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Ordinances of the Mesta in New Spain, 1537

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

William H. Dusenberry
William H. Dusenberry*
Affiliation:
University of California at Los Angeles
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Extract

Essential to the study of the Mesta in New Spain is the publication of the text of its constitution, not too available in Spanish, in English dress. This document throws new light on the relation of government to the pastoral industry, up to the present a sadly neglected aspect of Spanish colonial history. The importance of the problem is evident in view of the wealth and extent of the sheep and cattle business, and its relationship to the whole economy of New World colonization. Any adequate study of the grazing industry in New Spain would be impossible without some knowledge of the Mesta constitution of 1537, the basic instrument which regulated this industry until 1574; in the latter year the constitution was changed by the addition of numerous amendments which indicate considerable growth in the pastoral industry. Unfortunately, the minutes of the semiannual meetings of the Mesta have not been uncovered, if indeed they exist at all. Such documents would provide a picture of the grazing industry in operation and would be useful in a more complete investigation of the subject.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , January 1948 , pp. 345 - 350
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1948

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References

1 The Mesta in Spain has been treated adequately by Klein, Julius in his well-known work The Mesta, A Study in Spanish Economic History, Cambridge, 1920.Google Scholar

2 The Roman concept of colonization is discussed by Blackmar, Frank W., in Spanish Colonization in the Southwest, Baltimore, 1890, pp. 14–22.Google Scholar

3 Cunningham, Charles H. deals with this admirably in his article, “The Institutional Background of Spanish American History,” Hispanic American Historical Review, I, 24–39.Google Scholar

4 See Aiton, Arthur S., Antonio de Mendoza, First Viceroy of New Spain, Durham, N. C., 1927, p. 110 Google Scholar, note 86. The first alcaldes de mesta were elected in Mexico City, January 1, 1538.

5 Spanish texts of this document are to be found in the following sources: Actas de Cabildo del ayuntamiento de la gran cibdad de Tenuxtitán México de la Nueba España, paleográfido por el lie. Manuel Orozco y Berra, México 1859, IV, 313–315; a slightly revised text is ibid., VII, 394–396; Recopiliación de leyes de los reynos de las Indias, mandadas imprimir, y publicar por la Magestad Católica del rey Don Carlos 11, Nuestro Señor, second ed., 4 vols., Madrid, 1756, lib. v. tit. v, leyes i-xx; Antonio Xavier Pérez y López, Teatro de la legislación universal de España e Indias por orden cronológico de sus cuerpos, y deci siones no recopiladas y alfabético de su titulos y principales materias, 28 vols., Madrid, MDCCXCI, XXIV, 110–113; an abbreviated form of the text may be found in Colección de documentos inéditos de ultramar, 25’ vols., 1886–1932 (inclusive dates), XXII, 213–215. In the first three sources cited here the texts are essentially the same, the only difference being that some of the items are not arranged in the same order.