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.1
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 officer 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.2 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 nationalization of this institution under the
crown, the alcaldes or justices of the Hermandad proved useful in
furthering the policy of royal supervision over local taxes.3 Then,
1 Bib-Nac. Madrid, Ms. D-49: revision by Ferdinand and Isabella (1479 ff.)
of the ordinances of Câceres, one of the capitals of the important Estremaduran
pasturage region. Arch. Mesta, S-5, 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-ι, Nava el Peral,
1484.
2 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.
3 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.
Γ4XJS5 UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
2i3
too, for the first time in their history, entregadores were instructed
to undertake the regular and systematic inspection of local sheep
taxes.1 In i486 they began a long and active campaign of in-
vestigations under the direct supervision of the Royal Council.2
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.3
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 ? 4 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.” s 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.6
ɪ 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 Român, 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, 1455.
2 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.
3 Ibid., М-3, Mejorada, i486.
4 Ibid., B-4, Burguillos, 1487. 5 Ibid., 0-ι, Olmedo, i486.
, Ibid., B-4, Burguillos, 1487; L-3, Llerena, 1488. The apportionments of