Peter, son of Petenye
Initially a loyal supporter of King Charles I, he turned against the royal power and established a de facto independent province in Zemplén County after 1312, exploiting that political vacuum, which emerged following the dissolution of the Abas' dominion.
Szűcs argued this was the first step in the development of the Gálszécs lordship (today Sečovce, Slovakia), the core of Peter, son of Petenye's dominion.
[13] 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.
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.
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.
[14] 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).
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.
[15] 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).
[9] 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.
[21][22] 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).
[16] 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.
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.
According to Serbian historian Đura Hardi, he turned against Charles I because the king favored his Neapolitan courtiers, the Drugeth family – Peter's local competitors – by granting large landholdings in the eastern counties.
[26] 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).
[19] 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.
[25][27][28] 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.
[30] Tamás Kádár doubts the offer of the Hungarian throne, he considers that Peter and his allies only sought military assistance in Galicia against Charles.
James Borsa barricaded himself into the castle of Sólyomkő (now in Aleșd, Romania), but was captured by the royal troops after his surrender (possibly in May 1318), however he escaped execution and was eventually ransomed by Mojs Ákos.
[38] It is possible that Peter was captured too in Sólyomkő or earlier (his involvement in the two assassination attempts revealed only then), and later himself was also released during a ransom or exchange of prisoners between the royal court and Mojs.
[40] When Mojs failed to prevent the king's general Dózsa Debreceni to advance into the inner parts of Transylvania at Topa, midway between the Meszes Gate and Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoca, Romania) in July 1318, Peter, summoning his supporters in Szatmár County,[41] also participated in the skirmish, along with James Borsa and others.
