Aeci (or Aetius) (died 1010), Bishop of Barcelona from 995, was a warrior-prelate in the age of the

Peace and Truce of God The Peace and Truce of God () was a movement in the Middle Ages led by the Catholic Church and was one of the most influential mass peace movements in history. The goal of both the ''Pax Dei'' and the ''Treuga Dei'' was to limit the violence o ...

. Besides military endeavours, mainly ''

reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

'' (the re-conquest of Islamic territory), his episcopate was taken up with the repopulation of the

Penedès Penedès () is a natural region, natural and historical region of Catalonia. It is located in the south of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain between the pre-coastal mountain range (''Serralada Pre-litoral'') and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

in the south of the diocese, on the frontier with

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

.Adam J. Kosto (2001), ''Making Agreements in Medieval Catalonia: Power, Order, and the Written Word, 1000–1200'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 178–82. In 997 Aeci, as bishop, received a conditional gift from one Sendred Donús of land at La Boadella and a garden in the ''burgus'' (suburbs) of Barcelona. Among Sendred's several stipulations for the bishop was that the ''sacriscrinius'' ( churchwarden) Bonfill and his successors should not be removed from that post. In the church's

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll ('' rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

, the ''Libri antiquitatum'', the scribe has called this document a ''conveniencia'' (agreement), the earliest use of that spelling, which has persisted in modern Catalan. Between 1000 and 1002, and again in 1003, the Muslims destroyed the fortified tower (''turris'') of La Granada, a possession of the see of Barcelona. Twice, in 1005 and 1009, Aeci sold or exchanged ecclesiastical estates in an effort to raise the funds to rebuild it. In 1002 Aeci sent letters to the Roman ''curia'' complaining that a certain nobleman named Geribert had seized the castle of

Ribes ''Ribes'' () is a genus of about 200 known species of flowering plants, most of them native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The species may be known as various kinds of currants, such as redcurrants, blackcurrants, and White ...

, which rightfully belonged to the bishops of Barcelona. The Papal court responded by sending letters, of apparently no effect, ordering Geribert to hand it back. He was still holding it at the time of his own death, four years after the bishop's, in 1014. In 1005 Aeci was fortunate enough to gain the castle of Barberà, donated by testament to the see. On 9 March 1009 Aeci founded the ''pia almoina'' or ''casa de la canonja'' of Barcelona, an "almshouse established at the cathedral church and administered typically by the bishop and chapter".James William Brodman (1998), ''Charity and Welfare: Hospitals and the Poor in Medieval Catalonia'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 8–9. An earlier piece of property which had been donated "to the cathedral, the poor, and pilgrims" by Bishop Vives was devastated by the sack of Barcelona by

Almanzor Abu ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Abi ʿĀmir al-Maʿafiri (), nicknamed al-Manṣūr (, "the Victorious"), which is often Latinized as Almanzor in Spanish, Almansor in Catalan language, Catalan and Almançor in Portuguese ( 938 – 8 A ...

in 985, but in 1009 Aeci donated an estate of his own for the same purpose ("to feed the canons and the poor") and gave it to the restored canonry. There was at that time no "clear distinction between voluntary and involuntary poverty". Along with his fellow bishops Odó of Girona and Arnulf of Vic, Aeci took part in the '' razzia'' led on Córdoba by Ramon Borrell, Count of Barcelona, and Ermengol I, Count of Urgell, in 1010 and died on the battlefield along with Ermengol.As recorded in the '' Gesta comitum Barcinonensium'', viii, pp. 11, 29 and 124 in L. Barrau Dihigo and J. Massó i Torrents, edd. (2007), ''Cròniques catalanes, II: Gesta comitum Barcinonensium'' (Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans). His name appears variously as Ethio, Etio, Aethio, Aetio, and Antio.

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