242
THE MESTA
both by the Mesta and by the cruzada collectors.1 The Mesta
had, of course, always regarded such animals as the special ob-
jects of the semiannual meetings to dispose of ownerless stock.
The church authorities, on the other hand, produced ample
documentary evidence of their title to all unclaimed property,
including the goods of persons dying intestate, and the belong-
ings of unknown individuals.
The ecclesiastical diezmo or tithe, which must not be confused
with the royal export and import tax of the same name, was more
or less universally introduced in the Spanish kingdoms early in
the Middle Ages.2 As indicated above, the military orders and
the crown frequently enjoyed a share of the yield of the diezmo,
not only for the prosecution of Moorish wars, but also for the
maintenance of such educational institutions as the University
of Salamanca, which was largely supported by diezmos.
As was noted above, this tax was not levied on the migrants at
the usual rate of a tenth, because the herdsmen had already satis-
fied half of their tithe obligations by partial diezmo payments to
the churches of their home towns. The southern medio diezmo,
which was sometimes known as the rufala, came to be the cause
of constant friction between shepherds and ecclesiastics when-
ever the latter persisted in attempting to levy the full dɪezmo
rates.3 From the earliest years of the Mesta this tax had been
1 See p.15.
г See below, p. 256. Vinuesa, Diezmos de Legos en las Iglesias (Madrid, 1791),
cites diezmos of the tenth century levied not only by churches but also by kings,
military orders, and nobles, with the consent of the Pope and for the support of
the Christian armies. Un presMtero secular (probably Manuel Ros), in Hisloria y
Origen de las Rentas de la Iglesia (Madrid, r793, pp. r87-23r), declares that the
diezmo was “ willingly paid by Spain, and that it undoubtedly benefited the coun-
try, and was not universal there until about 1490.” An opposite and probably
more nearly correct view on each of these points as to the acceptability and the
prevalence of the diezmos is taken in Sempere y Guarinos, Historia de las Rentas
Eclesiiisticas de Espana (Madrid, 1822), pp. 74-τ τ3. See also Vicente de la Fuente,
Historia Eclesidstica de Espana (2d ed., Madrid, r873-75, ð vols.), iv, pp. 404-406,
for copious references to the Partidas, the Nov. Recop., and the minutes of the
Cortes sessions; and Paul Viard, Histoire de la dîme ecclesiastique (Dijon, τ909).
, Acad. Hist., Mss. 25-ι-C-i2, pp. 432-44τ, 462-583; 25-r-C-13, p. 284:
suits between the Mesta and various churches of Murcia, Cartagena, and Seville,
of 1270 and after; Quad, ιγ3τ, pt. ι, pp. 17, 32: Mesta privileges of r273 and 1285;
Cories, Zamora, 1301, pet. 34.
TAXES UNDER THE HAPSBURGS AND BOURBONS 243
paid in money or in small fractions of the flocks but never in the
full tenth. In fact, it was frequently fanned out by the churches,
and was then assessed as a toll at rates agreed upon between the
Mesta attorneys and the lessees.1
This arrangement continued to be mutually acceptable until
the assurance of support from the sixteenth-century autocrats
prompted the Mesta to declare against the payment of any
diezmo whatever to churches in the southern and western bishop-
rics. The Mesta attorneys conducted an energetic campaign
by bringing cases into the higher courts, by lobbying in the
Cortes sessions, and even by litigation in the tribunals of the
Vatican itself. For twelve yeaι⅛ (1511-23), some of the best
legal talent on the staff of the Mesta maintained offices in Rome
to conduct diezmo suits against the bishop of Osma and other
great ecclesiastics, challenging their right to levy any tithes upon
migrating herdsmen while the latter were away from home.2 To
this project the ever friendly members of the Royal Council, led
by their President, who was ex officio the President of the Mesta,
lent their then potent support. As a result, royal decrees were
issued in 1525 and 1530 which forbade the collection of most of
the medios diezmos in the southern winter pasturage regions.3
But only one generation of Mesta members enjoyed this re-
spite from ecclesiastical taxation. As the Royal Coimcil became
less effective, and the strength of the Chancillerias and other
champions of decentralization increased, the bishops reasserted
their ancient claims. Finally, in 1562, as the result of a suit
brought against the Mesta by the powerful bishop of Plasencia,
the Royal Council was forced to accept the contentions of the
ecclesiastics. It still reserved to itself, however, the right to ap-
prove or reject all schedules of diezmo rates.4 By the close of the
century, the Mesta was even forced to pay the full diezmo rates
ɪ Arch. Mesta, T-2, Toledo, 1501 : texts of fifteenth-century diezmo agreements.
a Ibid., Cuentas, September, 1511 ff.: accounts showing the salaries and other
costs of these litigations; the necessary sums were raised by special assessments
on the sheep owners who had been paying the disputed diezmos.
a Ibid., P-3, Plasencia, 1525, and C-g, Cordova, 1530; Cories, Toledo, 1502,
ɪʒaj; Valladolid, 1506, 1518, 1523; and Burgos, 1506, ɪʒɪɪ, and 1515.
4 Arch. Mesta, P-3, Plasencia1 1562.