BEACIA. — B., to which it seems the see of Castulum (now Baeza, province of Jaén, Spain) was transferred, appears for the first time in 675 and still existed in 862. After the city was reconquered in 1227, the see was re-established, but in 1246 it was transferred to Jaén (q.v.). B., however, has retained up to the present day half of the chapter. It has a minor seminary and once had a university founded under Paul III.
BIBL.: E. Flórez, España Sagrada, VII. Madrid 1751, pp. 97–122; A. Lambert, s.V. in DHG, VII, cols. 79–84. GIOVANNI MESEGUER