E'CIIA, a city of Spain, Andalusia, in the province of Seville, and 45 m. e.n.c. of the town of that name, is situated on the left bank of the Jenil, in lat. 37° 33' n., long. 5° 8' west. It is surrounded by gardens, and stands in the center of a district fertile in corn and oil. E. is a well-built and prosperous town. On account of the heat of the climate, this town is called by the Spaniards the oven of Andalusia. E. has many pleasant alamedas (public promenades), shaded by trees, and adorned with statues and fountains; the principal promenade is that which stretches along the banks of the river. Pop. 24,000. E. was called in ancient times Astigis, and was one of the chief cities of the Roman province of Hispania Bcetica; its origin is unknown. It is said to have been visited by the apostle Paul, a gilt statue of whom may be seen in the city. E. was called Colonia Augusta l'irma by the Romans, and abounds in Roman antiquities. It also presents several specimens of Moorish architecture in the shape of gates and massive towers.
ECK, Jounxx MAvn vox, the well-known adversary of Luther, was b. in 1486 at Eck, a village in Suabia, where his father, Michael Mayr, was a peasant, and afterwards a bailiff. Endowed with considerable ability, young E. commenced at an early period the study of the church fathers and the scholastics, and acquired a great skill in theo logical disputation. In 1518, when his Obelisci appeared in opposition to Luther's Theses, he was doctor of theology, canon of Eichstiidt, and pro-chancellor of the university of Ingolstadt. The publication of his Obelisci involved him in a disputation with Karl
stadt, which lasted from the 27th June to the 16th July, 1519. The only effect of the disputation on the people was to make them wonder at E.'s volubility; but having impugned some of Luther's views in the course of his disputation, he was assailed by the great reformer, and by Melanchthon. E. nicknamed his opponents Lutherans, and instigated partly by personal hatred, and partly by Fugger (q.v.), went to Rome in 1520, to induce the pope to take strong measures against Luther. He returned with a papal bull of condemnation in his pocket, but the people in many places stood by Luther; and at Leipsic, in particular, E. was so roughly received, that he had to take refuge in the monastery of St. Paul's. Later we find him at the Augsburg diet of 1530, where he let slip out the memorable statement, that "with the church fathers, he would venture to oppose the Augsburg confession, but not with the Scriptures." In the relig ious convocations held at Worms in 1540, and at Ratisbon in 1541, he also took part. He died in 1543. A desire to shine and to play an important part in the affairs of men, coupled with a strong love of lucre, were the leading features of his character, Though an extremely learnefecclesiastic, he had no great talent, but was loud, boisterous, and full of assurance.