Peter, son of Petenye

Amadeus Aba and his kinship ruled de facto independently the northern and north-eastern counties, including Zemplén, of the kingdom since the 1290s, during the era of feudal anarchy. It is possible that Peter was among his familiares, thus he was able to maintain some degree of autonomy. After the extinction of the Árpád dynasty in 1301, when a succession war broke out, Amadeus Aba supported Charles of Anjou's claim to the Hungarian throne, thus Peter also joined his camp. Charles became the undisputed ruler of the whole kingdom by 1310. The burghers of Kassa (now Košice in Slovakia) assassinated Amadeus Aba in September 1311. After that Charles was committed to eradicating the Abas' oligarchic rule. However, Amadeus' sons rebelled against the king and entered into an alliance with the powerful oligarch Matthew Csák. Then Peter decided to left the Abas' allegiance and swore loyalty to Charles. In late 1311 or early 1312, when the Aba troops raided Sárospatak, the fort was successfully defended by the own militia of Peter and members of the Baksa kindred. Peter was seriously injured in the clash.[10] A royal charter issued on 10 April 1312 narrated that one of Amadeus' sons, Nicholas Aba took revenge on Peter for his defection, and his troops looted and devastated the Gálszécs lordship (possibly in the spring of 1312). During the skirmish, the local church was destroyed, where all accumulated wealth were plundered, causing the damage of 1,000 gold ducats for Peter. In addition, his manor was set on fire by the Abas, when Peter's unidentified wife stayed there, while one of his relatives, also a Peter, was killed. Following that Peter participated in the siege of Sáros Castle (today Šariš in Slovakia), when Charles' army seized the fort from the Aba-ally Zólyom (Balassa) kinship.[11] As a partial compensation, Peter was granted the land of Pihnye (present-day Pichne, Slovakia) from Charles I, who previously confiscated the estate from the treacherous sons of a certain Iroszló (Jarosław).[12]

Ruins of Regéc Castle

Following the Battle of Rozgony on 15 June 1312, Peter and his servants presumably participated,[12] which brought an end to the Aba family's rule in Northeast Hungary, Peter was made ispán of Zemplén and Ung counties by Charles I.[13] As part of his dignities' honor, he was also granted the castles of Gönc (Amadeus Aba's former seat) and Regéc, where he served as castellan (with the title of comes).[14] Kádár questions the latter position.[15] According to historian Gyula Kristó, Peter exploited that political vacuum, which emerged following the dissolution of the Abas' dominion in the upcoming years, and began to establish a de facto independent province in Zemplén and partly Abaúj counties. Thus Kristó considered him as one of the so-called "oligarchs" or "provincial lords".[16] Peter continually distanced himself from the royal power and entered as a local tyrant against the neighbouring noblemen. For instance, he plundered the lands of the royalist Nagymihályis (descendants of the Kaplon kindred) in late 1315.[17][18] He cooperated with his former enemies, the sons of the late Amadeus Aba, and their joint troops besieged and destroyed the castles of Györke and Nagymihály (today Ďurkov and Michalovce in Slovakia, respectively). Peter's henchmen also tortured and murdered some of the Nagymihályis' relatives and servants.[19] Peter possessed approximately 50 villages and six castles by that time.[12] In November 1316, it was reported the members of the Rozgonyi family (Básztély clan) have been "defending Csicsva Castle [today part of Sedliská, Slovakia] for almost a year" against Peter's banderium.[20]

Peter, son of Petenye was first referred to as "disloyal" by Charles I on 2 January 1317. The royal charter reported James Borsa, a former Palatine of Hungary, who turned against Charles, had made an alliance against the king with other lords, including his son-in-law Mojs Ákos, the Gutkeleds of Szilágyság (Sălaj) and Peter himself in the second half of 1316.[21] In the charter, Charles confiscated some of his lands and estates and handed them over to his loyal soldier Mikcs Ákos, who suffered serious damages in his clashes against Peter (for instance, one of his familiares was killed).[21] Among the lands confiscated were Sztracsina, Kékmező, Nagydomása, Kisdomása and Gereginye (present-day Stročín, Kuková, Veľká Domaša, Malá Domaša and Ohradzany in Slovakia, respectively).[15]

Another document issued on 10 February 1321 narrated that after his betrayal, Peter, whose estates laid in the northeast border, traveled to the Kingdom of Rus' and offered the Hungarian crown to either Andrew or Leo II of Galicia, both were maternal great-grandchildren of Béla IV of Hungary.[21][22][23] Historian Attila Bárány argued James Borsa and the increasingly influential Mojs Ákos supported Peter in his efforts, and he represented the whole conspiracy in the Galician royal court.[24] Because of his potential Ruthenian ancestry and proximity to his properties, Peter had extensive and vibrant political and trade connections with the local elite in the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.[25] Tamás Kádár doubts the offer of the Hungarian throne, he considers that Peter and his allies only sought military assistance in Galicia against Charles.[19] Peter's diplomatic mission ended unsuccessfully, both of the Rurikid princes, Andrew and Leo refused to involve in the unification of Charles, with whom they maintained good relationship (there were theories that Charles' first wife was Leo's daughter, Maria).[25]

Jasenov (Jeszenő) Castle, owned by Peter since 1283

Based on a regesta found in the archives of the Drugeth family (today part of the Slovak National Archives in Prešov), Peter even attempted the assassination of Charles I twice. At first, he personally tried to kill Charles, who was sick in bed in Sárospatak, possibly when he still was considered loyal, thus he was able to present the king's companion without difficulty. Peter's attempt was revealed and captured by the king himself. István Petrovics considered this attempt took place in the last months of 1316.[26] In contrast to Petrovics' reconstruction, Tamás Kádár argues that Peter was considered loyal even on 15 December 1316, according to a royal document.[15] In addition, Charles resided in Southern Hungary, Temesvár and Lippa (present-day Timișoara and Lipova in Romania, respectively), in those months. If Peter's first assassination attempt happened at all, it must be occurred in the spring of 1317, as Kádár considers.[27] Gyula Kristó questioned the validity of the royal document's narration on Peter's assassination attempt. The historian argued Charles I and his chancellery aimed to emphasize the impenitence of the traitorous Peter with the false narrative.[28] Tamás Kádár does not share this viewpoint; he considers, instead of Peter, his commissioned assassin was captured during the first attempt.[29] For the second time, Peter hired two assassins to murder Charles, who resided in the temporary capital Temesvár then. According to a diploma from 1355, the assassins, certain noblemen Nicholas and Philip tried to kill the king with an arrow. There was no report that whether Charles was injured during the assassination attempt, but the king exiled them and confiscated their lands in Csanád County. Petrovics argued Peter's second attempt occurred in either Spring (during his war against Charles) or Winter 1317 (after his defeat in Zemplén).[26]

Charles immediately responded to the unfavorable developments and launched a multi-faceted war against James Borsa and his allies in early 1317. The king initiated a royal campaign first against Peter, the weakest member of the anti-Charles coalition. Philip Drugeth, who was also made ispán of Abaúj County, and Mikcs Ákos led Charles' army against Peter's forts in Ung County in the first months of 1317. Around March, Drugeth captured Gönc, then his army marched in front of Regéc Castle, also joined by Ladislaus Baksa's auxiliary troops due to a threatening leaf by Drugeth.[30] Regéc was besieged and seized in April. In the same time, Mikcs Ákos crushed Peter's power in Zemplén, capturing the castles Barkó, Borostyán and Bodrogszög within few weeks.[31] Peter successfully broke out of the blockade, "like an indomitable beast" (as a 1342 charter wrote) during the siege of his seat, Borostyán and fled the province. However, Mikcs captured and imprisoned Peter's (probably namesake) son and sent to the royal court as a prisoner of war.[32] Peter's last stronghold Jeszenő was taken by Philip Drugeth in the last days of April or early May 1317.[31]