ABSTRACT
In 1951, at the beginning of field work in Atany, and for the following few years, one could hear singing in several houses on winter days after dark. Having finished their work, the members of the family gathered in the warm living room and sang hymns before lighting the lamp. The Reformation not only changed the articles of faith and the liturgy, it also fundamentally revised the organization of the parishes. The affairs of the medieval rural parish were settled either by the landlord on the basis of advowson or by the bishop. The community had practically no part in the direction of the church; even the tithes were handed over to the tithe collectors of the bishop rather than to the local rector. In many villages, including Atany , the parish authorities measured out a section of arable land among the fields of the inhabitants to be cultivated by the parishioners for the minister.
