Merino Sheep at Wellspring Farm
History of the Merino Sheep
Merino: a Spanish Treasure
It is believed that the origin of Merino sheep starts with sheep being introduced by the Phoenicians fro Asia Minor into Africa. These flocks were then introduce into Spain by the Marinids who were a tribe of Berbers in Spain around the 12th century. It was then Spanish breeders who introduced English breeds to produce the Merino breed in the 13th and 14th centuries.
In the final decades of the 15th century and through the 16th century Spain built a virtual monopoly in fine wool exports. Most of the Merino flocks were owned by the nobility or the church. Before the 18th century the export of Merino sheep from Spain was a crime punishabe by death. The king of Spain in the late 1700s sent merino sheep as gifts to some of the royalty in Europe, inluding Saxony, Hungary, France, Prussia and Holland. From these gifts specific Merino lines were created alongwith being the foundation for new breeds such as the Rambouillet.
The first Merino sheep were introduced to Vermont in 1802.
