Peter, Son Of Petenye

Peter, son of Petenye (, ; died 1318/1321) was a Hungarian lord at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. 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.

Early life

There is nothing known about his origin and family relationships. Historian Tamás Kádár assumes a possible Slavic (Ruthenian) descent. Ukrainian historian Myroslav Voloshchuk emphasized that most of Peter's landholdings had Slavic names, because the area was inhabited by Ruthenians. His father was a certain Petenye (also Petene or Pethune), who served as Master of the treasury in the court of Elizabeth, spouse of junior king Stephen from 1264 to 1270. The family's landholdings laid in the surrounding lordship of Patak Castle (today ruins near Sátoraljaújhely). Historian Jenő Szűcs claimed that Peter's namesake great-grandfather ("Peter I") owned Vécse (today Vojčice, Slovakia) by 1217 (while others argue it referred to a member of the Aba clan from the Tarján branch). Accordingly, four generations bore the same forename in the upcoming decades. His son, Peter II ("the Freckled") bought Albény and Tehna with the permission of King Béla IV in 1245. 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. These lands were part of the so-called "gyepűelve", a mostly uninhabited or sparsely inhabited area beyond the eastern border of the Kingdom of Hungary. Voloshchuk argued this Peter belonged to the retinue of Rostislav Mikhailovich prior that, who failed to acquire the throne of Galicia in 1245. Accordingly, this Peter, a prominent noble from the Rus', arrived to Hungary after the defeat. A charter of the Eger Chapter from 1297 states that Peter, son of Petenye resided in the village called ''Pethune'' in Nógrád County.

Peter, son of Petenye first appeared in contemporary authentic charters since 1283, during the reign of Ladislaus IV, although a false diploma already mentioned him in 1263. In that year (1283), Ladislaus IV donated him the so-called Veker's Gate near the Veker (today Krivošťanka) Mountains, once an important part of the Hungarian border system in the eastern territories. It is possible he was granted the land for his participation in the Battle on the Marchfeld (1278). Alongside Reynold Básztély, former Palatine of Hungary and a certain James, he served as noble judge (; lit. "servants' judge") of Zemplén County sometimes after 1289 (some historians dated to around 1286 and 1291). He appeared in various lawsuits and land contracts in the 1290s. For instance, he protested against the induction of one of the applicants to the ownership of Visnyó (present-day Višňov, Slovakia) in 1296, before the court of Amadeus Aba. By 1297, Peter owned Gálszécs (or Szécs), the territorial centre of his landholdings. The village of Szőllőske also belonged to his property as an "inherited land" in 1298, in addition to an exchanged land, Zebegnyő (today Zbehňov, Slovakia), acquiring from his relatives, a certain Matthias and his brothers, sons of Conrad. By 1308, when petra charter referred to the lordship as "land beyond Terebes" (today Trebišov, Slovakia), he owned several villages and estates between the Bodrog and Tisza rivers (the region of Bodrogköz), for instance Rozvágy, Salamon (today Solomonovo, Ukraine), Záhony, Kiszte, Kásó (today Kysta and Kašov in Slovakia, respectively). When Charles I confiscated Peter's lands in 1317, the Gálszécs lordship consisted of 18 villages.

Possibly in the 1290s, Peter built the castle of Borostyán, which later became his provincial seat and 17 villages and lands belonged to it. Beside that, he also owned Jeszenő Castle (today Jasenov, Slovakia) since 1283, after it was confiscated from the rebellious Joachim Gutkeled's family. In 1307, he acquired Barkó Castle (today ruins above Brekov, Slovakia) from the Kaplon clan during an estate contract. Sometimes before 1312, he also became owner of the Bodrogszög Castle, which laid somewhere near present-day Klin nad Bodrogom, Slovakia.

Lord of Zemplén

Provincial lord

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. 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. 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).

Following the Battle of Rozgony on 15 June 1312, Peter and his servants presumably participated, 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. As part of his dignities' ''honor'', he was also granted the castles of Gönc (Amadeus Aba's former seat) and Regéc

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