Stephen I granted privileges to the Roman Catholic Church, for example by ordering the general imposition of the tithe upon the population. Burials in most local pre-Christian cemeteries, for example at Hunedoara, only ceased around 1100. Stephen I also divided his kingdom, including the territories of modern Romania he had occupied, into counties, that is administrative units around royal fortresses, each administered by a royal official called count. In time the "voivode", a higher royal official first attested in 1176, became the principal of all the counts in Transylvania. In contrast with Transylvania, the counts in modern Banat and Crişana remained in direct contact with the king who appointed and replaced them at will.