54
THE MESTA
herds, down to the youngest assistants, were ‘ members ’ of the
Mesta, but this was only true in the sense that they enjoyed its
protection. They did not sit in the meetings, though they had
the privilege of presenting complaints and propositions to the
organization through their masters, the sheep owners.
Membership dues were assessed on the basis of the number of
sheep owned by each member. This number was ascertained by
the procuradores or agents of the Mesta, who were stationed at the
royal toll gates to protect the members from unscrupulous col-
lectors and to keep account of the herds. The assessment was not
levied until the annual budget was presented at the January
meeting, when the per capita rate was determined on the basis of
the number of sheep counted and the amount to be raised. In the
sixteenth century this rate was usually from 50 to 150 maravedis
per thousand sheep,1 but it was subject to a five or six fold increase
in the years when a subsidy was voted to the crown.2 In the lat-
ter part of the seventeenth century the practice was introduced of
making the assessment the same size as the royal toll, namely five
sheep out of every thousand, or their money equivalent. Owners
who were delinquent in their payments for more than a year were
barred from membership.3
The financial affairs of the organization were administered by a
board of Conladores and receptores, whose accounts were audited
each year by the President, assisted by other officials. Any defal-
cations had to be repaid threefold by the delinquent treasurer or
accountant.4 If a deficit was revealed, as frequently happened
during the sixteenth century when heavy subsidies had to be
voted to the crown, the accounts were balanced by a pro rata
assessment levied upon the sheep as they passed northward in the
spring. Among the debit items of each year, besides the usual
salaries and travelling expenses for attorneys and other officials,
were contributions either in cash or in heavy silver ornaments to
the shrine of the patroness of the Mesta at Guadalupe, and
occasionally, during the reign of Philip II, to the Escorial.5 In the
1 Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, 1517-95, passim. , Ibid., iii, 5.
2 See below, p. 280. 6 Bibl. Escorial, Ms. et iii, 22.
2 Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 47.
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MESTA 55
decadent period of the later Hapsburgs some of the annual debit
charges degenerated to contributions of “ shirts for the poor ” in
certain towns whose political support was sorely needed by the
Mesta, and even to “ chocolate, sweets, and drinks for the
President.”
The receipts were largely made up of parts of the condemna-
tions and fines levied by the entregadores and of the profits from
the sale of unclaimed lost sheep (mestenos or mostrencos) — a sug-
gestion of the original functions of the local Mestas. Among
other receipts were the profits from occasional investments 1 and
the achaques or fines levied upon members and their shepherds for
violations of rules regarding branding, segregation of diseased
animals, and similar matters. The receipts from mestenos and
achaques were usually farmed out. The collectors, or achaqueros,
seem to have been unusually zealous officers, who were not always
careful to restrict their assessments to Mesta members, and their
operations were, therefore, the subject of frequent disputes be-
tween the Mesta and the towns. The difficulties were settled, as
a rule, by agreements or concordias by which the achaqueros were
allowed, subject to certain restrictions, to seek out Mesta mem-
bers in the towns.2
Of the various officials charged with the administration of the
Mesta’s internal regulations, the most important were the alcaldes
de quadrilla or alcades de mesla. Two or more of these officers
were elected by each quadrilla for terms of four years. They
were sheep owners of experience and good standing, “ chosen
because of themselves and not of their animals.” They were
intrusted with the general administration of all laws concerning
the actions of the members, but their special function was the
c≡∙re and disposal of the stray sheep.3 In case of dissatisfaction
wjth their decisions, appeals could be addressed to a board of
alcaldes de apelaciones who sat at each session of the Mesta.
1 See below, p. 284. Data on investments in real estate and in various govern-
ment concessions are found in Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, January, 1566 and Septem-
ber> 1591.
Cf. Arch. Ayunt. Burgos, Ms. 747 (1595); Arch. Ayunt. Madrid, sec. 2, leg.
358, no. j8 (r700); Arch. Mesta, T-2, Teba, 1659; T-7, Tureno, 1663; Z-ι,
at∏ora, 1600. 5 See above, p. 13.