In general social organization Álava did not differ from other Spanish regions. It was technically a _behetría de mar á mar_ (free town from sea to sea): made up of a group of small seigniorial estates, both noble and ecclesiastical, whose rulers were free to elect a common lord without being restrained to a determinate family. The untitled inhabitants were rural laborers, who were either serfs or in a state but little removed from serfdom, and the free, popular classes of the towns, but neither of these elements exercised great influence. After the incorporation of Álava into Castile in 1332, the older type of government, based primarily on the _Cofradía_ of Arriaga and the elected lord, underwent a radical change. The overlordship became fixed in the crown of Castile, and the _cofradía_ disappeared, although a similar body soon developed. The king was represented at times by an _adelantado_ as well as by lesser royal officials, and reserved high justice to himself, besides rights to military service and a certain few taxes. Local government was carried on by various assemblies, reaching in a hierarchy from the lesser regional institutions to the general assembly for the entire province. The general assembly was both a legislative and an administrative body, but its principal function was the inspection of royal orders to see if they conformed to the regional charters. A juridical difference existed between the towns and the country, for the former were ruled by Castilian law and the latter by ancient custom, resulting in the economic dependence of the rural laboring classes, even after serfdom had disappeared. [Sidenote: The social and political system in Vizcaya.]