. The only attempt at a study of all of the local diarters of a given town. A valuable source on pastoral matters. 114. Saragossa. Ordinaciones de la imperial ciudad de Zaragoza. 1625. Other editions, 1693, 1695. A two-volume reprint, with introductory mat- ter, by Mora y Gaudo, 1908. 115. Seville. Ordenanzas de S. Seville, 1527, reprinted 1632. Contains a set of ordinances for the local shepherds' gild; on the basis of this, the city long claimed exemption from Mesta laws. Next to the CS,ceres collection (No. 98), this is the most comprehensive of any of the local codifications. 116. Sotia. Fuero de S. Text in Loperraez Corvalan, Descripcidn del Obispado de Osma (Madrid, 1788, 3 vols.), iii, pp. 86-182. Larruga, vols, xx-xxii (see No. 85) gives what purports to be this fuero among other docu- ments on Soria; he omits 237 sections out of 542. Loperraez' copy lacks several important sections as given in the manuscript copy in the Academy of History (12-14-2/37). This code is full of data on pastoral affairs. Be- cause of its date, 1256 (less than twenty years before the foxmdation of the Mesta), as well as because of Soria's position as the lead ing city in the Mesta, it is of primary importance. 117. Teruel. Ordinaciones reales de la comunidad de T. Saragossa, 1684. See above. No. 87. 118. The same. Forum Turolii. Aznar y Navarro, ed. Saragossa, 1905. 119. Toledo. Ordenanzas antiguas de T. 1858. See No. 61. Has a num- ber of sections on local sheep laws and the town mesta. 120. Usagre. Fuero de U. Urena and BonUla, eds. Madrid, 1907. This admirable piece of work stands with Urena's edition of the Zoiita fuero (see below, No. 121) as the best of the larger studies of any single fuero. Cf. L6pez Ferreiro's collection on Santiago, No. 113. This Usagre fuero is equipped with helpful bibliographical data and a good glossary. 121. Zorita. Fuero de Z. Urena, ed. 1911. See above. No. 120. 3. Other printed sources 122. AlcubiUa, Marcelo Martinez, ed. Cddigos aniiguos de Espana. Madrid, 1885. Sometimes bound in 2 vols. Contains, among other codes, the Fuero Juzgo {Lex Visigothorum), Siete Partidas, and the Novisima Recopilacidn. It does not give the Nueva Recopilacidn (see No. 142). There are many editions of each of these, but this one, though lacking in extensive Commentaries, is accurate and convenient. 123. Aragon. Coleccidn de documentos ineditos del Archive General de A. Vol. xl (1876). Has gild ordinances, notably a set for sheep owners (1333). 124. The same. Fueros, Observancias, Ados de corte . . . de A. Parral y Cristobal, ed. Saragossa, 1907. 2 vols. 41 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 125. Benavides, Antonio, ed. Memorias de D. Fernando IV. Madrid, i860. 2 vols. Vol. ii is a collection of documents of the period 1295-1312, with a number of Mesta items. 126. Branchat, Vicente, ed. Tratado de los Derechos . . al real Pairi- monio . . . de Valencia. Valencia, 1784-86. 3 vols. An indispensable source on the fiscal history of one of the favorite pasture regions of the Mesta. 127. Bullarium Ordinis MilUiae de Alcantara. Ortega, Brizuela, and Zliniga, eds. Madrid, 1759. 128. Bullarium Ordinis MUitiae de Calatrava. Ortega, Baquedano, and Ziiniga, eds. Madrid, 1761. 129. Bullarium Equestris Ordinis S. lacobi de Spatha . . . (Santiago). Madrid, 1719. The three collections just cited include many secular and lay documents. Because of the extensive holdings of the Military Orders in the southern pasture lands, these volumes are of great importance. 130. Ordenangas de la Real ChancUleria de Granada. Granada, 1601. 131. Recopilacidn de las Ordenanzas de la Real ChancUleria de Valladolid. ValladoUd, 1765. Usually has bound with it Varios decretos de S. M. y Autos del Real Consejo. 1765. These two sets of rules for the high courts at Granada and Valladolid, before which Mesta cases were brought for final appeal, contain several clauses on the procedure in such litigations. They are important also because of the part played by these courts in the break- ing down of the Mesta's power. 132. Cortes de los antiguos Reinos de Ledn y de Castilla, Real Academia de la Historia, eds. Madrid, 1861-1903. 5 vols. Covers the proceedings of these bodies from their beginnings to 1559, where they are taken up by the next item (No. 133). 133. Adas de las Cortes de Castilla. Edited under the auspices of the Congreso de Diputados; in process; 37 vols. Madrid, 1877-1914. Cover 1563-1621. See Merriman, " Cortes of the Spanish Kingdoms in the Later Middle Ages," in the American Historical Review, April, 1911, pp. 476-495. 134. Escrituras, Acuerdos, . . . condiciones de los servicios de Millones. Several editions; the best is that of Madrid, 1734. These subsidies {servi- cios) were the occasion of many condiciones or understandings, before they were voted to the crown by the Cortes. In the first three, 1590, 1597, and 1600, reforms of the Mesta were demanded in lengthy clauses. Fiiero Juzgo: see No. 122. 135. Memorial Historico Espanol. Real Academia de la Historia, eds. Vols, i and ii (Madrid, 1851) contain documents of Alfonso X, founder of the Mesta. Many of these give data on rural conditions of the time. It may be remarked here that the Memorias Hist&ricas of that king by Mond6- jar (Madrid, 1777) has very little of value on the present subject. 136. Montalban, Alfonso de, ed. Copilacidn de leyes que mandaron facer . . . Fernando . . . e Isabel. Huete, 1485. The first important printed compilation of laws and decrees of the CastiUan kings. Has many docu- ments on wool selling and pasturage, some of which do not appear in the later revisions. BIBLIOGRAPHY 419 137. Navarre. RecopilacidnyComentariosdelosfuerosyleyesdeNavarra. Jos6 Alonso, ed. Madrid, 1848. 2 vols. Invaluable for its notes and com- mentaries on rural legislation. 138. The same. Fueros del reyno de N. Pamplona, 1815. The section on paztos is one of the earliest pieces of extensive legislation on pasturage in the peninsula. Has an interesting glossary. 139. The same. Cuaderno de las leyes y agravios . . . de los tres esfados del reino de N. Pamplona, 1819. The proceedings of the notable Cortes of 1817-18, which abolished the local shepherds' gilds in that kingdom. 140. The same. Novisima recopUacidn de las leyes de N. Pamplona, 1735. 2 vols. Has several sections on pasturage, meztas, etc. 141. The same. Diccionario de antigUedades de N. Yanguas, ed. Pamplona, 1840-43. 4 vols. A rich treasury of sources by the greatest of Navarrese archivists. Novisima RecopUacidn: see No. 122. 142. Nueva RecopUacidn de las Leyes destos Reynos, hecha por . . . Felipe II (1567). Madrid, 1640. 3 vols. Has many laws on the Mesta which were omitted from the Novisima. 143. Otero, Antonio Fernando. De Pascuis et Jure Pascendi. Valla- dolid, 1632. A compilation of, and commentary on, Spanish pasturage laws. The Paris Bibliotheque National has the only copy found in the course of this study. Parral y Cristobal. Fueros de Aragdn, see No. 124. Partidas, Siete. See No. 122. 144. Ramirez, Juan, ed. Libra en que estdn copUadas . . . algunas Bulas . . . 6 todas las PragnuUicas . . . 1503. Later reprints, Valladolid, 1540, Toledo, 1550. Has many decrees of the late fifteenth and early six- teenth centuries on wool and sheep. Frequently referred to as the Libra de Pragmdticas. 145. Portugaliae Monumenta Historica. Herculano, ed. Vol. i of the Leges et Consuetudines has many doamients on migatory sheep: cf. index, under busto, montaiicum, etc. HI. SECONDARY WORKS Apart from the titles cited below on migratory sheep in countries outside of Spain, very little benefit has been derived from the works of this class. The subject seems to have impressed most writers as being either too unimportant or too obscure to merit careful or ex- haustive treatment; hence the brevity of the present list, which in- cludes only those authors who have given the topic more than a passing mention. Of the discussions of the Mesta, those of Cos- Gayon, Moreno Calderon, Camacho, and Colmeiro are the best. Curiously enough, Cos-Gaj'on's brief survey, the only attempt ever made hitherto at a study of the Mesta specifically, has remained practically luiknown from the day of its publication (1869-70) to this. 420 BIBLIOGRAPHY No subsequent writer, save Haebler, seems to have known of the monograph. All of these just mentioned, as well as the travellers and eighteenth-century observers upon whom they so largely rely, have made use of no original material whatever, beyond the printed codes cited above (Nos. 75-80). This accounts largely for the absence of any natural color or life in the formal pictures which they present. They have attempted the rather extraordinary task of combining the colorless data of the early pastoral codes with the vivid accounts of occasional travellers who saw " milhons of sheep feeding on the remains of the commonwealth which they had destroyed." Col- meiro's is perhaps the sanest view, though he, Uke all the rest, found himself unable to examine the institution as a fimdamental phase of Spanish economic development, and looked upon it rather as a pe- cuKar episode, to be regarded as a thing apart from the rest of peninsu- lar history. The one object in the minds of all these and other writers who have taken up the subject seems to have been to indict the Mesta as the guilty party in the decay of Spain. This may or may not have been the case; but certain it is that the institution had many other aspects to its long life, and that both its age and the scope of its act- ivities might suggest other points of view than that which held it up as an obnoxious oddity. Briefer references, such as are to be found in the standard works of Danvila and Gounon-Loubens, touch upon the Mesta only incidentally, and have been omitted. A. Discussions or the Mesta 146. Bourgoing, J. F. Tableau de VEspagne moderne. 2d ed. Paris, 1797. 3 vols. 147. Bowles, William. Introdticcidn a la Eistoria natural . . . de Espana. Madrid, 1782. 148. Bravo, Francisco Hilario. Noticia sucinta del Origen . . . de la Asociacidn de Ganaderos. Madrid, 1849. 15 pp. A good brief summary by one of the officers of the Mesta's successor, the Stock Owners' Association. 149. Camacho, Angel M. Eistoria juridica del Cultivo y de la Industria Ganadera en Espana. Madrid, 1 91 2 . One of two prize essays (see No. 159); based aknost entirely on legal codes. 150. Cano, Alonso. " Noticia de la Cabana real de Espana." In Bib- lioteca general de Eistoria, Ciencias. . . . , vol. i (only one published), pp. 5-32. Madrid, 1834. This defence of the Mesta was written in 1762. See above, No. 42, for ms. copies. 151. Caxa de Leruela, Miguel. Restauracidn de la Abundancia de Espana. ist ed., Naples, 1631; later and enlarged edition, Madrid, 1632, reprinted in 1732. A classical defence of the Mesta by a former entregador, who had also observed the migratory sheep industry in southern Italy. BIBLIOGRAPHY 421 152. Colmeiro, Manuel. Historia de la Economia Politica en Espana. Madrid, 1863. 2 vols. His chapters on the sheep industry are the best discussions of the subject. 153. Cos-Gayon, Fernando. " La Mesta," in Redsta de Espana, ix, pp. 329-366, X, pp. s-39 (Madrid, 1869-70). See p. 419, above. 154. Fribourg, Andre. " La transhumance en Espagne," in ^««o/ei de giographie, 15 May 1910, pp. 231-244. Has good maps and notes, and points out how the raUroads have supplemented the old methods of migra- tion. 155. Girard, Albert. " L'Espagne a la fin du XVII" siecle," in Revue de synihese historique, February, April, 1913. Discusses the " ravages of the flocks and the ruthless privileges " of the Mesta. 156. Haebler, Konrad. Die Wirtschaftliche Bliite Spaniens im 16. Jahr- hundert. Berlin, 1888. 157. Hernandez de Vargas, F. Memoria sobre el origen y antigUedad de la Lana Merino. Madrid, 1814. 158. Leonhard, Rudolf. Agrarpolitik und Agrarreform in Spanien unter Carl III. Berlin, 1909. Suggestive. Good bibliography. 159. Moreno Calder6n, Antonio. Historia juridica del Cultivo y de la Industria Ganadera en Espana. Madrid, 1912. Awarded second prize in an essay contest on this topic under the auspices of the Madrid Academia de Ciencias Morales y Pollticas. See above. No. 149. This work of Moreno seems to have been based upon a much wider field of reading than the win- ning essay. 160. Randel, J. A. S. Neuere Staatskunde von Spanien. Berlin, 1785. 2 vols. Contains a remarkable summary of the views of travellers in Spain on the Mesta. 161. Rio, Manuel del. Vida Pastoril. Madrid, 1828. A curious booklet on pastoral life in Castile, by a shepherd. It is dedicated to the Mesta. 162. Rodriguez, Andr6s. De privilegiata possessione Mixtae. Madrid, 1748. One of the few strong defences of the Mesta during that period. 163. Stumpf, Georg. Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichie der Schafe- reien in Spanien. Leipsic, 1785. For nearly a century this curious little book was the only attempt at a pastoral history of Spain. It was the work of a Leipsic landowner, who became interested in the introduction of merino sheep into Saxony, the first experiment of this sort, excepting an early one in Sweden. The interest at the time, as expressed in this rare monograph, was in the supposed necessity of migrations for the flocks. 164. Weiss, Charles. L'Espagne depuis le rbgne de Philippe II. Paris, 1S44. 2 vols. For critical views of the Mesta by observant travellers, see the works cited in Foulche-Delbosc (above, No. 10), by Dillon, Jacobs, Labat, Laborde, Mackenzie, Townsend, and especially Ponz (vol. xi). On the introduction of the merino into other countries, one may con- sult the bibliography in C. W. Wright, Wool-Growing and the Tariff (1912 Harvard Economic Studies, vol. v). The best discussion of 422 BIBLIOGRAPHY this subject is in Lasteyrie, Geschichte der Einfuhrung der feinwoUigen Schafe in die verscMedenen europaischen Lander (Leipsic, 1804-05, 2 vols). This is a translation and enlargement of the French original, which went through many editions, and was the basis for most of the later comments on the topic. B. Works on Sheep Migrations other than Spanish The authorities on this topic are fully discussed above, pp. 17, 140- 146, 154-155, notes. In addition to the titles there given on southern Italy, Algeria, Provence and Dauphine, the Pyrenees, and the Bal- kans, these may be cited: 165. Cincinnato da Costa, B. C, and Castro, Luis de. Le Portugal au point de vue agricole. Lisbon, 1900. Pp. 277 fE. 166. Fabre, L. A. A. " L'Etat at la depopulation montagneuse en France." In Rev. int. de social. Paris, 1909. Similar articles by the same author, all attacking sheep migrations as one of the chief causes of depopu- lation and agrarian decline, are to be found in Annates de geographic, xix; Bibliog. giog. annuelle, 1909, p. 95; i?er. des sci. icon, pol., Mar., 1909. 167. Smiljanic. Hirten und Hirten-Nomaden in Siidserbien. Berlin, 1899. C. General Agricxiltural Works Any attempt to supplement Ramirez's bibliography (No. 15) is quite unnecessary here. Cobneiro's chapters on agriculture and stock raising (No. 152) are deserving of commendation for their utility in the present investigation. Costa, Colectivismo Agrario en Espana (Madrid, 1898), and Cardenas, Historia de la Propiedad territorial en Espana (Madrid, 1873-75, 2 vols.), are useful on questions of land law, especially on commons. GLOSSARY TERMS INDICATING LOCAL TAXES LEVIED UPON SHEEP The compilation of a general glossary of pastoral terminology as an appendix to the present study, though undoubtedly useful, has been considered unnecessary, since the more important terms have been discussed in the text. The prevalence of uncommon names in connection with the local taxation of sheep has, however, suggested the advisability of including the following glossary as an item of philological interest rather than of economic importance. Several of Uie terms here listed, such as almojarifazgo, herbage, and yantar, were apphed originally to sheep taxes levied not by a town govern- ment but by the lord of the land, whether king, noble, monastery, or mihtary order. These names frequently continued to be used with reference to the given taxes even after they had been alienated by the land owner and had become the property of a local government. The present glossary includes most of the miscellaneous taxes which were collected by towns from Mesta flocks at one time or another in the courses of the Middle Ages and early modem times. The two most important local imposts, the montazgo and the portazgo, and the ecclesiastical diezmo or tithe usually collected by the local church, are omitted because they are discussed at length in the text (pp. 163 ff., 242-244). It should be clearly understood that by no means aU of the taxes here enumerated were confined exclusively to sheep. Several of them, for example the martiniega, almojarifazgo, and castilleria, were not so Umited; they are included here because of the constant difficulties arising between the herdsmen and the local fiscal officials intrusted with the collection of such imposts. Most of the taxes listed in this glossary, however, were assessed only upon flocks, as is indicated in the definitions given. The sources from which these definitions have chiefly been derived, aside ftom the manuscripts and codes {Fuero Juzgo, Partidas, Ntteva. Recopilacidn, etc.) as noted, are the following: Berganza, Antigiledades de Espana. Madrid, 1720-21. 2 vols. Borao, Diccionario de Voces Aragonesas. Saragossa, 1884. Canga Arguelles, Diccionario de Hacienda. Madrid, 1833-34. 2 vols. 424 GLOSSARY Colmeiro, Historia de la Economia Polilica de Espana. Madrid, 1863. 2 vols. Covarrubias, Tesoro de la Lengua CasteUana. Madrid, i6ii. Dozy and Engelmann, Glossaire des mots espagnols . . . dirivis de I'Arahe. Paris, 1869. Galiardo, Rentas Reales. Madrid, 1820. 8 vols. Jordana, Algunas Voces Forestales. Madrid, 1900. Llorente, Noticias Histdricas de las Provincias Vascongadas. Madrid, 1807. s vols. Vol. ii, pp. 133-183: " Tributes antiguos de CastiUa." Lopez de Ayala, Contribuciones i Impuestos en Ledn y CastiUa durante la Edad Media. Madrid, 1896. Munoz y Romero, Del Estado de las Personas en las Reims de Asturias y Ledn en los primeros sighs posteriores d la InvasiSn de los Arabes. 2d ed. Madrid, 1883. Piemas y Hvtrtado, Tratado de Hacienda P4blica. Madrid, 1900-01. 2 vols. Ripia, Rentas^ Reales. Madrid, 1796. 6 vols. Saez, Monedas de Enrique II L Madrid, 1796. Idem, Monedas de Enrique IV. Madrid, 1805. Urena and Bonilla, Fuero de Usagre. Madrid, 1907. Valuable glossary in appendix. Yanguas, Diccionario de Antigiiedades de Navarra. Pamplona, 1840-43. 4 vols. Aduanilla: a toll on migrants levied at Badajoz in the eighteenth cen- tury. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26 (1758). Albala, alvala: originally and usually meant a tax receipt; in the twelfth century it was applied to a customs district; and occasionally, after about 141 5, it meant a fee collected when a customs or toll receipt was issued. Dozy, p. 63; Yanguas, i, pp. 25-26, 151; iii, p. 421; Espana Sagrada, xlix, P- 331- Almojarifazgo: an ad valorem duty collected at the gates of some Anda- lusian towns upon in- or out-bound goods. The usual rates were five per cent on imports and two and a half per cent on exports. Originally exacted by the Moorish kings, it became the property of Christian royalty, but in various towns it was transferred to the local authorities during the later Middle Ages. Partida 2, tit. 9, ley 25, and Part. 7, tit. 14, ley 7, and tit. 10, leys; Nueva Recop.,lih. 9, tit. 24; Llorente, ii, p. 139; Ordenanias de la Real Audiencia de Sevilla (Seville, 1603), pp. loi, 103; Dozy, p. 179. On its introduction into Mexico in 1522 see Canga ArgiieUes, i, p. 34. The best description of it is in the Ordenanqas de Sevilla (Seville, 1527), pp. SS-61. The last title is the compilation of city ordinances and should not be con- fused with that of the ordinances of the Audiencia or high court, men- tioned above. Anejo, anojo: a toU on yearling sheep, levied in the vicinity of Toledo. Arch. Mesta, T-2, Toledo, 1539. Anubda, anuduva, adnuba: no satisfactory definition has yet been of- fered for this fairly common term, which occurs at least as early as the GLOSSARY 425 eighth century. It seems to have been a local tax, the proceeds of which were used for military purposes, such as repairing fortifications, equipping militia, etc. Lopez de Ayala, pp. 131-133; Dozy, pp. 191-195; Yanguas, ii, pp. 452, 603-604; Munoz, Fueros Municipales, i, p, 14, n. 3 ; Colmeiro, i, p. 466. Asadura: a small tax, dating back to the tenth century, originally levied upon or in the form of the viscera {asadura) of sheep or cattle. During the later Middle Ages the asadura tax was assessed at the rate of one lamb or half a sheep per flock. The term is not to be confused with asadero, a villein possessing no oxen but only a spade (asado) and paying a local tax, some- times called the ' tax of the asadero,' for the privilege of cultivating part of the town common. Arch. Mesta, B-3, Berlanga, 1496; Llorente, ii, pp. 141- 142; Lopez de Ayala, p. 144; Yanguas, ii, pp. S97, 604. The name asadura is not derived from pasadura, to indicate " a tax paid by flocks passing over seigniorial lands," as has been alleged by Piemas y Hurtado, ii, p. 43, and Pisa, Descrip. Toledo (Toledo, 1605). Atajo: a toll levied on flocks using certain narrow cross-roads (atajos). Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26: lists of such tolls collected in the eighteenth century, in the vicinity of Medina del Campo. Atero, hatero: a tax upon the provision bearer of the migrating shepherds, who was called by the same name. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 27. Bagages: a contribution of animals to a town for the transportation of the supplies of its militia to the Moorish front. Llorente, ii, p. 142. Ballesteria: a tax levied to maintain the ballesieros or crossbowmen of the local militia; town officials were particularly insistent in exacting this tax from passing herdsmen because the latter benefited by the service of the hallesteros in preserving order in the rural districts. Llorente, ii, p. 143; cf. Ronda. Barcaje: a toll levied upon the migrants by town governments for the use of ferry boats {barcas) at various points along the Douro, Tagus, Gua- diana, and other rivers which were crossed by the sheep highways. At Alconetar, which was sometimes called La Luria, these toUs were called lurias. Aich. Mesta, A-s, Alconetar, 181 7. Bestiage: a town tax on all livestock owned by the townspeople. In- stances of this impost are found in Navarre as early as 1149. Llorente, ii, p. 144. Borra: a tax levied upon or in the form of yearling ewes, after which it was named. It came into general use about 1485-90, when it was commonly reckoned at one sheep (not necessarily a ewe) out of every five hundred. Covarrubias, pal. borra; Lopez de Ayala, pp. 614-615. Buey de marzo: a tax paid to the feudal lords by the labradores or peas- antry; it originated in Alava, and was brought into Castile not long after 1300. Llorente, ii, p. 145; Altamira, ii, p. 56. Canada: in Castile, a sheep highway (see pp. 17 fi.), whence the term came to be applied in the eighteenth century to local tolls levied upon the sheep using such ways; this was, in effect, a local adaptation of the royal servicio y montazgo (see pp. 257, 261). Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26. 426 GLOSSARY Castillerfa: a contribution originally exacted from travellers, shepherds, and others using the highways, for the maintenance of the castle-fortresses along the Moorish frontier. It was common as early as the ninth century. Llorente, ii, p. 147; Lopez de Ayala, p. 130. Cercania: a fine levied by towns upon flocks in the vicinity of {cerca de) recently damaged crops. Arch. Mesta, U-i, tJbeda, 1584; Quad. 17 31, pt. I, p. 186 (1563). Chapitel: a royal, and sometimes local, tax levied in Navarre on the trade in supplies for transients. See above, p. 158, n. 3. Cordel: a sheep walk about half as wide as a Canada, i. e., 130 feet in- stead of 250. In the eighteenth century the name, like that of the larger sheep highways, was appL'ed to local tolls levied on flocks using the cordeles. Nov. Recop., lib. 7, tit. 27, ley 11. Cuchara: originaUy a small measure of weight used in levying a tax in kind on grain, whence the term came to be used to designate the tax itself. The suppUes carried by the migrants were frequently subject to this impost. Urena and Bonilla, pp. 140, 271. Cuevas: a local tax on migrants seeking shelter in neighboring caves. Arch. Mesta, A-6, Almagro, 1570, 1593. Estanco, estanque: this term occurs in Mesta docimients for the first time about 1525, when it meant a ferry toll, levied imder a license or conces- sion from a neighboring town. By 1636 it came to be applied to various concessions and monopolies which yielded royal revenues; cf. the estanco de tabacos. Florines: a common sheep tax of the later Middle Ages, which was levied originally in florins. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26. Fonsadera: originally a penalty, levied usually by the crown, sometimes by the towns, upon those not participating in a military enterprise (jonsado) ; later, a regular war tax. Munoz y Romero, pp. 156-157; Llorente, ii, p. 154; Berganza, ii, pp. 56, 689; Saez, Monedas de Enrique III, pp. 385-396; Dozy and Engelmann, pp. 192-193; Urena and Bonilla, p. 284; Cohneiro, i, pp. 466-467; Lopez de Ayala, p. 137. Guarda: a fee for the maintenance of rural police for- the guarding of flocks awaiting assessment. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26 (1758). Herrage, herbage, herbatico: a tax paid by towns for the use of crown pasturage, demesnes, etc.; occasionally a local tax collected from those using the public lands. Llorente, ii, p. 159; Borao, p. 254. HoUazgo: a fime assessed by Siruela, Barco de Avila, and neighboring villages upon flocks which trespassed {hollar) upon certain town lands. Arch. Mesta, Derechos, 1828. Infurci6n: a contribution paid in recognition of lordship over the soil. Sometimes the term was applied to payments for the right of the solariego (villein) to own flocks and herds, or more rarely for exemption from military service. Luctuosa: see Nuncio. Luria: see Barcaje. Maneria: the king's or lord's share (frequently the whole) of an estate for which there were no immediate heirs. Certain southern towns in the GLOSSARY 427 pasturage regions secured the right to collect this tax and applied it severely upon the flocks of any herdsman who died while on his migrations. Saez, Monedas de Enrique III, pp. 382-385; Berganza, ii, pp. 422, 690; Yanguas, ii, p. 602; Munoz y Romero, pp. 1586. Martiniega: a tribute paid on St. Martin's Day in November by vassals to lords in recognition of their vassalage; cf. infurcidn, which it resembled. Saez, Monedas de Enrique III, pp. 380-381 (documents of the towns of Pancorvo and Najera, 1277 ff.); Colmeiro, i, p. 467; Lopez de Ayala, pp. 221-222; Canga Argiielles, pal. martiniega. Mascondos: see Moharrache. Merchaniegos: animals intended for sale in the town markets, and sub- ject, therefore, to portasgos and other local taxes. The name was first used in the time of Ferdinand and Isabella; and it was later applied not only to animals to be sold, but also to the taxes levied upon them (see pp. 43-45)- Moharrache, momarrache: originally a masker or a masquerading party. It was the custom for the moharraches to appropriate fowls or lambs for festive purposes. Mesta members especially suJBFered from this practice because Christmas, Easter, and other great feast days foimd them far from their northern homes. They came to apply the name of the merr}Tnakers to the contributions which the latter exacted. Mascondos had a similar significance, as did also rey pdjaro. The latter term was originally applied to the leader of certain costumed Christmas roysterers of Plasencia and other Estremaduran cities, and later, like moharrache, it was used to indicate the gifts from the shepherds to the revellers. Arch. Mesta, A-i, Abenoja, 1496; Dozy and Engelmann, pp. 308-309; Covarrubias, pal. momarrache. Montanera, montado: see above, p. 163, n. 2. Nuncio (also called luctuosa) : the lord's right to select the best animal of the flock of a deceased vassal. Munoz y Romero, p. 158; S&ez, Monedas de Enrique III, pp. 398-415. Otura: a contribution for the privilege of purchasing animals without knowing the owner of the property purchased; this was in eflfect a license for trade in stolen property. Llorente, ii, p. 170; Urena and Bonilla, p. 302. In Navarre the sale of sheep and goats was forbidden imless the rightful owner was present. Alonso, RecopUacidn y Comentarios de los Fueros y Leyes de Navarra (Madrid, 1848, 2 vols.), ii, p. 353; Nov. Recop. Leyes Navarra (Pamplona, 1735, 2 vols.), lib. i, tit. 20, ley 21. Pasaje: see Peage. Pata hendida: a tax on swine, sheep, and other cloven footed (hence the name) animals, levied in Burgos and vicinity. See p. 277, n. Peage, pasaje, paso: a local and occasionally a royal tax collected from flocks, nominally for the use of the highways. Llorente, ii, pp. 1 70-1 71. Pontaje, pontazgo: a bridge toll. Cf. Nov. Recop. Leyes Navarra, lib. 5, tit. 5. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26, shows 35 pontazgos being levied on mi- gratory sheep in Castile in 1758. Poyos, poyas: a tax paid by strangers, especially itinerant herdsmen and peddlers, for the use of town ovens. Communal bake ovens were and are prevalent in rural districts of Spain and Spanish America. Borao, p. 308. 428 GLOSSARY Quinta: a local fine for trespassing; originally a fifth, but greatly re- duced by the sixteenth century. Urena and BonUla, p. 128; Yanguas, ii, p. 624; also above, pp. 191, 237. Recuage or recoage: a royal tax levied for the upkeep of public highways {recua: train of pack animals). Llorente, ii, p. 175; Dozy and Engelmann, pp. 329 ff. Rey pijaro: see Moharrache. Ronda or roda: a local tax levied to maintain the mounted night watch- men (rondo) around the outskirts of the town. Llorente, ii, pp. 177; Saez, Monedas de Enrique III, pp. 434-435; Lopez de Ayala, p. 222. Rufala : a name applied in Badajoz in the reign of Alfonso X to the ec- clesiastical medio diezmo or half-tithe levied on migratory sheep. Acad. Hist., Ms. 25-1-C-13, p. 284. Saca: a Navarrese tax on provisions for transients. See above, p. 158, n. Saigas: a tax levied on migratory sheep for the use of salt licks. • Sanjuaniega: an impost collected on St. John's day from all ihigratory sheep in the local pastures. The name was also apphed to certain local pas- tures; see above, p. 93. Sayonia: a fee paid to the say on, a town oflScial, whose functions resem- bled those of the alguacU or constable. This tax was common in Aragon and Navarre; it was rarely encountered by Mesta members in Castilian towns. Borao, p. 329; Yanguas, ii, p. 606; Llorente, ii, p. 177. Suela: see Zuela. Verde: a payment for pasturage in green barley, which was fed to the animals as a purgative. Arch. Mesta, T-i, Talavera, 1488; Prov. iv, 26. Yantar: originally a tribute paid by a town to the king to maintain the royal household during a visit; later it became a regular tax paid in a lump sum by a town to the king. In Navarre this tax was called the cena. Mi- gratory herdsmen were always called upon by the towns near which they were pasturing their flocks to contribute toward the yantar. Yanguas, ii, pp. 609-610; Saez, Monedas de Enrique IV, pp. 63-64; idem, Monedas de Enrique III, pp. 420-424; Colmeiro, i, p. 468. Occasionally a yantar was collected by the king upon the birth of a royal heir, or when a session of the Cortes was called. Yerba : a fee exacted from those who cut hay on the commons. Llorente, ii, p. 183. Zuela, suela, sulla: a tax levied for the pasturing of sheep upon a forage plant with the same or a similar name. Arch. Mesta, Prov. iv, 26. INDEX INDEX Abraham el Barchilon, 13, n. 4. Abu Zacaria Ben Ahmed, "Book of Agriculture" by, 5. Acevedo, Spanish jxirist, 133, 134. Achaqueros, $5- Achaques, ss. Acorn fodder, 25. Acuna, Pedro de, 81, 83. Acufia family, 82, 193. Addantado, 232. Adidas, 24, n. 6. Africa, merinos probably introduced into Spain from, 4 S. Agostaderos, 303. Agriculture, decadence of, 336 f., 343, 3SI- Aguilar, 174, n. 2. Afllon, 50. Alamada, 306, n. 2. Alarcos, battle of (119s), 167. Albcda, 203, n. i, 264, n. 2, 273, n. 4, 424. Albarradn, 32, 51, 99. 148, 276, 299, 344, 415- Albuquerque, Duke of, 232. Akabala, 44, 158, n. 3, 166, 260 f., 275, 28s, n. I, 286, 289, 293. Akabala de yerbas, 275, 334. Alcafonas, 152, n. 3. AlcaM de Henares, ir2. Alcaldes de apelaciones, 55; de corral, 13, 74; de entre los Cristianos y Moras, 75; delos pastores, 74; deltesta, 13, S5, 79; de quadriUa, 13, SS, 75; de rafala, 74; de sacas, 46; que acen las entregas de los Cristianos y de los Judios, 75 f.; the local alcaldes and the entregadores, 99- 104; the crown and the alcaldes, 229. Alcalde entregador, see Entregador. Alcintara, military order of, 157, n. 4, 239. 335- Alcaraz,-203, s. i. Alcaudete, r74, n. 2. Alcocer, 100. Alconera, 224, u. i. Alcudia, 23. Alera, 219, n. 4, 224, n. i. Aleraforal, 300, n. r. Alfonso V (the Magnanimous), king of Aragon (1416-58), of Sicily (as Al- fonso, I4r6-s8), and of Naples (as Al- fonso I, 1442-58), 154 f. Alfonso n, king of Asturias, 164. Alfonso VI, king of Castile (io72-ri09) and Le6n (ro65-iiog), 162. Alfonso Vn (the Emperor), king of Castile (ri26-57), 169, n. r. Alfonso Vm, king of Castile (1158- I2r4), 4, 169, n. r, r86. Alfonso X (the Learned), king of Castile and Le6n (r252-84), 4, 12, 18, 68, 74, 76, 77, 9r, n. T, 163, n. r, 165, n. i, T73f., r76, 179, r8o, i8r, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 200, 2562., 262, 304, 307, 354, 375, n- 1- Alfonso XI, king of Castile and Le6n (1312-50), 4, 35, 81, 102, 181, 183, 184, 186, 187, i8&-r92, 193, 194, r9S, 196, 200, 210, 252, 258, n. 2, 259 f., 262, 310 f., 354. Algeciras, siege of, i9r, n. 2, 260. Algeria, sheep encampments in, 10; sheep highways in, 17; pastoral taxes in, 140, T41, 142. Alhambra, the, 260. Alicante, 33, n. 3. Aljubarrota, battle of (1385), rgr, n. 2, 193, 199, 311- Almaddn, 19, 23. Almagre, 24. Almirante, 232. Almohad period, the, 4. Almojarifazgo, 189, 224, 255, 275, 424. 432 INDEX Alms, S5, 289 f., 339. Alps, the, 298. Alva, Duke of, 285. America, 220, 336. Amislad, 10. Andalusia, 9, 28, 162, 303, 322, 333, 341. Andia, 151. Amiuities, 268, 276, 284, 288 £f., 291. Ansiaux, Maurice, 247; quoted, 244 f. Apeos, 21, n. Appeals, ss, 112, n. i. Apulia, iss, 156, 298. Arabic words in the pastoral terminology of Spain, 5. Arable lands, extension of, 94, 326, 328, 340, 344 f . Aragon, 51; pastoral terminology of, 12; sheep highways in, 17; organization of its migratory sheep industry, 32, 53; migrations of Castilian sheep into, 36, 323; sheep taxes in, 146-150; the Mesta admitted to, 343 f. Aranda de Duero, 50. Aranzada, 306. Arhustum vitatum, 302. Arcos, Duke of, 232. Aries, 143. Armada, the, 334, 335. Armstrong, Clement, 44, n. 5. Asientos, 218, 236 f. Asociaci6n General de Ganaderos del Reino, the, ix, 50, 62, 206, n. 2, 282, 346, n. 3, 348. Astorga, bishopric of, 51. Asturias, 250. Audiencia de contadores, 278, n. 4. Audiencias, 106, n. 3, 109. Autonomy, 135, 192, 209, 231. Avila, 19, 113, 123, 231, 269, 319; bish- opric of, SI. Azadores reales, 17. Azaqui, asequi, 235. Badajoz, 19, 98 f., 106 f., 175, n. 3, 181, 182, 183, 3S6. Baetica, fine wools of, 3. Baeza, 341. Bailes, 144. Baillis, 67. Baldios, 92, 93, n. x, 301. Balivus cimlatis, 154. Balkans, the, sheep highways in, 17. Balks, in English husbandry, 320. Baraona, 93, n. 2. Barbary corsairs, the, 285. Barcaje, 251, 425. Barcelona, 38. BArdenas pasturage district, 151, 152, 158, 254, 298, n. 3. Barrachina, Tom&s, 299, n. 3. Barrau-Dihigo, L., 161, n. i. Barrio, 164. Biscones, 219, n. 4, 224, n. i. Beam, 146, 298. Beggary, the sequence of imperialism, 275- B^jar, 19. B6jar, Dukes of, 59, 61, 333. Belalcdzar, 113, 126. Bellwethers, 24, 26. Benevolences, 268, n. 3. Beni-Merines, North African tribe, 4 f. Berbeja, 164. Berbers, connection of, with the Spanish sheep industry, 4 ff., 10. Berlanga, 50. Bilbao, 34, n. i, 35, 38, 343, 4iS. Black Death, the, 7 f., 35, 193, 297. BocUares, 150, n. 3, 303, n. 3. Bolton, Herbert Eugene, 15, n. 2. Bonar, 91, n. 1. Bonds, required of Mesta officers, 52. Borregos, 277, note. Basques, 92. Bourbon, house of, in Naples, is6, 298; in Spain, 291 f., 343 f. Bourgoing, Jean Francois, 26, 420. Boyerizos, 56, n. i. Branding, 13. Branosera, 164. Brazacorta, 91, n, i. Brieva, Matfas, 252, 414. Briones, 163, u. i, 170, u. i. Bruges, factory of Spanish wool mer- chants at, 34, 37. Buendfa, countship of, holds as its prop- INDEX 433 erty the office of chief entregador of the Mesta, 8i f., 85, 108, 382, n. i; sale of the office to the Mesta (is68), 82, 8s, 96, 230, 283 f. Buitrago, 19, 50, gi, n. i, 106; exemp- tion of, from the jurisdiction of en- tregadores, 374 f . Bull fights, income from, 15, n. i. Burgos, 19, 23, 34, n. i, 36, 42, 43, 107, 112, n. 2, 172, 281, 343; bishopric of, 51; Consulado of, 38 ff., 45, 47; Cortes of (1515), 326. Busium vitatum, 302. Caballeros, 89. Caballeros de la sierra, 89, n. 1. Coiowo, 5, 24, 43, S9, 307, n- i- Cabana real, 24, 303, n. 3. Cabana Real de Carreteros, 22 f. Cabaneras, 17, 72. Cabaniles, 17, n. 3, 43. Cabanos, 56, n. i. Cdbrerizos, 56, n. i. C4ceres, 19, 74, 87, 93, n. i, 98, 99, 106, 170, n. 1, 182, 183, 185 f., 198, 24s, 249, 274, 316, 324, 333, 408, 416. Cadiz, 162, 257, 347, 348. Caesar, Julius, 141. Calahoira, bishopric of, 51. Calatayud, 99, 148, 169, n. 1, 299; Ugajo of, 32. Calatrava, military order of, 60, 80, 86, 106, 190, n. 3, 239. Calle de las Huertas, 50, 403. CaUes, 17, 69. Caminantes, 7, 301. Campaiia de Albali, 234, n. 2. Campomanes, Count Pedro Rodriguez de, Spanish statesman and economist, 47, S3. 61, n. 1, 70, 99, 126, 127, n. 2, 133 f., 249, 294, 30s, 323, n. i, 34S ff., 3SI, 3S7. 414. Caiiadas, 17-22, 89 ff., 113, 237, 250, 252, 2S9, 308, 317 f.. 341, 348; de hoja, 21; Segoviana, 87; Toledana, 87. Canariegos, 7. Capanna, 5. Dirdenas, Alfonso de, 271, 272. Carnal, carnau, 14s. Carnerage, 149, 156 f., 254. Carneros, 158. Carniceros, 93. Carpathians, the, sheep highways in, 17, n. 2; pastoral festivities in, 24, n. I. Carraires, 18, 143. Carreradas, 17. Carreteros, Cabana Real de, 22 f., 220, n. I, 334f. Carrillo family, 81, 82, 200, 371 ff. Cariillo, Gomez, entregador-in-chief, 81, 200, 371. Carrillo, Gomez, grandson of the preced- ing, proprietary entregador-in-chief, 81; his commission, 371 ff. Cartagena, 182. Carta general, 213. Cartas de pax, 298. Carthaginians, the, 7. Casa de Contrataci6n, the, at Seville, 40. Casa de Ganaderos, the, of Saragossa, 31, n. 1, 32, SI, 69, 70-73, 147 f., iss, iS9> 299 f., 410. Castejon, see Ruiz de Castejon. Castile, union of, with Le6n, 167. CastUleria, 251, 398, 426. Castro, Antonio de, 120, n. 1. Catalonia, sheep highways in, 17; growth of migratory sheep raising in, 141. Cateau-Cambr6sis, peace of (iSS9)i 285. Catharine, daughter of John of Gaimt, queen of Henry HI of Castile, 4. Catharine, sister of John II of Castile, 264, n. I. Catholic Kings, the, see Ferdinand; Isabella. Caxa de Leruela, Miguel, 26, 125, 339, 420. Censo, 289, n. i, 290. Censors, Roman, 154. Centocellas, i6s, n. 1. Chamorras, 29. Chancillerias, the, at Valladolid and Granada, 72, 78, 84, 95, 111-116, 122- 126, 128,-131, 218, 229, 230 ff., 234 f.. 434 INDEX 236 f., 241, 24s f., 278, 285, 31S, 316, 332, 336, 356, 418. Chapitel, 158, n. 3, 426. Charles V, Holy Roman emperor (1519- S6), king of Spain (as Charles I, 1516-56), r4, 26, 28, 36, 38, 44 f., 96, 113, 227-232, 23s, 24T, 279-283, 308, 327fiE., 331, 332, 341, 356. Charles 11, king of Spain (1665-1700), 128, 244, 245, 250, 291, 342. Charles HI, king of Spain (1759-88) and of the Two Sicilies (at Charles VII, 1735-59), 23, 61, n. 1, 70, 97, 126, 132 ff., 155, 156, 157, 249> 251, 293 f., 317, 321 f., 345 ff., 357. Charles IV, king of Spain (1788-1808), 252, 346. Cheese, toUs in, 144, 363. Chile, 140, n. i, 141. Christmas eve, merrymaking on, 57 f. Church, the, claims stray animals, 14 f ., 241; assumes an aggressive attitude toward the Mesta, 123; collects the cruzada and the diezmo, 241 £f. Churro, 6, 7. Ciara, 174. Cicero, 69. Cid, the, 162. Cinco cosas vedadas, see Cosas vedadas. Ciudad Real, 112, 218, 252. Clippers, 29. Clipping, 29. Cock, Enrique, cited, 46, n. 3. Cofradlas, 35. Colbert, French statesman, 343, 344, 413. Colmeiro, Manuel, 247, 402, 419,421,422. Colmenares, 93. Comisionados, 213-216. Comissarios de la cruzada, 15, n. j.. Commerce, see Trade. Common of estovers, in England, 306, n. 3. Common of shack, in England, 304. Commons, 92, 144, 148, 303, 305, 310 f., 319, 335, 344. 345, 348. Companero, 187 f. Company of the Five Gilds, the, 47. Competition, a bugbear, 322. Comuneros, revolt of the (1520-21), 104, 228, 233, 281, 355. Comunidades, leagues of pasturage towns, 32, 99, 115, 146, 148, 216, n. V!, 287 f., 299, 332, 355- Concejos, 10, 103, 112, 306. Conciliar govenmient, 246. Concordias, 55, 205 f., 218, 236 f., 248, 251, 252. Condestahle, 232. Condiciones de millones, 120 f., 287 f. Conductores, 298. Conquistadores, the, 9, 134. Conscription, 57. Consejo de las Ordenes, 127, 239. Consulado (foreign trade house) of Burgos, 38 &., 45, 47. Consumes, 47. Contadores, 54. Contaduria Mayor, the, 278. Cordeles, 20, 426. Cordones, 17, n. 3. Cordova, 182, 183, 198, n. 4, 216, 218, 252, 333- Cordova, Gonsalvo de, 155, 215. Coria, 23, 182, 185 f., 198. Corrales de mostrencos, 93. Corregidores, 44, 80, 104, 121 f., 218, 226, 228, 229 f., 251, 286, 287, 320, 334. Cortes, the, 20, 88, 91, 94 f., 100, 102, 103, et passim. Cortes, Hernando, 134. Coruna, 281. Cosas vedadas, 303 f., 311, 319. Cotswold region, the, in England, 315. Couserans district, the, 144. Cows, 24. Cruzada, 15, 241 f. Cuenca, 19, 21, n. 2, 28, 29, 50, 51, loi, "3, 19s, 199, 231, 281, 287, 318, n. 6, 322; archive of, 409; bishopric of, 129, 195; Canada of, 87; fuero of, 416; province of, 31; quadrilla of, 51. Cuerdas, 1 7, n. 3. Cueva, Beltran de la, 265, 267. Daroca, 99, 148, 299, 344, 416. Debasement of the currency, 284, 291. INDEX 435 Defesa, 303. Deforestation, 306 fi., 320 ff., 328, 333, 337. 341, 351- Dehesa de labor, 303. Dehesas, 239, 303, 303, 313. Dehesas toyales, 93, 95, n. 2, 303. Dehesas de bueyes, 298, n. 3, 303. Deheseros, 95, n. ^. Democracy, characteristic of Spanish political machinery during the Middle Ages, 49. Derecho de pata hendida, 277, note, 288, n. 4, 427. Derechos, 237. Desafiamientos, 355, n. 1. DesUndes, 21, n. Detail, attention to, in Spanish political machinery during the Middle Ages, 49. Diezmo del mar, export tax collected at ports, 40 f., 46, 256. Diezmos, export and import duties, 41, 242, 2ssf.; tithes, 184, 240, 241-244, 248. Divisa, 303, Doblas de oro cabeza, 129. Dogana ddla mena delle pecore di Puglia, 69, 159. Doganiere, 69. Don Benito, 50. Didas, 24, n. 6. Elbora (Evora ?), 152. Eleanor Flantagenet, daughter of Henry n of England, queen of Alfonso VIII of Castile, 4. S Grande, title of Philip IV of Spain, 340. El Justiciero, title of Alfonso XI, 188. ' Emergency ' contributions, 291. Empleadismo, 62. Encencerrados, 24, 26. Encia, 151. Enclosures, 92-95, 301-304, 308-312, 327, 329, 331 fi-i 334-337. 340 f., 348; in England, 315. Encomendero, 246, n. 2. Encomiendas, 239 f . England, 27s; supposed introduction of merinos from, 4, 35; shipment of wool to, 29, 34, 37; administration of jus- tice in the rural districts, 67 f.; similarity of pasturage conditions in England and in Castile, 313 ff., 344. Enqueteurs, 67. Enlrega, 76. Enriquez, Alonso, lord of Villalba, 219, n. I. Entail, 325. Entregador {alcalde entregador) of the Mesta, 20, 43, 52, 180, 187 f., 193, 209, 213, 217, 218, 230, 231, 241, 245, 248, 309 f., 318, 3r9, 332, 333, 336, 340, 342, 346, 3SS, 356; origins, 67-85; the entregador and the towns, 86-116; decline, 117-135; proceedings in the court of an alcalde entregador (1457), 376-381; instructions to entregadores promulgated by Charles V (1529), 382-387. Entrepanes, 320. Entrepreneurs, in the English cloth in- dustry, 38. Erosion, 307. Escalona, 19. Escorial, the, 19, 54, 59. Estadales, 306, n. 2. Estantes, 57, 92, 121, 238, 258, 278, 341. Estremadura, important pasturage pro- vince, 28, 112, n. 2, 133, 134, i8r, i86, n. 2, 250, 293, 294, 302, 303, 318, 322, 333. 33S, 341. 345 ; tome of many of ' the conquistadores, 9, r34. Exemption from military service, 57; from visitation of entregadores, 124 f., 128, 355; from sheep taxes, 161 fi.; from local montazgos and portazgos, 168, 170 f., 174, 194, 202; hoiapechos, 201, n. 2, 202, n. I, 270. t,xidos, ejidos, 303, 305, 310. Export duties, 3r, 46, 275, n. 3, 292, 293. Exportation of sheep from Spain, for- bidden, 36. Focerias, 298. Fairs, 30, 74. See Medina del Campo. Fanegas, 58. 436 INDEX Ferdinand II (V of CastUe, III of Naples) (the Catholic), king of Aragon (1479- 1516) and Sicily (1468-1516), 6, 13, 14, IS, 20, 22, et passim; local sheep taxes during his reign, 208-226; royal sheep taxes during his reign, 270-274; his pasturage policy, 316-325. Ferdinand I, king of Castile (1033-65) and of Le6n (1037-65), 164, 167. Ferdinand III (the Saint), king of Castile (r2i7-52) and of Le6n (1230-52), 77, 169, n. 1, 171, 177, 180, 256, n. 1. Ferdinand IV (the Summoned), king of Castile and Le6n (i 295-131 2), loi, 102, r8i, 182, 188; concession of jurisdiction over strays, 368 fif.; ex- emption granted to Buitrago, 374 f . Ferdinand VT, king of Spain (1746-59), 131, 344- Ferdinand VII, king of Spain (i8r4-33), 252, 294, 346. Femdndez de Arevalo, Juan, 81. Feudal land taxes, preceded by sheep taxes, 141, 353. Field drivers, 74. Fires, in the Castilian forests, 307. Flanders, 29, 34, 37, 321, n. 3. Flemish satellites of Charles V, 38, 45, 227, 280, 281. Florence, Spanish factory at, 37. Foggia, fair at, 30 f . Forasteros, 76, 98, 253, 300, 313, 357. Foreign exchange, operations of, 38. Forest conservation, measures of, in Castile, 307, 320 ff., 328. Forest laws, the, of mediaeval England, 67. Foxes, 334. Framonianos, 17 f. France, 67, 68, 275, 348; sheep taxes in, r40, 141, 142-146, 163, n. 2. Francis I, king of France (1515-47), 281. Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor (1212-50), 69, 154, 298. Fuenleal, Sebastian Ramirez de, ec- clesiastic and administrator, 9. Fuero Juzgo, 18, 301, 305, u. 3, 418. Fuero Real, 304. Fuerte Escusa, 113. Fuggers, banking family of Augsburg, 282 f., 286,327,333,341. ' Futures,' dealings in, 41, 42. Galianas, 17, n. 3. Galleys, the, 70, n. i. Canada, 5. Garcia Icazbalceta, Joaquin, Mexican historian, 9, n. 1. Genoese bankers, 227, 335. German bankers, 227. Golfines, 89, 184, 188, 190, n. 3, 240. Gomez de Agreda, 215. Gonzalez de Septilveda, 215. Goths, the, 7. Gounon-Loubens, Jules, 247. Grain, transportation of, 23. Grain fields, 18, 89, 303, 305, 319. Granada, 231, 333; capture of (1492), 42; ordinances of the town mesta of (1520), 364-367; kingdom of, 179, 224, 317; chancUleria of, see Chancillerias. Grey, 24, n. 5. Guadalajara, 213. Guadalquivir, the, 19; valley of, 3, 19, 250, 302. Guadalupe, 19, 50, 54; monastery of, 59, 267. Guadarrama, Sierra de, 19. Guadiana, the, 19; valley of, 23. Guardas de huertas, 89, n. i. Guardas del verde, 89, n. 1. Guardia civil, 89, n. 1. Gutierrez de Cdrdenas, 268, n. 3, 273, n. 3. Gypsies, 42, 57, 126. Haiti, 29r. Hapsburg, house of, 93, 105, 117, 120, 123, 227, 275, 328, 337, 342, 352, 353. Eaios, 24, 57. Henry II (of Trastamara), king of Castile and Le6n (1369-79), 112, 162, n. i, 165, n. 3, 192, 194, 195-198, 200, 262, 311, 3.54, 3SS- Henry IH (the Invalid), king of Castile and Le6n (1390-1406), 4, 81, 192, 193, 2ooflE., 354. INDEX 437 Henry IV (the Impotent), king of Castile and Le6n (1454-74), S> 4° i; 46. 81, 82, 83. 193, 194) 202, 204 f., 208, 211, n. i, 212, 262, 264-269, 270, 271, 312 f., 319, 355- Henry I, king of England (1100-35) ,67,68. Henry II, king of England (1154-89), 34, 67. Henry (d. 1445), third son of Ferdinand I of Aragon, 263, 264. Herbage, 157, 426. Heredamientos, 310. Hermandad, the national, 42 f., 212; local hermandades, 43, n. i, 115, 252. Hog reeves, 13, 74. Hojas, 21, 320, 328, 344. Holy Alliance, the, 348. Bombres buenos, see Omes buenos. Horse fair, the, at C4ceres, 74. Horses, 24, 177, 244, n. i, 248, 303. Huelamo, 31. Hunting privileges, injurious to agri- culture, 332, n. 4. Iberians, the, 7, 15; supposed sheep high- ways of, 17 f. Icazbalceta, see Garcia Icazbalceta. Imperialism, Spanish, 275, 280 £f. Import tariffs, 36; French, 145. Infantazgo, Dukes of, 21, n. 2, 59, 122. Inquisition, the, 338. Insaculacidn, 52. Intendentes, 291 f. Invernaderos, 303. Investments, 55, 284. Iron, transportation of, 23. Isabella I (the Catholic), queen of Castile (1474-1504), 6, 13, 14, 15, 20, 22, et passim; local sheep taxes during her reign, 208-226; royal sheep taxes during her reign, 270-274; her pas- turage policy, 316-325. Italian satellites of Charles V, 38, 45. Italy, 5, 24, n. i, 293; sheep highways in, 17; sale of pastoral products in, 30 f.; organization of the migratory pastoral industry, fig.f.; sheep taxes, 140, 141, 142; pasturage problems in, 297 f. Jamaica, 291. James I (the Conqueror), king of Aragon (1213-76), ISO, 156, 157, 299. n. I. James II (the Just), king of Aragon (1291-1327), ISO, n. 3, IS7, 408. Jews, 38, 217, 258, 351. John I, king of Castile and Le6n (1379- 90), 81, 112, 129, 193, 197-200, 262. John n, king of Castile and Le6n (1406- 54), 5, 81, 82, 192, 193, 202, 205, 262. John of Gaunt, 4. Jovellanos, Melchor de, Spanish econ- omist, 347. Judaism, 25. Jueces ijuezes) pesquisidores, 213-216, 226, 228, 232-236, 277 f., 318, 326. Juez comisario, instructions to (1489), 398 fi. Juez consenador, the, of the Carreteros, 22, 220, n. 1. Juez de comisi&n, 214, n. i. Juro de yerbas, 285, n. i. Juros, 268, 270, 276, 284, 285, n. 1, 288 f., 291. Juros de heredad, 268. Justices in eyre, 67. Justicia, the, of the Saragossan Casa de Ganaderos, 70-73. Kind, taxes in, 225 f. Klein, J., " Los Privilegios de la Mesta de 1273 y 1276," 306, n. i. Laborde, Alexandre de, 26, 421. La Mancha, 19, 190, n. 3, 302, 303. Lammas land, in England, 304. Lana merina, 5. La Rochelle, Spanish factory at, 37. Las Huelgas, monastery of, 169, n. 1, 267. Las Navas de Tolosa, battle of (121 2), 162, 169. Las Siete Partidas, see Partidas. Ledesma, Count of, see Cueva. Le6n, 23, 28, 29, 50, 51, 130, 234, 287, 322; bishopric of, 51; Canada of, 87; kingdom of, united with Castile, 167; quadrilla of, 51. 438 INDEX Leonora (Eleanor), Queen, 82, n. 2. Lepanto, battle of (1371), 335- Lenna, Duke of, Spanish minister, 287. Leruela, see Caxa de Leruela. Letux, cofradia of shepherds of, 32. Ley de Toledo, 212. Leyes de Toro, 325. Lezda, 30, 158, n. 3, 166, n. i, 261, note. Libro de la Monteria, 307 f. Licenses for enclosures, 95 f. Licinian law, the, 154, n. i. Ligajos, 12. Ligallos, 12. Linares, bishop of, on ecclesiastical claims to stray animals, 15, n. 2. Loans, 117, 279-283, 335. Locust, the, 7. Logrono, 19, 39, 174. London, Spanish factory at, 37. Lonjas, 29. Lopez de Chinchilla, 213, 215. L6pez de Orozco, Ifiigo, entregador-in- chief, 81. Lot, election by, S2. Louis Xn, king of France (1498-1315), 14s, iSS- Louis XIV, king of France (1643-1715), 343- Lugares vedados y dehesados, 303. Luna, Alvaro de, 193, 202, 206, n. 1, 264f. Lutherans, 281. Madrid, 21, 22, 23, 61, 75, 93, n. i, 112, 206, 11. i!, 312, n. 1. Madrigal, Cortes of (1476), 210. Maestrazgos, 279, 282 f., 327. Maestro de escuela, 123. Maiorinus, royal magistrate of mediaeval Castile, 3 f., 5, 6. Malpartida, code of, 49, 322, 323. Manadas, 24. Manrique, Rodrigo, 271. Mansos, 26. Maqueda, Duke of, 232, 283, 287. Maravedi, value of the, 58, n. 7, 279, n. i. Marina, 4. Marketing of wool, the, 30-48. Mastines, 24. Maximilian I, Holy Roman emperor (i493-iSi9)> 280. Mayoral, 24. Mayorazgos, 325, 336. Mechta, 5, 10. Medina del Campo, 29, 34, n. i, 39, 42, 50, 112, 333, 343. Medios diezmos, 240, 242 £f., 428. Mencal, metcal, mitical, 199, n. 3. Mendez de Silva, Rodrigo, 1 29. . Mercantilism, 37, 94, 156, 329, 343, 344, 3SI- Merchaniegos, 28, 43 f., 225, 427. M6rida, 19, 333. Merino, magistrate, 3 f., 5, 76, 80. Merino sheep, origin of the 3-6; im- provement of, 7; importance of, 7f., 357; exported from Spain, 47, 349; present number of, in Spain, 349. Messari, 154. Mesta, the, see Contents; the Mesta archive, 197, n. i, 402-405. Mestenos, 10, 12, 13, 14, 55. Mexia, Jorge, attorney-general of the Mesta, 217, 218, 324. Mexico, the Mesta code in, 9, 276; mining in, 9, 23; treasures of, 227. Mezclados, 10. Meztas, 11. Middlemen, 41 f., 45, 47, 325, 329. Mieses, 305. Military orders, the (Alcdntara, Cala- trava, Montesa, Santiago), 14, 21, 24, 127, 162, 172, 173, 177, 187, 199, 239 ff., 279. 293. 318, 327, 337, 407, 418. Millones, 58, 120 f., 287 f., 289, n. 1, 292 334, 340. Miraglo, 174. Mixta, II. Mojaraches, 58, n. i. Mojonamienlo, 103, 309, 376-381. Mojones, 312. Momarraches, 58, n. i, 427. Money economy, rise of, 225 f. Monopolies, 41, 286. Montadego, montado, 163, n. i. Montadigo, montadgo, 152. Montagium, montage, 149, 163, n. 2. INDEX 439 MontalMn, 50. Montanera, 163, n. 2, 427. Montanneros, 89, n. i. Montaticunt, 148, 152, n. 3, 163, n. 2, 168, n. 2, 169, n. I. Monlazgo, 148 ff., 156, n. 2, 163 f., 166- 186, 178-207, 220, n. A, 222, 237, n. 3, 241, 250, 254 f., 262, 306, 354. Montearagon, canada of, 87. Monies, 149, 163, 174, 178, 180, 255, note, 318. Montesa, military order of, 239. Mantes realencos, 299. Montitium, 163, n. 2. Moors, 42, 297, 353; indebtedness of the Spanish migratory pastoral industry to, s ff.; expelled, 156, 162, 220. Morales, Ambrosio de, quoted, vii, 357. Moriscos, 94, 285, 318, n. 2, 326, 337, 351- Morrueco, $, 24, 26, 220, n. 2, 273, 277, note. Mostrencos, 10, 14 f ., 55, 75, 89, 241 f., 276, 289, 368-370. Mountains, as a unifying influence, 145. Movable property, significance of sheep dues as a pre-feudal tax on, 141, 353. Muladares, 93. Mules, 24, n. 6, 303, n. 3. Munio Nunez, Count, 164. Murat, Joachim, king of Naples (1808- iS), 156. 298. Murcia, city, 113, 174, 218, 234 f.; king- dom, 19, 250, 263, 271, n. 3, 317. Mustang, 10, n. 6. Mutton, use of, 25; supposed medicinal qualities, 25, n. 5. Ndjera, 163, n. j.. Nationalism, 104. National markets, growth of, 28, 223. Navarre, 419; pastoral terminology of, II, and Glossary; sheep taxes in, 30, 150 ff.; migrations of Castilian sheep into, 36, 150 f., 323; migrations of B6am herdsmen into, 146; royal sheep taxes in, 158, 198; royal demesne pas- tures, 298 f. Net, 25. Netherlands, the, 275, 285. New England, hog reeves in, 13. New Spain, 9. New World, the, 15, 275, 276, 326. Normandy, 67. North Africa, 140, 297. Ocafia, Cortes of (1469), 211. Olivarez, Count, Spanish statesman, 287, 291, 339. Olmedo, 112. Omes buenos, 103, 309, 377. Ona, monastery of, 169, n. i. Oporto, 152. Orchards, 18, 303, 305, 319. Ordenamiento de Alcald (1348), 191, n. 3, 192. Orgaz, 190, n. 3. Orozco family, 193. Osuna, bishopric of, 51. Otero, 10, n. 2. Oveja encencerrada, 220, n. 2, 273. Ovens, communal, 427. Oviedo, cathedral of, 164, n. i, 171, n. 2. Oxen, care of, 303, n. 3; used by the carreteros, 22 f.; ox carts, 22, 23; ox pastures, see Dehesas boyales, Dehesas de hueyes, Dehesa de labor. Pacheco, Juan, Marqms of Villena, 265, 267, 271. Pack trains, 24, 25. Paino y Hurtado, Vicente, 106, 409, 414. Palencia, 19; Cortes of (1313), 76 f. Palmes, 89. Pdmpanos, 304, 328. Pan, 176. Panes, 320. Parideras, 26. Paris, Parlement of, 246. Partidas, the, code of Alfonso X, 74, 166, 173 f., 180, 191, n. 3, 192, 304 ff., 307, 419. Pasaje, 210, 250, 427. Pasajeros, 7. Pasantes, 7. Pasos, 250. 440 INDEX Pasquerages, 143. Passerie du plan d'Arrem, the, 146. Pastio agrestis, 153 {. Pastores, 56, n. i. Pastorias, 24. Pastos comunes, 92 f ., 313. Pasturage, 92, 115, 133, 177; early pas- turage problems, 297-313; the su- premacy of the Mesta's pasturage privileges, 3r4-33o; the collapse of the Mesta's pasturage privileges, 331- 349; Otero on Spanish pasturage laws, 4T9. Pata hendida, derecho de, 277, note, 288, n. 4, 427. Peage, 294, 427. Piages, 143. Peaje, rs8, n. 3. Pechos, 58, 158, 201, n. 2. Pena, 221. Penas de San Pedro, 174, n. 2. Pensio, 154, 254. Perez de Monreal, Hem&n, 84. Personeros, 80. Peru, 227. Peter IV (the Ceremonious), king of Aragon (133^-87), 6. Peter (the Cruel), king of Castile and Le6n (1350-69), 81, 162, n. 2, 165, n. 3, 192, 194 f., 262,311. Philip n (Augustus), king of France (1180-1223), 68. Philip II, king of Spain (1356-98), 15, 46, 54, 77. 78, 92. 94> 107, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 157, 230, 232, 235, 236fE., 244, 245, 284, 285, 286, 287, 331-338, 341, 352, 356. Philip III, king of Spain (1598-1621), 246, 337- Philip IV, king of Spain (r62i-65), 107, 291.339- Philip V, king of Spain (1700-46), 45, 73, 131, 250, 291, 344. Pizarro, Francisco, 134. Plasencia, 19, 23, 58, n. i, 85, 99, 106, 165, n. 3, 168, 217, 24s, 252, 274, 333, 410, 416, 427; bishop of, 243. Ponferrada, 23. Pontage, 156, n. 2. Pontaje, 210, 427. Pontazgo, 251, 427. Pork, a favorite food in Spain, 25. Porquerizos, 56, n. i. Portaticum, portagem, portadigo, 165. Portazgo, 33, 158, n. 3, 163, 164-168, 178, 223 f., 241, 251, 254 f., 294. Portazgueros, 166, n. 2, 224, n. 1. Portsmouth, customs reports of, 34. Portugal, 19, 36, 146, 152, 163, n. 2, 275, 323- Portuguese wars, the, 57, 124, 128, 200, 208, 248, 291, 3ri, 341. Posesidn, 92, 298, n. 3, 300, 322 ff., 327, Si3, 334. 339. 343- Potteries, 23. Poza de la Sal, 23. Prados de guadana, 303. Praetor, 69. Pragmdticas, 247, 340. President of the Mesta, duties of the office, 52; importance, 53; assigns districts to entregadores, 87, 91; duties as superintendent of entrega- dores, 127 f.; salary, 289. Price revolution of the sixteenth century, the, 45, 284, 326 f. Procuradores, of the Mesta, 27, 54, 56, 103; credentials of a procurador (1528), 388 f.; de Corte, or de chanceU lerias,s6; dedehesas, 56; de puertos, $6. Propaganda, work of, 15. Protestants, campaigns of Charles V and Philip n against, 15, 275. Provence, sheep highways in, 17, 18; sheep taxes in, 141, 142 S. Publicani, 154. Puertos antiguos, 266. Puertos del mar, sea coast custom sta- tions, 256. Puertos reales, royal toll gates, 154, 173, 259, 266, 281, n. 3, 283, 288, n. 2. Puertos secos, border custom houses, 41, 45. 256. 276. Pujas, 324, 329. PulvSrage, 144. Punic wars, 297. INDEX 441 Putting out system, in the Spanish woollen doth industry, 37 f. Pyrenees, migratory flocks in the, 142- 146, 298. Quaderno of 1457, the, 265 ff., 283, n. 2; of 1571. 286; of 1 731, 414. Quadrittas, 13, 51, 59, 219, notes i and 3, 322. Quarto, 237, n. 4. Quicksilver, 23. Quintar, 237, n. 4. Quintas, $7, 237. Quinto, quinta, 191, 237, n. 4, 428. Quixote, Don, 19, u. 2. Quorum, at Mesta meetings, 50. Rabadan, 5, 24, 56. Rafala, 5, 12. Rahala, rehaia, 12. Railways, now used in Spanish sheep migrations, 19, n. 3, 349. Rambouillet, France, merino sheep at, 47. Ramonear, 306, 320, 337. Randall, Henry Stephens, 26. Rastrojos, 92 f., 97, 144, 304, 328. Raymond of Burgundy, governor of Galicia (1093-1107), 169, n. i. Raymond Berenger IV, count of Pro- vence (1209-45), 143. Real de Manzanares, 51. Real estate, the Mesta's investments in, 284. Rebanos, 24, 29. Rebeldia, 216. Rebujales, 264, n. 2. Receptores, 54. Regarder, the, in England, 67. Regidores, 103. Regionalisnto, 235, 352. Registration, fees for, 248, 276. Repartimientos, 134, 248 f. Residencia, 52, 108 f. Reusero, 13, n. 2. Revendedores, 41 f., 45, 47. Rey pajaro, 58, n. i, 427. Riaza, 50. Ribagorza, 156. Riberas, 13, 266, n. 2, 283, 327. Riberiegos, 13, 266, n. 2, 283, 292, n. 4, 327. 341- Rio Salado, battle of (1340), 191, n. 2, 260. Roda, 210, 428. Roman Empire, the, sheep taxes in, 140 fi. Ronda, 184, 186, n. 2, 188, 240, 268, n. 2, 428. Roumania, 140, n. 1. Royal Association of Teamsters, 22 f. Royal Council, the, 32, 52, 83 fE., 87, 91, 93, 94, 104, 107, 114, IIS, 116, el passim. Rubios, Palacios, President of the Mesta and legal adviser of Ferdinand and Isabella, 6, 49, 279, 280, 325. Rufala, 242, 428. Ruiz de Castejon, Juan, court attorney of the Mesta, 233, 234, 235. Rural districts, maintenance of order in, 67 f. Rurcdes, 89, n. 1. Saca, 158, n. 3, 428. Sahagdn, monastery of, 164, 402. St. John the Baptist's day, 10, 58, 391, 392, 428. Sola de Mil y Quinientas, the, 129 ff., 249, 343- Salamanca, 19, 22, 23, 123, 162, n. i, 169, n. 1,416 f. Salina, 289, n. i. Salt, transportation of, 23; provided for the flocks, 25; exemption of the Mesta from the salt tax, 25, 292; excessive salt taxes, 204, n. 3, 248; monopoly of, 286. Sanchez de Tovar, Fernin, 81. Sancho IV (the Bravo), king of Castile and Le6n (1284-95), 77, 91, n. i, 181, 182, 185, 188, 189, 240, 258, 355, 375, n. 1. Sancho m (the Great), king of Navarre, including Aragon (970-1035), some- times called ' Emperor of Spain,' 162. Sandwich, customs reports of, 34. 442 INDEX Sanjuaniegos, 93. San Martin, church of, in Madrid, 50. San Sebastian, 34, n. i, 35. San Severe, 155. Santa Juliana, monastery of, 164. Santa Maria del Paular, monastery of, 61. Santa Maria de Nieva, Cortes of (1473), 211, 269. Santander, 34, n. i, 35. Santiago, military order of , 214, 239, 263, 264, 271 f., 418. Santiago de Compostella, 171 ff., 177, 281. Santo Domingo, 9. Saracens, the, 5. Saragossa, 216, 218, 276, 410, 417. See Casa de Ganaderos. Saxony, merino sheep in, 47. Scotland, 140, n. i. Scriptura, 154, 254. Segovia, 8, n. 2, 19, 23, 28, 29, 34, n. 1, 39, 42, 46, so, SI, 113, 184, 231, 234, 281, 287, 322, 410; bishopric of, 51; comunidad of, 99, n. 3; law of (1390), 129; guadrilla of, si- Sempronian laws, the, 154. Seneschals, 67. Separatism, 86, 104, 230, 246, 2S2, 278, 343. 352. 356. Septilveda, 165, n. 3, 199, n. 3. Serranos, 61. Senicio, 58, 186, 2S7, 280, 327, 3S4- Servicio de ganados, 186, 256-261, 354. Servicio de montazgo, 261. Servicio y montazgo, 53, 149, iS7, 173, 178, 186, 190, 198, 222, n. 2, 2SS, note, 257 f., 261, 262, 263-269, 270-280, 283, 284, 286, 287, 288, 292, 354; ordinances governing its collection (1457), 391-397- Seville, 10, 23, 75, 77, 106, 112, n. 2, 174, 182, 217, 234, 410, 417. Shearers, 29- Shearing, 29. Sheep dogs, 24 f ., 56. Sheepfold, 2S- Shepherds, life and duties of, s6 f. Sicily, 163, n. 2. Siete Partidas, see Partidas. Siguenza, 19, 50, 91, n. 3; bishopric of, 51- Silver fleets, the, 275, 321. Simancas, 119, 403, 408. Siruela, 50. Sisas, s8- Skins, 25. Smith, Adam, economist, 346. Sogas de marco, 18, 89. Soria, 12, 19, 28, 29, 50, si, 184, 212, n. I, 281, 287, 322, 410, 417; quadrilla of, si- Soruela, Duke of, 232. Southampton, customs reports of, 34. Spanish America, effort to introduce the Mesta into, 8 f. Spanish March, the, 149, n. S- Spanish Succession, war of the, S7, 131, 343- Stationes, IS4, ISS- Strays, see Mostrencos. Subdelegados, 347. Subsidies, S4, 88, 117, iig £E. Sweden, merino sheep in, 47. Swine, 24, 337. Switzerland, 140, n. i. Tagus, the, 19, 112, n. 2. Tajados, 203. Talavera, 19, 22, so, 252, 280. Tarazona, bishopric of, si- Taxation of sheep, 139-294; sheep taxes in the Mediterranean region, 139-160; mediaeval sheep taxes in Castile, 161- I7S; local taxes during the rise of the Mesta (1273-1474), 176-207; local taxes under Ferdinand and Isabella (1474-1516), 208-226; local taxes under the Hapsburgs and early Boub- bons (1516-1836), 227-253; mediaeval royal sheep taxes, 254-269; royal sheep taxes of the autocracy, 270-294; terms indicating local taxes levied upon sheep, 423-428. Tax receipts signed in blank, 267. Teamsters, Royal Association of, 22 f. Temple, Order of the, 171, 172. INDEX 443 Tenorio, Juan, 8i. Terra cotta ware, 23. Teruel, 51, 99, 148, 299, 344, 417. Thieves, 25, n. i, 97, 184. Three-field system, in Spain, 21, 320. Tierras abiertas, 301. Tiles, 23. Toledo, 21, 22, 23, 7S, roo, 162, 167, 174, 231, 234, 252; archbishopric of, 122 f., 196; Cortes of (1480), 210 f., 247, 272 ff., 319. Tolls on sheep, 140-294, 353, 39^-397, 423-428. TordesiUas, 22. Toro, 22, 231. Town leagues, see Comunidades. Trade, between migratory shepherds and the sedentary population, 30; signifi- cance of the Spanish wool trade, 34. See Alcabala, Export duties. Fairs, Import tariffs. Marketing, Merchanie- gos, Mercantilism, Middlemen, Wool ' futures.' Traites de lies-passeries, 298. Transhumantes, 7, et passim. Tratturi, 17, 155. Travesio, 250, 266, n. 2, 274, n. 2, 283, 292, n. 4. Tres tanto, 238, n. i. Tribunale delta dogana delta mena delte pecore di Pugtia, 1$%. Trimming of trees for fodder, the, igo, n. 6, 301, 306 f., 320 f., 337. Tripoli, 285. Trujillo, 274. Tudors, the early, agrarian England of, 314 ff- Tunis, 142, 281. Turdetania, fine wools of, 3; reddish wool of, 6. Turks, campaigns of Philip IE against, IS, 239, n. 2, 27s. Ubeda, ordinances of the town mesta of, 361-363. Uclfis, 74, 271, 272. Universality, idea of, $1, n. 1, 79; ^^'• Urbassa, 151. Um,used in Mesta elections, s 2, and Plate. Urraca, queen of Castile (1109-26), 169, n. 1. Usury, 76. Valencia, city, 32, 38, 157. Valsnda, kingdom, 157; sheep highways in, 17; sheep taxes in, r5o, 157, 198; privileges of sheep owners in 299, n. i ; fiscal history of, 418. Valladolid, 22, 23, 46, ri2, 113, 114, iij. See Chancillerias. Valle de Lozoya, 51- Valpuesta, 164. Vaquerizos or Vaqueros, 56, n. 1. Varas, r8. Varro, 69, 153. Vasquez de Acufia, Lope, 8r. Vecinos, 228, 332, n. 3. Veedores, 2r2, 274. Vega, Garcilaso de la, poet, 237, n. 3. Veintena, 261. Velasquez, representations of shepherd dogs by, 25, n. r. Veredas, 20. Viceras, 24, n. 6. Vierzo, 23. ViUafranca de la Puente del Arzobispo, procedure in the court of an alcalde entregador at (14S7). 376-381. Villalon, 174, n. .i. ViUa Nova de Gaia, r52. ViUanueva de la Serena, 50, 411. Villa Real, 190. Villena, Marquis of, see Pacheco. Vineyards, 18, 89, 97, n. 2, 303, 304, 305, 319, 340, 341- Vinuesa, Juan de, 2r5. Visigoths, the, migratory sheep industry of, is; laws of, relating to sheep, 11, 18, 417. Vitoria, 23. Wages, s8f. Warehouses, 29, 47. Wars of the Roses, Spanish, 194. Weavers, 38, n. r. Weiss, Charles, 247, 421. 444 INDEX Wine, demoralization caused by, $6, n. 2, S8, 340; increasing demand for, 326. Winesellers, itinerant, 58. Wolves, 25, n. 1,57, 97, 334; bounties on wolf scalps, 144, n. 2, 248. Wood, transportation of, 23; liberty to cut, 164. Wool ' futures ', dealings in, 41 f. Ximenes de Cisneros, Francisco, 6. Yeda, 199, n. 3. Yuste, 329. Zagal, 5, 24, 56. Zag (Isaac ?) de la Maleha, 180. Zallaka, battle of (1086), 162, 167. Zamora, 19, 22, 194, n. i, 281. Zarra, 199, n. 3. Zincali, 57. Zorita de los Canes, 165, n. 3, 417.