Philip Drugeth (also Druget, , , ; c. 1288 – June or July 1327) was a Neapolitan knight of French origin, who accompanied the twelve-year-old pretender Charles of Anjou to Hungary in 1300. After Charles I defeated his enemies in the struggle for the throne, Drugeth gained large-scale domains and held various ispánates in the northeastern parts of the kingdom, establishing there a semi-autonomous province. Drugeth integrated into the Hungarian nobility and is considered the founder of the powerful Drugeth family, which overwhelmingly dominated the royal court until the 1340s, but also continued to be important until the male line died out in the 17th century.
Drugeth served as Treasurer of the Queen's Court from 1321 to 1323, then Palatine of Hungary from 1323 until his death. As he had no surviving male descendants, his older brother John arrived from Naples to succeed him as Palatine, while his nephew William inherited his province.
Ancestry and early life
Philip Drugeth was born into a Neapolitan noble family, which originated from the Kingdom of France. They belonged to those Italian elite of Ultramontane (French or Provençal) origin, who arrived to Apulia (Southern Italy) with Charles I of Anjou – brother of Louis IX of France –, who conquered the Kingdom of Sicily in 1266. Drugeth was the younger son of John Drugeth () and a certain Isabella from an unidentified family. According to the narration of Charles I of Hungary, Drugeth and the king were about the same age, consequently he was born around 1288. His elder brother John was a year or two older than him. They also had a sister Matilda. They were all still minors at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, because their names appeared in diminutive forms in a single document around 1300 ("Joannoctus, Filippoctus et Matchtilda Drugetii"). According to Charles, Drugeth also had military training, it is possible he was already trained as a squire or knight at the time of his arrival to Hungary.
The parents John and Isabella were granted fiefdoms in Naples. John was referred to as a royal valet in the court of Charles II of Naples. Both John and Isabella died by the middle of the 1290s. John's elder brother (or father?), Nicholas and his wife Isabella de La Forêt adopted and took over the care of the children, who became their immediate heirs too. Nicholas served as Lord Steward for Charles Martel's wife Clementia from 1292 to 1295. Both died of the plague in Naples. In 1298, Nicholas was mentioned as tutor of the children of the late Charles Martel – i.e. Charles (the future King of Hungary), Clementia and Beatrice. Consequently, Nicholas' nephews John and Philip were raised together with Charles in the royal court, where they cherished their lifelong friendship and alliance. While John entered the service of Clementia (later Queen consort of France for a short time), the younger brother Philip belonged to the escort of Charles, who would have been the lawful heir to his grandfather Charles II. However, the king excluded the child Charles from succeeding the throne in the Kingdom of Naples, when declared his third son Robert as his heir. Instead of this, Charles was sent to Hungary in order to claim the throne in 1300, and the child Philip escorted him to the kingdom.
Struggle for Charles Upon the invitation of several Hungarian lords, who turned against Andrew III of Hungary, the young Charles and his accompaniment landed at Split in Dalmatia in August 1300. They arrived with only two galleys, a carrier ship and 150 horses, which reflected the very low number of his escort, consisting of Italian and French knights. Among them, only Philip Drugeth took a significant role in the subsequent unification war against the oligarchic domains and the governance of the realm. By the arrival of Charles, the young pretender's political situation had drastically worsened, because Andrew III reconciled with the most powerful oligarchs, including Matthew Csák and Henry Kőszegi. Even after Andrew's death and the extinction of the Árpád dynasty in January 1301, the overwhelming majority of the barons supported the claim of Wenceslaus of Přemyslid, Charles' rival. The struggle for the Hungarian throne during the so-called Interregnum characterized the next decade. There is no information about any of Drugeth's activity in this period, who has reached adulthood during these years. According to Serbian historian Đura Hardi, Drugeth became acquainted with his new homeland, the temper and customs of the provincial lords against whom he was soon going to fight, after Charles became the lawful and only King of Hungary after his third coronation in 1310.
The burghers of Kassa (now Košice in Slovakia) assassinated the oligarch Amadeus Aba in September 1311. After that Charles I was committed to eradicating the Abas' oligarchic rule. However, Amadeus' sons rebelled against the king. Following a series of military skirmishes in the spring of 1312, the young Philip Drugeth participated in the siege of Sáros Castle (today Šariš in Slovakia) in late April or early May 1312, when Charles' army seized the fort from the Aba-ally Zólyom (Balassa) kinship. During the siege, Drugeth distinguished himself and had received two "deathly wounds". Thereafter Charles waged war against Matthew Csák in order to "recovering of occupied royal property" in early 1313, capturing Nagyszombat. Drugeth participated in this campaign. By that time, he was one of the chief commanders of the royal army. It is possible, however, the royal charter of 1317, which narrates the merits of Philip, refers to the failed military expedition against Matthew Csák in September 1311.
Charles' aforementioned charter also refers to another clash between Philip Drugeth and Matthew Csák in the area of "Scepus". Accordingly, the oligarch invaded the land in order to loot and destroy the royal landholdings, but Drugeth won a "glorious victory" and successfully repulsed his army. Historian Gyula Kristó argued Matthew's attack occurred at the turn of 1314 and 1315, and identified with the place with the region of Szepesség (or Zips, today Spiš, Slovakia). In fact, Matthew Csák, who plundered the region, was narrowly defeated by the royal army. During the decisive battle, Drugeth was almost captured, his arm was severely wounded and his life was saved by one of his familiares Nicholas Tekele. In contrast, historian Pál Engel identified "Scepus" with the town of Szepsi (today Moldava nad Bodvou, Slovakia) and dated the clash to the first half of 1317. Philip Drugeth was first styled as ispán of Szepes County and castellan of its namesake castle in March 1315 (his initial main residence). Pál Engel argued Charles resided in the Szepesség region in late 1314 and dismissed his former loyal barons, the brothers Kakas and Henry Tarkői from their positions in Szepes and Sáros counties, respectively. Following that Charles appointed Philip Drugeth and Mikcs Ákos as the new heads of the aforementioned counties. In contrast, Kristó considered Charles arrived to the region to strengthen his royalist faction in Northeast Hungary, and there is no record of any military activities in the region in that year. Kristó argued Drugeth fought against Matthew Csák, when he was already ispán. Drugeth held both offices until his death. With this appointment, he became one of the barons of the realm, granting his first landholdings and "office fiefs" (or honors). He is considered founder and first member of the Drugeth de Homonna family, which had integrated into the Hungarian nobility.
The influential Borsa clan, in alliance with Peter, son of Petenye rebelled against Charles I in the second half of 1316. Peter – initially a loyal soldier of the king – rose to prominence in Northeast Hungary, exploiting that political vacuum, which emerged following the dissolution of the Abas' dominion. In response, Charles appointed Philip Drugeth as ispán of Abaúj County (or Újvár) in late 1316, replacing John Aba, who could not hinder Peter's rapid expansion in the region. In contemporary documents, Drugeth first appeared as head of the county in March 1317. 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 and Mikcs Ákos simultaneously led troops 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. Regéc was besieged and seized in April. In the same time, Mikcs Ákos crushed Peter's power in Zemplén County, capturing the castles Barkó (Brekov), Borostyán and Bodrogszög (Klin nad Bodrogom) within few weeks. Peter's last stronghold Jeszenő (Jasenov) was taken by Philip Drugeth in the last days of April or early May 1317 (according to Engel, Matthew Csák's surprise attack against Szepsi also occurred around that time). Attila Zsoldos proposes Drugeth took the title ispán of Zemplén County after Peter's defeat, holding the dignity until 1320, potentially in parallel with his local rival, Ladislaus Baksa. Drugeth was present in the royal camp, when Charles invaded Matthew Csák's domains and captured Visegrád and Komárom (now Komárno in Slovakia) in the autumn of 1317. The sons of the late Amadeus Aba rebelled against the king again in late 1317, because their political and social status has declined against the emerging new nobility in the region, including Philip Drugeth and Mikcs Ákos, who were sent to crush their rebellion. Drugeth captured their forts at Boldogkő and their possessions in Sáros County.
Philip Drugeth participated in the military expedition against Serbian king Stefan Milutin in the summer of 1319, during which Charles retook Belgrade and restored the Banate of Macsó. Thereafter, Dózsa Debreceni and Drugeth eliminated the power of the sons of the late oligarch Stephen Ákos in Borsod and Gömör counties since the autumn of 1319. Drugeth besieged and captured their castle at Dédes. The war against the Ákos sons continued until the next year. Around August, Dózsa and Drugeth seized another forts in Heves, Gömör and Nógrád counties. Drugeth was present at the sieges of Sirok and Fülek (today Fiľakovo, Slovakia). Drugeth was made ispán of Gömör and Torna counties in 1320, holding both offices until his death. It is plausible that he also became ispán of Borsod and Heves counties around that time. After Matthew Csák died in March 1321, the royal army invaded the deceased lord's province, which soon disintegrated because most of his former castellans yielded without resistance. Drugeth's troops joined the royal army in late April. Drugeth and his several familiares – including Nicholas Perényi and Blaise Fonyi – participated in the sieges of the castles of Tapolcsány and Trencsén (now Topoľčany and Trenčín in Slovakia, respectively).
Formation of the Drugeth Province