The Mesta: How Sheep Built the Spanish Empire

This episode explores the Mesta, the powerful sheep-herding guild that shaped Spain's economy, landscape, and empire from the 13th to the 18th century. Lucas and Luna discuss how transhumance created the vast cañadas reales, or royal drovers' roads, that still crisscross the Iberian Peninsula. They delve into the Mesta's role in financing the Reconquista, its influence on Spanish wool exports to Flanders and Italy, and the environmental and social costs of privileging sheep over arable farming. The episode also covers the Bourbon reforms that eventually dismantled the Mesta and the legacy of merino wool in global trade. Key figures include Alfonso X, who granted the Mesta its first charter, and the Bourbon kings who sought to modernize Spain's economy. Listeners will learn how sheep literally paved the way for Spanish power and how the Mesta's decline mirrored Spain's own waning influence. #Mesta #MerinoWool #Sheep #Transhumance #CañadasReales #AlfonsoX #BourbonReforms #SpanishEmpire #Reconquista #WoolTrade #Castile #Flanders #Italy #Environment #Economy #Spain #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo