Sexmo facts for kids
The sexmo or sexma was a special way of organizing land and people in parts of Castile during the Middle Ages. Think of it as a small district made up of several tiny villages or hamlets. These groups of villages were connected to a main town council. The word "sexmo" comes from a Latin word meaning 'sixth part', but it didn't always mean exactly one-sixth of a larger area.
The main reason for having sexmos was to make it easier to collect taxes. The king or queen needed money, and the sexmos helped gather these payments from the people living in the countryside. Because they helped the Crown (the king or queen's government) collect taxes, the sexmos were officially recognized as a way to manage land. They also helped manage shared land and resources, like forests or pastures, that belonged to everyone in the villages.
What Was a Sexmo?
A sexmo was like a local area or district in medieval Castile. It wasn't a single village, but a collection of small villages or hamlets that were grouped together. These hamlets were all under the control of a larger town's government, called a town council.
Why Were Sexmos Created?
Sexmos were mostly created to help with collecting taxes. Imagine the king needing to collect money from many small villages. It was much easier to group these villages into sexmos and have one person in charge of collecting taxes for that whole group. This system made it more organized for the government.
They also helped manage things that everyone in the villages used together. For example, if there was a shared forest for wood or a common field for animals to graze, the sexmo helped organize how these resources were used fairly by all the people.
Who Was a Sexmero?
The person in charge of a sexmo was called a sexmero. This job became official around the 13th century. The sexmero's main duty was to collect taxes, especially a type of tax called pechos. These pechos were payments made by ordinary people to the king or to their local lord.
The Role of the Sexmero
The sexmero was an important local official. They acted as a link between the people in the small villages and the main town council or the king's government. Their responsibilities included:
- Collecting taxes from the villages in their sexmo.
- Making sure shared resources were managed properly.
- Representing the people of their sexmo when decisions were made by the town council.
This system helped the medieval kingdom of Castile stay organized and collect the money it needed to run the country.
