Castilian Mesta Shepherds' Guild

Timeline

1. 1273Kingdom of Castile · CastileAlfonso X consolidated the scattered shepherds' guilds into the royally protected "Honrado Concejo de la Mesta," granting it rights of passage on droving routes, judicial arbitration powers, and tax privileges, establishing a framework of state governance for transhumance.
2. c. 1300–1375From the winter pastures of Extremadura to the summer highlands of Castile · SpainUnder Ferdinand IV and Alfonso XI, the Mesta expanded its registration, transhumance scheduling, and maintenance of droving routes for Merino flocks, engaging in frequent litigation with towns and the Church over pasture rights, while its organizational scale and wealth continued to grow.
3. c. 1381–1390Valladolid · ValladolidBetween 1381 and 1390, under Juan I, the Mesta continued to control the annual transhumance of hundreds of thousands of Merino sheep, with wool exports providing an important source of royal revenue; its conflicts with towns over widening droving routes and encroachment on farmland were especially intense in this period.
4. c. 1500–1836Kingdom of Castile · SpainFrom the 16th century onward, agricultural expansion, the shift of the woolen industry's centers, and royal fiscal reforms gradually weakened the Mesta's privileges; in 1836 liberal legislation formally dissolved the organization, and the traditional transhumance route system collapsed with it.