56
THE MESTA
The interests of the members were also protected by various
procuradores, or representatives. There were, for example, the
procuradores de Corte, or de Chaneillerias, a formidable array of
legal talent which was kept in constant attendance near the
sovereign and at the high courts to protect the interests of the
sheep owners. The procuradores de puertos were in attendance at
the royal toll gates to prevent extortion by the collectors and to
levy pro rata assessments upon the flocks, as was explained above.
The procuradores de dehesas acted as the representatives of the
Mesta in arranging leases for its members, and by concerted
action were able to gain very considerable advantages in their
collective bargaining with the landowners.
One phase of the pastoral industry to which the Mesta or-
dinances gave special attention was the strict regulation of the
duties and behavior of the shepherds.1 These frequently lawless
individuals were the cause of constant trouble, not only with the
townspeople along the canadas, but even with their masters the
sheep owners. Every precaution was taken, therefore, to safe-
guard the interests of the owners and to minimize the possible
sources of trouble. No shepherd was allowed to leave his sheep
untended, to sell them, or to alter any brands; he was never to buy
wine while on duty,2 nor to indulge in any “ violations of good
morals.” The number and obligations of their boy assistants
Irabadanes and zagales) and dogs were carefully stipulated, the
latter being allowed the same food rations as a man.3
The life of the shepherds was by no means one of privation and
hardship. They and their families, who sometimes, though not
usually, accompanied them on their migrations, were assured of
special royal protection against the annoyances of town bailiffs.4
1 The shepherds were usually called Pastores or cabanas, though they were some-
times specially designated according to the animals in their charge Vaquerizos or
vaqueras (cowboys), Cabrenzos (goatherds), porquerιzos (swineherds), boyerizos
(oxherds).
2 In the course of the seventeenth-century campaign against the spread of
vineyards at the expense of pasturage, the Mesta held forth at great length upon
the demoralization caused among its shepherds by the sale of wine.
3 See above, p. 25.
4 Quad. 1731, pt. i, p. 8 (14r3, 1421).
INTERNAL ORGANIZATION OF THE MESTA
57
They could not be imprisoned because of any debts owed by their
ιnasters or by the Mesta, and they were exempt from military
service.1 The enforcement of the latter rule was insisted upon by
the Mesta, especially during the Portuguese revolution of 164σ-
4l and the war of the Spanish Succession. In fact, from 1640 to
1726 there were many such exemptions which relieved the shep-
herds from conscriptions (quintas). Any non-migratory herds-
man, in order to benefit by this protection, had to have charge of
more than a hundred local (estante) sheep. Furthermore, in order
to avoid abuse of the privilege, it was prescribed that for each
hato or flock of 400 sheep there were to be only one shepherd and
two assistants, and at least one of the latter had to be under six-
teen years of age. The shepherds were expressly allowed to carry
arms as a protection against wolves, gypsies, and other marauders.
In this connection, it may be noted that gypsies were a source of
constant complaint from the Mesta. In 1499 that body was
largely instrumental in securing the royal decree which expelled
them from the country.2 This edict apparently had little or no
permanent effect, however, for the gypsy problem occurred again
in later years. Throughout the later decades of the sixteenth
century the expulsion or suppression of the wandering zincali was
taken up as one of the conditions of various subsidies voted to the
crown by the Cortes and by the Mesta.3
Occasionally special guards were appointed by the crown or by
neighboring towns to protect the shepherds and their charges
while on the march.4 These provisions were also intended as a
check upon a common custom among the townspeople in the
southern and western pasturage regions, where festivals, espe-
cially on Christmas eve, included expeditions outside the town
walls by crowds of merrymakers. Such celebrations invariably
resulted in much loss and discomfiture to the herdsmen and their
' Ibid., pt. i, pp. ɪɪ, 59; Arch. Mesta, Provs. ii, 43, 51; in, 44.
2 Arch. Hist. Nac., Consejo Real, Expedientes, leg. 48 (1499).
Arch. Mesta, Provs. i, 104 (1641); ii, 25, 27; Quad. 17 31, pt. ι, p. 14 (1533).
® other marauders, see below, p. 89. Entregadores were also given special per-
nUssion to carry arms as a protection against gypsies: Nueva Recop., lib. 3, tit. 14,
4, cap. 3.
4 Arch. Mesta, Prov. i, 104.