levo

Spain and Europe 1556–98

Agriculture, industry and commerce 1556–98

  • 3 things to know
  • AS Unit 2

Overview

How the Mesta's privileges damaged arable farming, three Spanish industrial centres and what each produced and casa de Contratación.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Explain how the Mesta's privileges damaged arable farming.

Key term

Why did the Crown protect the Mesta despite the harm to arable farming?

Key term

What was the tasa del trigo and what did it do?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Why was Castilian agriculture so unproductive?

    Model answer

    Much of Castile is dry upland with thin soil, holdings were small or worked by tenants with little capital, and there was no incentive to improve rented land.

  2. 2

    What was the Mesta?

    Model answer

    The Mesta was the guild of the great sheep owners, whose flocks moved between summer and winter pastures under privileges granted by the Crown.

  3. 3

    Explain how the Mesta's privileges damaged arable farming.

    Model answer

    The Mesta's rights of way and grazing kept vast stretches of land out of cultivation and allowed flocks to cross sown ground, so arable farmers could not extend their fields securely.

  4. 4

    Why did the Crown protect the Mesta despite the harm to arable farming?

    Model answer

    Wool was Castile's chief export and the flocks were easy to tax, so the Mesta was a dependable source of revenue that the Crown would not sacrifice.

  5. 5

    What was the tasa del trigo and what did it do?

    Model answer

    The tasa del trigo was a maximum price fixed for grain. The tasa was meant to protect consumers but discouraged farmers from growing more than they needed.

  6. 6

    How did Spain feed itself when the harvest failed?

    Model answer

    Spain imported grain from the Baltic, France and Sicily in bad years. Those imports drained bullion abroad and left prices at the mercy of shipping and war.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

See a huge jump in your memorisation

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

England 1509–58
England 1603–49
Britain in the Age of Reform 1830–80
Italy and Germany 1815–71

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

Henry cited .
LeviticusGenesisExodus

Blank Blitz consolidates the facts

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AImpeachment failed for want of proof.
BThe Commons passed an Act of Attainder.
CCharles signed his execution warrant in May 1641.

Build It trains answer structure

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Rent reduction made the tenancy bearable.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Spain and Europe 1556–98, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.