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The latter voices the popular contempt for such ancient and once revered institutions as the Santa Cruzada, the Santa Hermandad, the Santo Oficio de la Inquisición, and the Honrado Concejo de la Mesta. It would be safer to accept the observation of Ambrosio de Morales, a distinguished scholar of the period of Philip II: "What foreigner does not marvel at the Assembly of the Mesta, that substantial, ably administered body politic? It not only gives evidence of the infinite multitude of sheep in Spain, but a study of it helps toward a better understanding of our country, if it be possible to understand her." 1

The almost entire absence of reliable investigations in the field of Spanish agrarian history has made it necessary to base the present study very largely upon hitherto unused manuscript materials, found in the archives of the Mesta and of small towns in remote parts of Castile. For this reason the references in the bibliography and footnotes have been made more extensive than might ordinarily seem necessary, in the hope that suggestions might thus be given for subsequent investigations of such subjects as the domestic and foreign trade of mediaeval Spain, the enclosure movement in the peninsular kingdoms, or Castilian field systems and commons.

The researches upon which this book is based were made possible through two liberal grants from Harvard University for studies in Spain and elsewhere in Europe in 1912-14: the Woodbury Lowery and Frederick Sheldon Fellowships. Whatever merits the volume may have as the first fruit of the Mesta archive as a field for historical study are due entirely to the unfailing courtesies of the Marqués de la Frontera, the late Señor Don Rafael Tamarit, and their colleagues of the Asociación General de Ganaderos del Reino of Madrid, the successor of the Mesta. These gentlemen interrupted the busy affairs of their efficient organization in order to provide every facility for the exhaustive examination of the valuable collection in their possession. Without their cordial coöperation and expert advice upon Spanish pastoral problems this study could not have gone 1 Las Antigüedades de las Ciudades de España (Alcalá de Henares, 1576),

p. 40.

beyond the limits of a perfunctory essay. The search for supplementary material was carried into several obscure archives in different parts of the peninsula, where little could have been accomplished without the aid of such helpful friends in Madrid as Professor Adolfo Bonilla y San Martín, Professor Rafael Altamira y Crevea, and Señor Don Arturo G. Cardona. I am especially indebted to Professor Bonilla for many pleasant and invaluable hours of counsel upon mediaeval Spanish law and local institutions. My sincerest thanks are due to the officials of the Real Academia de la Historia and of the great national collections in Madrid, and particularly to the courteous archivists of the Casa de Ganaderos in Saragossa and of the estate of the Duque de Osuna in Madrid. The library of the Hispanic Society of America generously secured copies of scarce volumes and pamphlets which would otherwise have been inaccessible. I am under obligation to Professor Alfred Morel-Fatio of the Collège de France for many thoughtful kindnesses while I was working in the various archives of Paris; to Dr. Constantine E. McGuire of the International High Commission in Washington for advice upon doubtful passages in certain important manuscripts; to Professor Charles H. Haskins of Harvard for constructive suggestions regarding several shortcomings of the investigation; and to Mr. George W. Robinson, Secretary of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, for assistance in preparing the manuscript for the press.

Among the many friends who have given freely of their valued counsel I must acknowledge especially my great indebtedness to three teachers at Harvard, to whom it has long been my good fortune to be under the heaviest obligations. Professor Archibald C. Coolidge first suggested the subject, and his constant encouragement and confidence in its possibilities made many difficulties seem inconsequential. Professor Roger B. Merriman gave abundantly of his sound scholarship and of his inspiring enthusiasm for Spanish history, two contributions which have been of inestimable help to me, as they have been to many others among his pupils who have had the rare privilege of intimate association with him in studies in this field. Professor Edwin F.

Gay has been in close touch with this investigation since its inception some seven years ago, and any merits which it may have as a contribution to economic history are due entirely to his sympathetic understanding of the problems encountered, and to his unfailing interest in the progress of the work in spite of his many serious and urgent duties during the war.

Το my wife the work owes more than any words of mine can express. Every page, I might almost say every line, has benefited from her patient scrutiny and judicious criticism.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

April, 1919.

J. K.

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