[2] John and his wife, Paska were important courtiers of Queen Clementia, who resided in her household at Paris (except for some years in Aix-en-Provence) after she became widow following her husband Louis X's death in 1316.

[7][10] In addition to this, William also inherited additional twenty-four possessions in Zemplén County from his uncle: Peticse (Ptičie), Kemence (Kamenica nad Cirochou), Szinna (Snina), Tavarna (Tovarné), Sztakcsin (Stakčínska Roztoka), Zubna (Zubné), Papfalva (Papín), Jankóc (Jankovce), Hankóc (Hankovce), Lácfalva (Lackovce), Hazsina (Hažín nad Cirochou), Homonna (Humenné), Porubka (Krajná Porúbka), Göröginye (Ohradzany), Kajna (Slovenská Kajňa), Lukasóc (Lukačovce), Holcsikóc (Holčíkovce), Pihnye (Pichne) Vadna, Tankafalva, Plempnafalva and Kepla, later all belonged to the Homonna lordship in present-day Slovakia (the last four villages are unidentified), in addition to Salamon (Solomonovo, Ukraine) and Záhony in the southeast part of the county.

[14] Regarding his inherited personal wealth and "office fiefs", the newcomer and young William Drugeth instantly elevated as one of the most powerful barons in the Kingdom of Hungary, despite his foreign origin and the lack of political and social antecedents.

After Philip's death, the arriving Drugeth kinship owed their rise and positions of power exclusively by the grace of the king, at that time they were not yet embedded to the native Hungarian nobility, which later became a source of many tensions.

The Drugeth Province in Northeast Hungary was comparable with the historical regions Transylvania and Slavonia in its size, the number of counties and forts and its institutions at the peak of William's career.

Historian Attila Zsoldos argues William decided to abolish the court, because he convened regular assemblies ("congregatio generalis") for the counties of the province, considering the coexistence of the two authorities as unnecessary.

Zsoldos considers William reconstituted the Court of Vizsoly, after he moved his permanent seat to the royal capital Visegrád in the spring of 1337, which resulted in an increasingly rare personal presence in his province thereafter.

Several other members belonged to his personal court, including drayman Nicholas, stablemen Paul and Kolynus, valet Walter and chaplain Benedict, who was also parson of Forró, and steward Lucas.

[31] Among his vice-ispáns and castellans, several members of his staff already served Philip in this capacity; among them were Michael, son of Lampert, Lucas "the German" and brothers Blaise and John Fonyi.

[32] While other Italian members of the household – including Gery and Perroto – returned to their homeland after a time, Peter and Nicholas settled down permanently, their sister Joanna also arrived to Hungary together with her children sometime later.

[41] After violent and coercive attempts, William also bought the estates of the Somosi family of the same kindred in Sáros County in 1332 – he acquired the villages Miklósvágása (Miklušovce), Szedlice (Sedlice), Szopotnyica and Szopotnyicafő in the process.

When Dominic Nádasdi from the Aba clan died without male heirs, William petitioned to the royal court for his lordship, which consisted of twelve possessions to the east of Kassa (Košice) in Abaúj and Sáros counties.

Following a successful litigation of Dominic's widow (Clara, daughter of the late Dózsa Debreceni) and sisters, William was forced to return some estates – Alsócsáj, Felsőcsáj and Ósva – to them in 1337.

He also leased some estates – for instance, Kajászó and Solymár – for ten years from the Dominican nuns of the Margaret Island, which laid near Visegrád in the neighboring Nógrád, Esztergom and Fejér counties.

[46] In the document, William also confessed his previous "sins", including dominations against the possessions of neighboring lords, the imprisonment of John, the villicus of Lőcse and that he had hanged Perengerius, the judge of Gölnicbánya in his wrath, even though he deserved his fate anyway.

In 1332, William also entered into a contract with Csanád Telegdi, Archbishop of Esztergom, a long-time friend and ally of the Drugeth family, in order to lease the one-third portion of mining revenues (urbura) at Rozsnyóbánya (Rožňava).

[52] During his absence, John's son William Drugeth was appointed Deputy Palatine of Hungary, an entirely unique position in the kingdom,[53][54] and also took over the governance of his father's counties and castles in this capacity.

In contrast, Queen Elizabeth took the initiative and began to issue commands and measures – for instance, in August, she entrusted Thomas Szécsényi, the Voivode of Transylvania, and Ladislaus Jánki, the Archbishop of Kalocsa to transcribe a donation letter as appointed judges for Pozsony and Nyitra counties.

According to a document from November, the queen learned that public security had deteriorated in several parts of the country since the king left, as a result Judge royal Paul Nagymartoni ordered the convening of county assemblies to compile a list of "evildoers", the first deadline was early October.

Already the appointment of John Drugeth as Palatine caused a break in the elite unity, but the selection of William, who had no antecedents in Hungary, as royal governor has finally brought the opposition to the surface.

In order to maintain peace at Hungary during his absence, the king gave in to pressure; although William was allowed to retain his title of Deputy Palatine, but without real power and jurisdiction, the effective control of the country was conceded to his opponents.

[61][62] In the late spring and early summer of 1335, William made a tour to the western and northwestern part of the country; he summoned assemblies and judged over lawsuits in Nógrád, Hont, Bars, Pozsony, Moson, Sopron, Gömör, Zala and Veszprém counties.

[64] William's personal activity covered only the northern half of the kingdom, but in addition to the general assemblies, in some cases he was also involved in litigation in the other part of the country as a judge, for example at the 1336–38 lawsuit of the Dominican nuns of the Margaret Island in Esztergom County.

In practice, William's jurisdiction also covered the entire Western Hungary up to the Drava line,[65] but the voivode of Transylvania, and the bans of Slavonia and Macsó exercised autonomous judicial powers in their respected territories.

[30][72][73] in his absence, substitute signet rings and seals were used in order to enshrine the verdicts at his court in Óbuda, then Visegrád and Nagymaros, with the transcription "sigillum magistri Vyllermi Drugeth comitis vices gerens palatini pro caus[is]…".

[74] As a newcomer, William participated in the war against the Habsburgs in the summer of 1328, when the Hungarian and Bohemian troops invaded Austria and routed the Austrian army on the banks of the Leitha River.

[78] Ten years later, in 1340, William led a Hungarian contingent in the Galicia–Volhynia Wars, in order to provide assistance to Charles' brother-in-law, Casimir III of Poland in his fought for the throne of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and their ally, the Golden Horde.

[80] William's army fought against the Tatars of the Golden Horde, who even pillaged the north-easternmost corner of the kingdom along the Ruthenian border, where a significant portion of the Drugeths' possessions also laid, as chronicler John of Winterthur reported.

This was well reflected by the fact that – according to the Illuminated Chronicle – the queen mother's most important confidant Thomas Szécsényi was that baron, who girded the new monarch with the royal sword during the coronation ceremony, despite William filled the most prestigious secular position in the court.

Under the influence of Queen Elizabeth and Thomas Szécsényi – the "Polish party" –, Louis rejected William's last will and testament from 1330, and his younger brother Nicholas Drugeth was not recognized as his heir.