The Merindad Mayor de Castilla was an administrative unit that was created in the 12th century by Alfonso VIII in the Kingdom of Castile and lasted until the 18th century.
territory
The Kingdom of Castile around 1400
The capital of the Merindad was Burgos , where the royal bailiff (merino) resided. The area of the administrative unit was over 30,000 square kilometers. It was bounded by the Río Cea and the border with the Kingdom of Navarre , between the Duero in the south and the Atlantic coast in the north, it included today's region of Cantabria and today's province of Palencia and parts of today's province of Burgos and the province of Valladolid . Small parts of the neighboring territories were also included, which today belong to the provinces of León , Soria , Álava , La Rioja and Asturias .
In the middle of the 14th century, the Merindad Mayor de Castilla consisted of the following subunits, the Merindades menores :
