Mesta Shepherds' Guild

Timeline

1. 1273–1276Kingdom of Castile · Castile-LeónAlfonso X consolidated the scattered shepherds' guilds into the "Honrado Concejo de la Mesta," granting it rights of passage for transhumance, tax exemptions, and judicial autonomy, and establishing the royal droving route system, allowing Merino flocks to migrate seasonally between the plateau and the southern lowlands.
2. 1331–1340Medina del Campo · Castile-LeónAlfonso XI strengthened the Mesta's privileges; each spring hundreds of thousands of Merino sheep migrated south along the cañadas reales to the winter pastures of Extremadura and Andalusia, with wool shipped to Flanders and England through the ports of Burgos and Seville, making the Mesta one of the most influential economic organizations on the peninsula.
3. 1700–1836Castile · Castile-LeónFrom the 18th century, agricultural expansion and land privatization eroded the droving routes, the Mesta's privileges were repeatedly challenged, and in 1836 a liberal dissolution law finally abolished its legal status, with transhumance gradually giving way to pen-raising and modern agriculture.