The "Long Life of Saint Gerard" mentions Stephen's conflict with Ajtony, a chieftain in the region of the river Maros. Many historians date their clash to the end of the 1020s, although Györffy and other scholars put it at least a decade earlier. The conflict arose when Ajtony, who "had taken his power from the Greeks", according to Saint Gerard's legend, levied tax on the salt transported to Stephen on the river. The king sent a large army led by Csanád against Ajtony, who was killed in battle. His lands were transformed into a Hungarian county and the king set up a new bishopric at Csanád (Cenad, Romania), Ajtony's former capital, which was renamed after the commander of the royal army. According to the "Annales Posonienses", the Venetian Gerard was consecrated as the first bishop of the new diocese in 1030.