Tari Edit: Pest megye középkori templomai (Studia Comitatensia 27. Szentendre, 2000.)
paring to other priests functioning in later built churches of the area. He started to practice a dominating role above them. In this process we can see the origin of the archdeanery. The authority of archdean appeared in the records already at the end of the 11 th century. At the beginning of the 11 th century a church could be found at a 3^1 hours of walk (15-24 km) from most of the villages. However, it was not enough, that is why the edict on "10 villages..." was born. 411 In the 1030s the well-known law by King Stephen regulated not only the division of the country into bishoprics, but also obliged the villages to build churches collectively. He ordered that each 10 villages had to belong to a church. At the same time he regulated the amount of goods necessary for supplying the church (2 pieces of land, 2 slaves, a horse and a mare, 6 oxen, 2 cows, 30 small stock) and the donátor of the goods necessary for functioning. He specified the obligations of the believers and the compulsory donations by the bishop and the king. The bishop was authorised to chose the priest and donate liturgical books. The king was to present the vestments and the altar cloth. Early rural churches were communal baptising churches and burial places formed by Italian pattern. They were directly under the authority of the bishop. (Later the parsons got the right of getting the fourth part of the tithe paid for the bishopric, but in many cases they did not receive even the l/16 th part of it.) It is very probable that churches were built by the rural communities. We know from the records that these buildings could have been constructed out of timber or timber-frame and adobe, using log, wickerwork and mud puddling technologies. However, I have suggested that in certain regions already before 1030, little churches with light, timber or possibly reed, wickerwork construction could have been erected rather densely (it could possibly take some days or weeks). Building out of timber could have been much more common than it is usually suggested. This suggestion well fits in the law of year 1092: then it was prohibited for a moving village to take away its church. In connection with this law we can think of timber structure easily taken apart and joined again. Timber churches were rarely mentioned in 11 th —12 th century's records, but that does not contradict their existence. It is obvious from my database and that of other regions that the lack of records does not mean the lack of churches. 412 For example, the monastery of the Holy Right Hand erected on the land of prebend Merkur from Székesfehérvár was built of timber. 413 Some churches are likely to had been built in the 11 th century, but a more precise dating is made difficult by the fact that a more sophisticated chronology based on the ground-plan and the finds of the cemetery is impossible in the Árpádian Age. THE STRENGTHENING OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANISATION From the aspect of the church construction activity the next significant period to be considered is the one of the reign of king St. László (Ladislaus) (1077-1095). Beside the bishoprics he founded cathedral chapters, and smaller units inside the dioceses: the Györffy 1977.186. Unfortunately the author did not give details for supporting his opinion. According to my unfinished database there are 2 timber churches mentioned in the 11th century's records, 1 in the 12th century, 6 in the 13th century and 18 in the 14th century! 413 Györffy 1977. 264. 235
