Traición de la Monarquía y declive mesteño: La Pragmática de 1633

Abstract

One of the most important documents in Agrarian History, the Pragmatic of March 4, 1633 supposes an inflection point in the relations between the Mesta to the Crown, after the well-worn proteccionismo finally fractures, and confirms the irreversible slope of the trashumancia. Oblivious to the historical responsibility, Felipe IV neither could, nor wanted, to adopt a policy to support the recovery of the Cabaña Real and of the settled cattle, plunged in a hostile and in decline agrarian world and thrashed by local ordinances, special jurisdictions, oligarchical interests, excessive taxes, berms, scarcity of the grasses or loss of the communal uses. The text of the Pragmatic provides an excellent radiography of the problems and aspirations of the Honrado Concejo, which there was still preserving the commitment to lead the Castilian cattle program granted in the founding privileges.