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The Mesta In New Spain, 1537-1600, Keith Algier

History ETDs

One of man's most consistent patterns of behavior is the tendency to associate himself with other individuals who have common interests or needs. Some associations are formed to provide protection for the individual, others are organized for the purposes of worship, and still others take more frivolous forms. Many associations in our own society are designed to promote the economic self-interest of their numbers, and it is with an institution of this type that this study is concerned. The monarchs of medieval Castile organized and actively encouraged the development of an organization called the Mesta, a body which represented the …