102
THE MESTA
established, then, that before an entregador could pass upon
a case it must directly concern the Mesta itself or one of its
members.
Although the laws required cooperation between the itinerant
and the local judges, the difficulty of establishing it in actual prac-
tice became greater each year, as the Mesta grew stronger and
more aggressive. The first outbursts of complaints in the Cortes
against this growing menace to local autonomy occurred late in
the reign of Ferdinand IV and during the minority of Alfonso XI.
In that period, from about 1305 to 1325, the domination of an
unscrupulous clique of nobles over centralized administrative
affairs, including the Mesta, made the latter thoroughly obnox-
ious to the municipalities. The attempt was first made to abolish
the entregadores altogether, as being hostile to the ancient fueros
and privileges of the towns. In 1307 the deputies of the Cortes
asked “ that there be no more entregadores, and that the local
justices should hear all complaints made by shepherds.” 1 This
petition was not granted, but it was provided that the towns
should name special officers to look after their interests in the
courts of the entregadores. The new arrangement was apparently
not satisfactory, and the above request was repeated in 1313,
with the insistence that the entregador was an upstart interloper
whose office was less than sixty years old, and therefore a gross
innovation.2 It soon became evident, however, that the judicial
protector of the Mesta could not be so easily disposed of. As the
towns gradually realized the futility of their efforts to destroy the
office, they concentrated their protests upon the demand that the
laws be enforced regarding the association of the entregador with
the local alcalde upon equal terms : “ that they should hear cases
together, the two as one.” 3
Soria 6 en su termino, maguer que sea morador en otro ɪugar. Otrosi, aquel es
vezino de Soria que maguer que no hai ahi raiz, que es morador en Soria 6 en su
termino por siempre.” This interpretation of vezino, implying property ownership,
especially the ownership of stock, is indicated by the appearance of the word in the
title of the Mesta at times in the seventeenth century. ‘ Honrado Concejo y Vezinos
de la Mesta.’
ɪ Cortes, Valladolid, r307, pet. 19. 2 Ibid., Palencia, 1313, pets. 38, 40.
s Ibid., Burgos, τ3r5, pet. 33; Valladolid, τ322, pet. 63.
the Entregador and the towns 103
For nearly two centuries, or until the accession of Ferdinand
and Isabella, this arrangement seems to have given mutual satis-
faction both to the Mesta and to the local interests. The Cortes
were silent upon the subject; and the many documents of that
period on file in the archive of the Mesta indicate only harmony
and regularity in the relations between the entregadores and the
local justices. Their cooperative functions gradually became
fixed into a set formula, which, though not recognized by any of
the laws of the Mesta, or even by the instructions of the crown to
the entregadores, was none the less strictly observed by both
parties concerned.
As an example of this procedure, we may trace the successive
stages of a typical mojonamiento, or examination of the boundaries
of a canada.1 The town concejo (assembly) having been summoned
by the ringing of the church bell, the alcalde, regidores, and other
local officers formally received the entregador and his staff. The
credentials and royal letter of appointment of the visitor were
examined and certified to by the local notary. The procurador,
or representative of the Mesta, who accompanied the entregador,
then made certain charges of trespasses committed by land-
owners along the canada within the Hmits of the town. The
Mesta magistrate then requested the concejo to name “ six good
men, the oldest inhabitants of the place,” who should go with him
to examine the canada and determine its ancient and proper
Hmits. This having been done, an oath was administered to the
six, who thereupon joined the entregador in his work of gathering
evidence of the alleged offences. On the basis of this evidence
the sentence was drawn up by the Mesta magistrate; and was
then handed over to the town alcalde, who forma∏y gave it his
approval. This was in substance the method of transacting the
business of the entregador in every town along his itinerary. The
concurrence of the local judge in the sentences soon became a
mere formaHty, probably because it was felt that the town inter-
ests were sufficiently protected by the six ‘ good men ’ who ac-
companied the entregador on his investigations.
ɪ Arch. Mesta, V-4, Villafranca de la Puente, 1457.