ɪ 84
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.” 1 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.3 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.” 4 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 local taxes on migrants
continued during the minority of Alfonso XI (1312-24). The
1 Cortes, Valladolid, 1293, pet. xo.
2 Valladolid, 1299, pets. 9-10. On the ronda, see below, p. 428.
3 See above, p. 89, n. 2, for a discussion of the golfines and the jurisdiction of
the entregadores over them.
* Certes, Zamora, ɪʒoɪ, pet. 34.
TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA l8$
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.1 Appeals from the Mesta to the crown
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
of any attempt to regulate the operations of the local revenue
officers.2
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.3 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
l Cortes, 1313, pet. 35; 1315, pet. 43; 1322, pet. 65; 1325, pet. 30.
2 Ibid., Medina del Campo, 1318, pet. 16; Valladolid, 1322, pet. 64.
’ Ulloa, Privs. de Cdceres, pp. 164-167; Bib. Nac. Madrid, Ms. 430, fols. 151-
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