The appointment of the President was at first for life, but this was changed, on the death of the second incumbent in 1522, to a two-year term. In the eighteenth century an attempt was made by the Mesta to have the life service renewed because of the disadvantages of frequent changes in policy, but the alteration was not made. The requirement that the President attend every meeting of the Mesta met with protests from the older members of the Royal Council when their turns came to make the long trips to the remote pasture lands; but there are less than half a dozen instances when the custom was not observed. Under no circumstances was the President to be accompanied by his wife, "because of the great inconveniences which would be encountered by the lady on such a journey." The presidential salary varied from 8000 to 14,000 reais a year, and was supplemented by a subsidy of 5000 reales" for expenses."

The dual position of this officer, as senior member of the Royal Council and President of the Mesta, gave him an unusually powerful position in the administrative affairs of Castile. On several notable occasions, which will be mentioned below, various aggressive sovereigns and able ministers exercised through this official a very effective control over the rural affairs and resources of the whole kingdom. So potent a factor did the President become, that when Campomanes, the great reform minister, acceded to the office in 1779, he was able to fall upon the Mesta and virtually destroy it.1

The qualification for membership in the Mesta was simply the payment of the royal sheep toll or servicio y montazgo, which was ample evidence of active participation in the migratory sheep industry. There was no specification as to the number of animals to be owned, as was the case in Aragon. Theoretically all shep

1 See below, p. 345. Arch. Hist. Nac., Consejo Real, Expedientes, leg. 436, no. 9: a series of interesting reports on the Mesta, prepared by Campomanes during his presidency, 1779-82, containing many suggestions of the reforms which later appeared in the famous indictment of the Concordia de 1783.

1 Ordinaciones de la Casa y Cofadria de Ganaderos de Zaragoza (1640), p. 7: citizenship in Saragossa and the possession of thirty-five horse or cows, or a hundred sheep or goats, were the requirements for membership in this organization, which was founded in 1218.

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 collectors 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,' but it was subject to a five or six fold increase in the years when a subsidy was voted to the crown. In the latter 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.

The financial affairs of the organization were administered by a board of contadores and receptores, whose accounts were audited each year by the President, assisted by other officials. Any defalcations had to be repaid threefold by the delinquent treasurer or accountant. 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. In the

4

1 Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, 1517-95, passim. Ibid., iii, 5.

See below, p. 280..

Arch. Mesta, Prov. iii, 47.

Bibl. Escorial, Ms. et iii, 22.

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."

1

The receipts were largely made up of parts of the condemnations and fines levied by the entregadores and of the profits from the sale of unclaimed lost sheep (mesteños or mostrencos)-a suggestion 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 mesteños 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 between 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 members 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 mesta. 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 care and disposal of the stray sheep. In case of dissatisfaction with 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 government concessions are found in Arch. Mesta, Cuentas, January, 1566 and September, 1591.

' Cf. Arch. Ayunt. Burgos, Ms. 747 (1595); Arch. Ayunt. Madrid, sec. 2, leg. 358, no. 58 (1700); Arch. Mesta, T-2, Teba, 1659; T-7, Tureño, 1663; Z-1, Zamora, 1600. • See above, p. 13.

The interests of the members were also protected by various procuradores, or representatives. There were, for example, the procuradores de Corte, or de chancillerías, 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 ordinances gave special attention was the strict regulation of the duties and behavior of the shepherds. These frequently lawless individuals were the cause of constant trouble, not only with the townspeople along the cañadas, but even with their masters the sheep owners. Every precaution was taken, therefore, to safeguard 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, nor to indulge in any "violations of good morals." The number and obligations of their boy assistants (rabadanes and zagales) and dogs were carefully stipulated, the latter being allowed the same food rations as a man."

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.*

1 The shepherds were usually called pastores or cabaños, though they were sometimes specially designated according to the animals in their charge: vaquerizos or vaqueros (cowboys), cabrerizos (goatherds), porquerizos (swineherds), boyerizos (oxherds).

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.

* Quad. 1731, pt. 1, p. 8 (1413, 1421).