1. Abbot Oliba is considered one of the spiritual founders of Catalonia and perhaps the most important prelate of his age in the Iberian Peninsula.
12 Facts About Abbot Oliba
1. 2.
Abbot Oliba's father was Oliba Cabreta, the count of Besalu, Cerdanya, Berga and Ripoll, and his mother was Ermengard of Empuries.
3.
Abbot Oliba had three brothers and a sister, and when his father chose to retire to a monastery in 988, his lands were divided among his three oldest sons; Bernard received Besalu, Wilfred received Cerdanya, and Abbot Oliba received Berga and Ripoll.
4.
In 1002, Abbot Oliba abdicated his secular possessions to his brothers, with Wilfred receiving Berga and Bernard getting Ripoll.
5.
Abbot Oliba then took up the Benedictine habit residing at the Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll.
6.
Six years after joining the order, Oliba was named abbot at Santa Maria de Ripoll, and at Sant Miquel de Cuixa shortly thereafter.
7.
Abbot Oliba promoted the movement of the Peace and Truce of God beginning about 1022.
8.
Abbot Oliba's letters to the various contemporaneous kings of Spain indicate that Alfonso and his successor, Vermudo III were regarded as imperatores, while the king of Navarre was a mere rex, though eventually rex Ibericus.
9.
Abbot Oliba founded the monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat, reformed others such as Sant Miquel de Fluvia and Sant Marti del Canigo, and consecrated or patronised numerous other churches, such as the Collegiate Basilica of Manresa.
10.
Abbot Oliba created the Assemblies of Peace and Truce, the seeds of the future Catalan Corts, to aid the nobles in the administration of the realm.
11.
Abbot Oliba was a close advisor to Count Berenguer Ramon I of Barcelona and reconstructed the cathedral of Vic with the support of Berenguer Ramon's mother, the Countess Ermesinde.
12.
In 1973, the Abat Abbot Oliba College was established as a private branch of the University of Barcelona.