The effects of the Mongol invasion of Hungary cannot exactly be determined, but at least four monasteries disappeared. Solymos Castle (in present-day Șoimoș in Lipova), the first fortress built by a nobleman in the county, was erected after the withdrawal of the Mongols. Ecclesiastic institutions, prelates and lay lordsincluding the bishop of Csanád, the Arad Chapter and the Garais, Lackfis and Telegdisheld most former royal estates in the first half of the . The existence of four elected "judges of the nobles" was first documented in 1311, proving that Arad County had transformed into a "noble county", an institution of the local noblemen's self-government.