326
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 political 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 1515, 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.1
The increasing demand for certain agricultural products, no-
tably wine and olive 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.2 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,3 and were
not generally comprehended for generations.
ɪ 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
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.1 The President of the Mesta proved
a convenient spokesman for that body before the Council, to
which the monarch promptly referred all 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 maeslrazgos or grand
masterships of the military orders;2 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 Handlung in Spanien, p. 75.