Acha was a Hungarian prelate in the second half of the 11th century, who served as

Archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

from around 1087 to 1090.

Etymology

His name may come from Turkic "aça", meaning "open, clear, clean".

Career

Born into the native nobility, he was of Hungarian origin. As he did not adopt a Christian name, he was not a member of the

Benedictine Order , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

, in contrast to most contemporary prelates. It is possible that, as his successors, he was one of the court clergymen during the reign of

Ladislaus I of Hungary Ladislaus I ( hu, László, hr, Ladislav, sk, Ladislav, pl, Władysław; 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and ...

. A document from 1134, which contains a verdict of Archbishop Felician, narrates the circumstances of the foundation of the Diocese of Zagreb, where Acha was mentioned as Archbishop of Esztergom, thus he held the dignity around then, when Ladislaus set up the episcopate. According to historian László Koszta, it is presumable that Acha already served as archbishop during the canonization of Stephen I in 1083. 17th-century Jesuit scholar

Melchior Inchofer Melchior Inchofer or Imhofer, in Hungarian: Inchofer Menyhért (c. 1584 – 28 September 1648) was an Austrian-Hungarian Jesuit. He played an important part in the trial of Galileo, by his arguments, later published in his ''Tractatus Syllepticus' ...

argued Ladislaus sent his envoy, Archbishop Acha to

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...

in 1088 in order to prepare his invasion of Croatia and ask the pope's consent. Based on historian

Bálint Hóman Bálint Hóman (29 December 1885 – 2 June 1951) was a Hungarian scholar and politician who served as Minister of Religion and Education twice: between 1932–1938 and between 1939–1942. He died in prison in 1951 for his support of the fasc ...

's research, the Diocese of Zagreb (in

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

, which was "no-man's land" between Hungary and Croatia) was founded in the late 1080s, just before Ladislaus' invasion. If the establishment took place after the war, Acha functioned as Archbishop of Esztergom after 1091 (at the latest in 1093 and 1094). According to a scholarly theory, the sees of the dioceses of

Kalocsa Kalocsa (; hr, Kaloča or ''Kalača''; sr, Kaloča or Калоча; german: Kollotschau) is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, Hungary. It lies south of Budapest. It is situated in a marshy but highly productive district, near the left bank of the ...

and

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

were moved to Bács (now Bač,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

) and

Nagyvárad ) , blank2_name_sec1 = Patron saint , blank2_info_sec1 = Saint LadislausRomania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

), respectively, during Acha's primacy. It is possible that the erection of the second Gyulafehérvár Cathedral also occurred then, in addition to the foundations of the Kolozsmonostor and

Báta Báta is a village in Tolna County Tolna ( hu, Tolna megye, ; german: Komitat Tolnau) is an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus or megye) in present Hungary as it was of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It lies in cen ...

abbeys. As he was not present at the establishment of the

Somogyvár Abbey The Somogyvár Abbey (Szent Egyed Abbey) was a Benedictine monastery established at Somogyvár in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1091. It was dedicated to Saint Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was ...

in 1091, presumably he was dead by then.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Acha of Esztergom Archbishops of Esztergom 11th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Hungary 11th-century Hungarian people