354
THE MESTA
the enemy by the middle of the thirteenth century, and became a
part of the now extensive realms of the Castilian monarchs. The
next natural step was to reform and systematize the rapidly de-
veloping fiscal relations between the flocks and the towns, on the
one hand, and the flocks and the crown, on the other. This led
to the regulation and codification of the local and royal sheep
taxes, and to the formation by the sheep owners of a mutual
protective league called the Mesta.
The contributions of Alfonso X, first patron of the Mesta,
toward the solution of these pastoral problems were, like his
famous code, the Partidas (ca. 1256-65), lacking in immediate
enforcement. For two generations the work of the Scholar King
bore no tangible fruits, but it was none the less important. The
principles which he laid down as the pastoral policy of the Casti-
lian monarchy were the ones which governed the efforts of his
more successful descendants. Chief among his contributions were
the creation of the protective association called the ‘ Honorable
Assembly of the Mesta of Shepherds,’ the standardization of
local sheep tolls by decrees issued in 1253 and after, and the col-
lection of the royal Servicio de ganados, or tax on live-stock.
The patronage of Alfonso XI and his able successors during the
fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries — notably Henry H,
Henry HI, and the regent Ferdinand — gave the Mesta a pres-
tige and vigor which enabled it, during the years of weaker reigns,
to cope successfully with the towns, nobles, and other decentraliz-
ing forces. The compensation exacted from the sheep owners by
the crown for this patronage was the servicio y montazgo, a com-
bination of the older royal sheep servicio or subsidy of Alfonso X
with certain local montazgos or tolls.
The period of civil disorders during the greater part of the
fifteenth century made the royal charters of the Mesta prac-
tically useless as protective devices. In general, however, the
Mesta was more and more able to fight its own battles; and even
the occasions when it was exploited by unscrupulous court
favorites gave evidence of the potentialities of its resources, and
consequently increased its value in the eyes of the central
government. Any institution which could yield such attractive
CONCLUSION 355
revenues in years of disorder and corruption certainly deserved
to be fostered and protected in times of peace.
These more or less troubled centuries of the later Middle Ages
gave the Mesta ample opportunities to develop its strength and
importance. The disturbances during the contentious times of
Sancho IV, Henry of Trastamara, and Henry IV, hampered the
operations of the entregadores in some regions. Nevertheless the
Mesta, with its closely knit and increasingly powerful organiza-
tion, was able to compensate itself by taking advantage of
the isolation and helplessness of many rural districts, and to ex-
tend the system of its mobile judiciary into hitherto unpenetrated
regions.
Later, when order had been established under the strong mon-
archy of the Catholic Kings, those astute monarchs soon showed
their appreciation of the rare advantage of controlling the leading
industry in their largest kingdom. They promptly amplified the
codes of the Mesta with new pastoral and fiscal regulations de-
signed to carry the influence of the crown throughout all rural
districts. This purpose was furthered by the entregadores, whose
activities had been gradually extended into every comer of the
realm, thanks largely to the confusion and weakness of the local
judiciary.1
The vague and sweeping guarantees of the mediaeval Mesta
charters had never been literally enforced, because they were
directly contradicted by equally grandiose local exemptions.
Under the powerful patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, how-
ever, these broadly worded charters were revived and applied
with unstinted vigor. Thus they became most helpful instru-
ments for the aggrandizement of the Mesta and for the satis-
faction of the ambitions of the monarchy. They contributed
materially to the strength of Hapsburg absolutism and to the
discontent of the towns, which was manifested in the uprising of
the comιmeros. It was no mere coincidence that the greatest
1 Illustrations of the lack of any stable local judiciary may be found in the
Fuero Viejo, lib. i, tit. 5, and in the Ordenamienlo de Alcald, tit. 29, concerning
desafiamienlos and the administration of justice by nobles and other individuals.
See also the Crdniea de Alonso XI, cap. 189 (1335), ɑɑd the Nueva Recop., lib. 8,
tit. 8, on the confusion arising from this practice of ‘everyone being his own judge.’