178
THE MESTA
of the herdsmen from local tolls upon their supplies and pack
animals and upon their transactions in local markets.1
We have, therefore, as a direct result of the creation of the
Mesta, the first attempt to standardize the local taxes, just as the
code of 1253 was the first attempt to localize these taxes. This
step came as a natural corollary to the unification of all sheep
owners into the Mesta, for their first efforts were certain to be
directed toward the establishment of some uniformity in the
obligations which they were compelled to meet on their migra-
tions at the hands of town officials. This standardization was by
no means a carefully planned, intentional process; nor did the rise
of the Mesta itself follow any skilfully designed, prearranged code.
It will be shown, however, that with the first appearance of the
Mesta, and with its gradual development on a more and more
definitely organized basis, there appeared simultaneously an in-
creasingly prevalent uniformity in the local taxation of the flocks.
This process had its real beginnings in the charter of 1273, in
which the first steps were taken toward the restriction of the two
chief local tolls, the portazgos and the montazgos. Of these
two, the latter is, for present purposes, the more important, be-
cause of its application specifically to migrating sheep.
Instances of the montazgo previous to the foundation of the
Mesta indicate clearly, as has already been pointed out, the
essentially local character of that tax. Its collection was ob-
viously a right which went with the title to the montes. This
characteristic of the montazgo is evidenced in many of the later
documents. It is necessary that these should be noted because of
the appearance, early in the history of the Mesta, of the highly
important factor of crown influence — a factor which soon be-
came apparent in the fiscal matters of the sheep owners’ organiza-
tion, just as it did in the judicial affairs of that body. The failure
to distinguish carefully between the local and the royal sheep
taxes, between the montazgo and the very different sermcio y
montazgo, was to cause widespread litigation for the Mesta. This
confusion even crept into the laws of that body, and, naturally
1 The activities of.the Mesta members in the local markets are discussed above.
Cf. pp. 43 ff.
TAXES DURING THE RISE OF THE MESTA Trjg
enough, has resulted in much obscurity in the views of recent
writers on the subject.
The greater part of the work of reconquest and of driving the
Moors behind the mountains of Granada had been completed by
the campaigns of ɪ212-62. A strengthened kingship had been
established over Castile, a kingship whose intentions toward
centralization soon found expression in the compilation of codes
and the creation of institutions of more than local importance,
such as the Mesta. In the face of this tendency the towns were
moved at once to secure renewals of their early privileges, espe-
cially those charters which embodied their right to levy taxes
upon any supposed intruders, who, incidentally, were themselves
now armed with royal privileges. The half dozen recognitions by
the crown of such local tax prerogatives, which have already been
cited from the period previous to the founding of the Mesta,1 do
not seem to have been inspired by any motives on the part of the
recipients save the usual one of securing one of the customary
royal confirmations of ancient fueros and privileges.
The rise of the Mesta gave the towns ample cause for anxiety
over their montazgos; the terms of the litigations and privileges
thenceforth were concerned with the establishment of the local
rights to levy montazgos as against the Mesta’s exemption from
them. An understanding of the factors in this question of mon-
tazgo rights may best be obtained by an examination of some of
the more notable controversies between various towns and the
Mesta in their, efforts to maintain their respective claims. The
interesting phase of these early conflicts is the defensive and even
cautious attitude of the towns, before the futility of Alfonso’s
pretensions at centralization had been proved. As soon as the
feeble, vacillating character of the central government was demon-
strated, there followed far bolder, more insistent, and much more
frequent declarations of town rights regarding montazgos. The
disorders late in Alfonso’s reign, and under Sancho IV and Fer-
dinand IV, were to give the towns their desired opportunity.
The Mesta, under the protection of its royal patron, was not
long in beginning its campaign to check the promiscuous exactions
l See above, pp. 168-169.