page_title: Merino
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Merino / History
caption_attribution_description: Español: En esta obra el Niño Jesús es mostrado en relación con la metáfora bíblica del Buen Pastor que apacienta y cuida a su rebaño, y conviene señalar que Bartolomé Esteban Murillo se hizo célebre por sus representaciones de temas infantiles. Este tipo de representaciones tuvo un notable éxito la sociedad sevillana de la época de Murillo, y la «ternura y devoción» que inspiran han perdurado a través de los siglos, como señalan algunos autores. Y en esta obra, al igual que en muchas otras salidas de sus manos, Murillo destacó a la hora de combinar un estilo «sabio y delicado con un contenido amable y dulce».
context_page_description: The Merino is one of the most historically relevant and economically influential breeds of sheep, much prized for its wool. The origins of the breed are the subject of debate, with alternatives of it originating in flocks transferred from Morocco as early as the 12th century, originating and being improved in Extremadura in southwestern Spain, in the 12th and 13th centuries or from the selective crossbreeding of Spanish ewes with imported rams at several different periods. It was instrumental in the economic development of 15th and 16th century Spain, which initially held a monopoly on the trade in its wool. Since the end of the 18th century, the breed was further refined in New Zealand and Australia, giving rise to the modern Merino.
  Today, Merinos are still regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep. Poll Merinos have no horns, and horned Merino rams have long, spiral horns which grow close to the head.
context_section_description: Although Spain exported wool to England, the Low Countries and Italy in the 13th and 14th centuries this was only used to make cheap cloths. The earliest evidence of fine Spanish wool exports were to Italy in the 1390s and Flanders in the 1420s, although in both cases fine English wool was preferred. Spain became noted for its fine wool (spinning count between 60s and 64s) in the late 15th century, and by the mid-16th century its merino wool was acknowledged to equal that of the finest English wools.
  Spain built up a virtual monopoly in fine wool exports in the final decades of the 15th century and the 16th century, creating a substantial source of income for Castile. In part, this was because most English wool was woven and made into textile goods within England by the 16th century, rather than being exported.
  Many of the Castillian Merino flocks were owned by nobility or the church, although but  Alfonso X realised that granting the urban elites of the towns of Old Castile and León transhumant rights to would create an additional source of royal income and counteract the power of the privileged orders During the late 15th, 16th and early 17th century,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. By the 18th century, there were fewer small owners and several owners held flocks of more than 20,000 sheep,  but owners of small to moderately-sized flocks remained, and and the Mesta was never simply a combination of large owners.
  The transhumant sheep grazed the southern Spanish plains in winter and the northern highlands in summer. The annual migrations to and from Castile and León, where the sheep were owned and where they had summer pasturage, was organised and controlled by the Mesta along designated sheep-walks, or cañadas reales and arranged for suitable grazing, water and rest stops in these routes, and for shearing when the flocks started their return north.
  The three Merino strains that founded the world's Merino flocks are the Royal Escurial flocks, the Negretti and the Paula. Among Merino bloodlines stemming from Vermont in the USA, three historical studs were highly important: Infantado, Montarcos and Aguires.
  Before the 18th century, the export of Merinos from Spain was a crime punishable by death. In the 18th century, small exportation of Merinos from Spain and local sheep were used as the foundation of Merino flocks in other countries. In 1723, some were exported to Sweden, but the first major consignment of Escurials was sent by Charles III of Spain to his cousin, Prince Xavier the Elector of Saxony, in 1765. Further exportation of Escurials to Saxony occurred in 1774, to Hungary in 1775 and to Prussia in 1786. Later in 1786, Louis XVI of France received 366 sheep selected from 10 different cañadas; these founded the stud at the Royal Farm at Rambouillet. In addition to the fine wool breeds mentioned, other breeds derived from Merino stocks were developed to produce mutton, including the French Ile de France and Berrichon du Cher breeds. Merino sheep were also sent to Eastern Europe where their breeding began in Hungary in 1774
  The Rambouillet stud enjoyed some undisclosed  genetic development with some English long-wool genes contributing to the size and wool-type of the French sheep. Through one ram in particular named Emperor – imported to Australia in 1860 by the Peppin brothers of Wanganella, New South Wales –  the Rambouillet stud had an enormous influence on the development of the Australian Merino.
  Sir Joseph Banks procured two rams and four ewes in 1787 by way of Portugal, and in 1792 purchased 40 Negrettis for King George III to found the royal flock at Kew. In 1808, 2000 Paulas were imported.
  The King of Spain also gave some Escurials to the Dutch government in 1790; these thrived in the Dutch Cape Colony (South Africa). In 1788, John MacArthur, from the Clan Arthur (or MacArthur Clan) introduced Merinos to Australia from South Africa.
  From 1765, the Germans in Saxony crossed the Spanish Merino with the Saxon she
caption: One of the earliest depictions of a Merino. "El Buen Pastor" (The Good Shepherd) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, ca. 1650
exif: {}