224
THE MESTA
ments made to protect the trading of the migrating herdsmen.1
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 rehabilitation of trade in the reconquered territory, Mesta
herdsmen who ventured into Granada were not to be charged
any portazgos or the Andalusian equivalent, almojarifazgos; 2
and similar exemptions were to be accorded to shepherds and
flocks frequenting the pastures of Murcia.3
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.4 Mediaeval Spanish commerce 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-
1 Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, Ieyes 3-8. IncidentalIytheentregadoreswere 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-5, AIera, 1498^-2, Bâscones, 1500. Althoughthesesentenceswere
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 Caceres (Arch. Mesta1 A-5, Alconera115∞).
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.
2 Nov. Recop., lib. 6, tit. 20, ley 9; cf. also Pragmdtieas del Reyno (Seville, 1520
— the so-called ' Pragmâticas de Ramirez ’), fol. Ixiii. a decree issued 3 November,
1490, during the preparations for the final campaign against the Moorish capital.
On the almojarifarzgo, see below, p. 424.
3 Arch. Mesta, A-5, Alcâcer, 1487; A-3, Albacete, 1488; Prov. ɪ, ɪo (1488).
4 Ibid., Prov. i, 28 d (1504).
TAXES UNDER FERDINAND AND ISABELLA
225
tiers 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 supplies, cloth-
ing, and provisions, and these were usually declared by the
crown to be free of all portazgos,ɪ though in some instances the
contentions of larger towns were upheld and the Mesta members
paid the usual local tariffs.2 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.i
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 Castilian 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 number'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 royally approved schedule of all Castilian local
montazgos of 1485-90 was expressed in kind, the same list, as
drawn up in 1495, revealed the rates calculated in money values.4
1 Ibid., S-4, Segovia, 1487; A-3, Albacete, 1487; A-5, Alconera, 1500.
2 Ibid., A-4, Alcântara, 1497; B-ι, Badajoz, 1505.
3 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.
4 Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 31.