St. James Roman Catholic Church

The Church of St. James in Thursday was built in the Romanesque style. It is true that it was rebuilt several times over the years, but its original floor plan can still be deduced today, and it shows the basic layout of parish churches built in the 13th century: a semicircular sanctuary facing east, a rectangular nave, two towers on the western facade, and a linteled gate in the axis of the church. It was built entirely of brick (like the other Árpád-era churches in the region), but the unshaped stones of the previous church were very likely used for its foundations. The church was certainly built by the Szentgyörgyi family. We can conclude this from several things: the patronage gallery (the choir) on the western side, which still exists from the time of construction, and a later charter from 1333, which names this family as the patronage of the church. Incidentally, this is also the first documented mention of the existence of the church. The Szentgyörgyi brothers, Sebes and Péter, who divided the village between themselves, agreed that although the church was in the eastern part of the village, in the part that belonged to Péter, "it should nevertheless be a common parish church for the people of both parts of the village." (We know that the Szentgyörgyi family was the builder of the St. James Church in Várkony, also built at the same time.) ; The entire church was built of brick, but carved stone was used for the twin windows of the tower and the portal. ; The twin windows are on two levels on the western and southern sides, and on only one level on the eastern and northern sides. The semicircular arch of the twin windows rests on a central stone column (on the northern side, the column was removed due to the passage between the two towers), and their column capitals are decorated with small spheres. ; The carved stone portal is one of the most beautiful parts of the original Romanesque church, and it is also the most ornate part of other Romanesque churches. This portal, most likely after being damaged in the earthquake of 1590, or according to other opinions after the opening of the southern gate, was no longer in use, so it was walled up. It was partially dismantled during the restoration in 1956, and then completely dismantled at the end of the 1980s. The gate opening is closed by a straight-line stone frame. The two columns resting on stone slabs on both sides narrow in a chevron pattern, the capitals of the columns are decorated with leaves. Above the doorway, resting on the columns, there is a semicircular chevron pattern. The arch field is framed by three lobes of stone slabs, picture 9, which are plain, without plastic decoration, but the outer part of the lobe has a leaf decoration and a pearl row. The frame of the doorway also has such a pearl row decoration. This three-lobed arch field of the portal indicates a French-German influence. Of particular interest are the hollows of different depths found on the pillars of the portal. These refer to the appearance of the German folk element in the 14th-15th centuries. In the German-speaking area, primarily the Bavarian-speaking area, it was a common belief that people suffering from certain diseases would scrape dust from sacred objects built of sandstone and drink it mixed with liquid, hoping to be cured. This custom was brought by the German hospes (guest settlers) when they settled in Csütörtök. This explains the scraped-off depressions found on the sandstone columns of the church portal. ; ; Becoming a market town, rebuilding the church ; Both the holding of fairs and fair duties, and the construction of the Romanian church facilitated the process of becoming a market town. However, the development into a market town was not sudden in most cases, and in most cases it was not even confirmed in writing. However, the landlords of such settlements promoted this development, because they also derived significant benefits from it - especially through the fair duties. The people of Szentgyörgyi also did this in the case of Csütörtök. They certainly granted certain privileges to their serfs in Csütörtök (they could choose their own judge, they paid their taxes together). The weekly market eventually resulted in the settlement of craftsmen, because craftsmen producing for the permanent weekly market lived everywhere next to the market square. After a while, these craftsmen also formed guilds. We can find nationally significant data on the development of Csütörtök into a market town, the development of the settlement's streetscape (a market town), and the abundance of goods sold on the market in the charter that records the Szentgyörgyi family's division of the Csütörtök market in 1333. Projecting the list of goods offered for sale on the market onto a map, it is undoubtedly clear that the village of Csütörtök consisted of a single wide street, with marshy water flowing in the middle. This delimited the north-eastern and south-western rows of houses in the village. Since Sebes Szentgyörgyi and Péter wanted to secure an equal share of the income from the market tax when dividing it, they were precise in describing what could be sold in their part of the market square. It is very likely that the division was based on a previously established market order. This market order truly became traditional and essentially survived until the 20th century. ; The fact of becoming a market town is supported not only by the importance of the market and the settlement of craftsmen, but also by a legal act, the granting of the pallos right. In 1363, Louis the Great gave Péter Szentgyörgyi the authority “to erect a gallows in their village called Cheuteurteuk, which is in the Challokeuz district, Bratislava county.” (The geographical place called “Akasztófadomb” is still known on the border of the village.) ; The population of the settlement, which became a market town, may have increased significantly, primarily due to the settlement of German-speaking craftsmen. This is also proven by the fact that in addition to the Hungarian name Csürkörtök, the German name Leopoldsdorf and its variants also appear in documents from the second half of the 14th century. The church of the settlement also “kept pace” with the development. In the second half of the 14th century, the church underwent a significant transformation and enlargement. However, this was in the spirit of the new style, the Gothic style. Although we do not have any documented information about the time of the transformation, based on stylistic comparisons we can conclude that it may have taken place during the reign of Louis the Great, or at the latest at the beginning of Sigismund’s reign. The transformation can also be clearly linked to the Szentgyörgyi family, because they were undoubtedly the patrons of the church. The purpose of the transformation was clearly to enlarge it, so that it could accommodate the increased population. The enlargement took place as follows: the small semicircular sanctuary was demolished, the original Romanesque walls of the nave were replaced from the north and south, and a new, Gothic baptismal font was added to the church, which today serves as a holy water container in the northern aisle. ; Thus, the enlarged church became three-nave, so it could accommodate the increased population of the settlement, and only Csőtörtöké itself, because at that time its later branches (daughter churches): Béke, Csákány, Gomba were still independent parishes. (We know this from a 1390 charter, which lists the parishes of Bratislava County.) ; ; The heyday of Csőtörtök market town, the late Gothic reconstruction of the church ; The 15th century represents uninterrupted development for Csőtörtök and its church. Its population continues to grow, with the continued settlement of new German elements. During the reign of Sigismund, the settlement is increasingly referred to in documents by its German name Leopoldsdorf. The settlement of German-speaking hospes is indicated not only by the German name of the settlement, but also by other facts. The craftsmen established their first guild organizations in the market towns, including Csütörtök. The guild charter of the tanners, which was donated by Simon and Péter Szentgyörgyi to the craftsmen of Csütörtök in 1493, can still be studied today. This guild charter is in German. Some articles of the guild charter even regulate sales at the weekly market, but it can also be concluded from them that national fairs were held. In 1500, the landlord of the market town obtained a duty exemption for the craftsmen of the Thursday guilds, valid for the entire country. In addition to the varga guild, other guilds must have operated in the village in the 15th and 16th centuries. (We also know from later news reports about the guilds of tailors, weavers, and potters.) ; During the heyday of the market town, the church underwent another, more generous reconstruction and equipment. We can also thank the Szentgyörgyi family for this transformation. This 15th-century transformation actually gave the church building its mass effect that it still has today. ; Perhaps we are justified in thinking that the date of this last major reconstruction is indicated by the date carved into the stone of the frame of the southern entrance gate: 1485. The time of the destruction of the southern aisle is also questionable. We are certainly not far wrong if we relate this to the great earthquake of 1590, which caused cracks in the portal and at the bottom of the towers. After that, the western facade and the place of the walled-in breakthroughs of the main aisle on the south side were supported with extremely crude buttresses. At that time, the southern entrance was also placed in its current location, the gate of which, showing signs of the Renaissance style, is still in use today. ; The Szentgyörgyi family, to whom the market town and church of Csütörtok owe the development outlined above, died out in the male line in 1543. The estate of the market town passed to the treasury, and then from the middle of the 16th century it passed to different owners. This was the reason for the continuous decline and decline. A portal census from 1553 also omitted the designation oppidum (field town) from the name of the locality of Chetertek (Csütörtok). After the Battle of Mohács, with the settlement of the population fleeing from the Turks from the southern part of the country, the population of the village became Hungarian (its dialect also became the Ö-Ző dialect native to the south), but its development was permanently stalled, and it reached a new age as a rural settlement. Its church still preserves the form it took during the last major renovation, but it still remains the most significant monument in Csallóköz.