H. Kolba Judit szerk.: Historical Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum Guide 2 - From the Foundation of the State until the Expulsion of the Ottomans - The history of Hungary in the 11th to 17th centuries (Budapest, 2005)

ROOM 1 - The Age of the House of Árpád Kings (11th—13th centuries) (Júlia Kovalovszki)

6. Bronze-gilt processional cross, Szerecseny, 12th century The lion comes from the main door of the Cathedral of Esztergom (12th century). The other stone carvings are relics of different ecclesiastical building activities from the Romanesque period: near the Esztergom throne we see, for example, a relief representing Christ and an angel which comes from the Somogyvár Benedictine abbey, founded by St. Ladislas in 1095 for French monks. The other relief, with the figure of one of the twenty-four elders of the Apocalypse, was in Pécs Cathedral (late 12th century). On churches, cloisters and palaces built on royal, aristocratic or Church orders, we recognize the handiwork of German and north Italian masters active at the start of the Romanesque period, but Byzantine stylistic marks are also discernible. At the end of the 12th century the influence of Early Gothic French workshops can be seen. Also evident is the development of local stylistic trends (Transylvanian Saxons, rural builders). A maquette shows the much-altered Pannonhalma Abbey as it was during the period of the Árpád kings. St. Adalbert, the Bohemian-born bishop who baptized St. Stephen, founded the first Benedictine monastery in Hungary in 996, with the support of Prince Géza. The monastery was built "on the sacred mount of Pannónia", which, according to tradition, was the birthplace of St Martin. In the monastery, for a long time the centre of Hungarian intellectual life, was created the first school of the country. TOWNS, MONETARY POLICY In the early Árpád period, commerce and handicrafts were concentrated in the settlements next to the castles. Primarily it was the settlements located in the centre of the country that developed (Esztergom, Székesfehérvár and Óbuda). It was here that the trade-routes met, and here that goods from the East, West and Byzantium changed hands. In the settlements foreigners gladly settled - at first people who were Muslim in creed, and later on Vallons and especially Germans. Different privileges gained from the 13th century onwards contributed significantly to the development of the towns. The settling of foreigners was even encouraged on an inscription, carved in stone, erected at the Óbuda town-hall (13th century). The social status of the Esztergom Latins is demonstrated by their bronze-gilt double seal (Fig. 7). Esztergom was also the seat of minting in the age of the Árpád kings. The initiating of independent Hungarian minting was one of the achievements of St. Stephen, whose silver coins were also circulated on the in-