Editing Mesta (section)

===Organisation===
The Mesta's original charter of 1273 was supplemented in 1276 and renewed in 1347 and 1371.<ref>Klein, pp. 184-5</ref> Its internal organisation was originally governed by regulations of 1379, which have been lost. However, ordinances of 1492, supplemented by a code of 1511, regulated its operations for most of its existence. It was organised into four geographical units ({{Langx|es|quadrillas |lit=groups or gangs}}) (''cuadrillas'' in modern Spanish) based around the principal pastoral cities of the northern meseta, [[Soria]], [[Segovia]], [[Cuenca, Spain|Cuenca]] and [[León, Spain|León]], where most of the flocks of Merino sheep had their home pastures.<ref name="Butzer, p. 41">Butzer, p. 41</ref> Its governing council consisted a president who was, after 1500, always chosen from the members of the Royal Council, and the leaders of each of the four quadrillas.<ref>Butzer, p. 39</ref><ref>Klein, pp. 49-50</ref> The office of president was so powerful that, when the reformer [[Pedro Rodríguez, Count of Campomanes]] was appointed to this post in 1779 to eliminate the organisation's abuses, he went far towards dismantling the Mesta's organisation by promoting agriculture in the [[Sierra Morena]], one of its principal winter pasturelands, despite opposition from Mesta members.<ref name="Klein, pp.51-2">Klein, pp.51-2</ref>

The most important administrative officials of the Mesta were the ''alcaldes de quadrilla'' (also called alcaldes de mesta, two elected by each quadrilla, who were entrusted with the general administration of the laws relating to its members. There were also financial and legal officials who represented members in arranging leases and in disputes with third-parties.<ref name="Klein, pp.51-2"/>

The assemblies of the Mesta were open to anyone who paid its membership dues, which were based in the number of sheep each owned, and no minimum ownership was required. However, it was estimated that only around one-tenth of its membership attended these assemblies. Although every member present had a single vote, nobles and substantial owners had the greatest influence and were often able to direct proceedings.<ref>Klein, pp.49-50</ref> Initially, the Mesta held three assemblies a year, but from 1500 this was reduced to two, one in the southern pasturelands in January or February, and the other in one of the four northern quadrilla centres in September or October. These assemblies dealt with the organisation of the next transhumance and the election of Mesta officials, and proposals were first voted on by each quadrilla, then in a general assembly, where each quadrilla had a single vote. In the 18th century, meetings were often reduced to one a year, always held in Madrid.<ref>Klein, pp.50-1</ref>

Although great nobles and major monasteries are frequently recorded as Mesta member, these large owners were not typical of the industry. The limited available evidence from the 16th century suggests there were between 3,000 and 4,000 owners, that two-thirds of the sheep migrating annually were held in flocks of less than 100 sheep and that very few flocks exceeded 1,000 sheep. Although by the 18th century, there were fewer small owners and several owners held flocks of more than 20,000 sheep, the Mesta remained largely an organisation of owners of small to moderately-sized flocks, and never simply a combination of large owners.<ref>Klein, pp.59-62</ref> However, it is also clear that, in the Mesta's final century of existence, many of the owners of small flocks had to abandon the annual migration, unless they were employed by large owners as shepherds, because their small flocks were no longer allowed to be grouped into larger units, as had been the case in earlier centuries.<ref>Marín Barriguete(2015), pp.218-9</ref>