William Drugeth (also Druget, , , ; 1300s – September 1342) was a distinguished Neapolitan-born Hungarian baron and military leader in the first half of the 14th century. Along with his family, he was a courtier of Clementia of Hungary, Queen consort of France since his childhood. Upon the invitation of Charles I of Hungary, William arrived to Hungary in 1327, inheriting his uncle, Philip's wealth, who died without male descendants in that year. In the same time, William's father John Drugeth succeeded him as Palatine of Hungary.
As a foreigner, William also inherited his uncle's large-scale province in Northeast Hungary, instantly becoming the richest and most powerful magnate in the Kingdom of Hungary. He retained this social status towards the second half of the reign of Charles. After his father's departure to Naples and subsequent death, William also elevated as Deputy Palatine from 1333 to 1334, then Palatine of Hungary from 1334 until his death, further extending his political power and enormous wealth, which, however, also increased the number of his enemies within the royal court. At the peak of his power, William ruled over nine counties and twenty-three castles, and his province territorially exceeded even the "office fiefs" of the Voivode of Transylvania and the Ban of Slavonia. Charles I died in July 1342. A couple of weeks later, William also died in early September, which heavily affected the fate of the Drugeth family, after the new monarch Louis I – under the influence of their opponents – decided to abolish the Drugeth Province, deprive the dignity Palatine from them and confiscate overwhelming majority of their wealth, ignoring William's last will and testament.
Early life William (or Willerm) was born in the 1300s as the eldest son of John I Drugeth and Pasqua de Bononensi. The Drugeth family belonged to those Neapolitan elite of Ultramontane (French or Provençal) origin, who arrived to Apulia (Southern Italy) with Charles I of Anjou in 1266. By the first decade of the 14th century, brothers Philip and John – William's father – were considered as the most important members of the family. While John entered the service of Clementia, briefly Queen consort of France and Navarre, Philip joined the accompaniment of Clementia's brother Charles in the journey to Hungary, where laid claim to the throne and successfully acquired it by 1310.
John and his wife, Pasqua 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. William and his siblings – Nicholas I, John II, Philip II and Clementia – grew up together in the queenly court. In her last will and testament (1328), Queen Clementia referred to William as her shield bearer, a relatively minor dignity for squires in her court. By his arrival to Hungary in 1327, William married Italian noblewoman Maria Follia. His last will in 1330 referred to her as "demoiselle" (), consequently their wedding occurred shortly before that. They were childless at the time of compilation of the document. After 1330, the marriage produced two or more daughters, but William had no male descendants at the time of his death.
Lord of Northeast Hungary A newcomer baron Philip Drugeth's health had deteriorated by the middle of 1327. He died either in June or July. Shortly after (or before) his death, his brother John I and his nephews – William, Nicholas I and John II – were invited from Naples to Hungary in order to inherit his wealth and power. William and his wife already resided in Hungary in August 1327, when he inherited his uncle's large-scale province in the northeastern part of the kingdom in accordance with the king's decision. Formally, Philip's possessions (personal wealth) were reverted to the Crown, but Charles I made William as the new owner, when he renewed and transcribed the previous land donations to him. William was inducted to his new properties in February 1328. This document itemizes his inherited (i.e. not "office fief" or honor) estates (iure perpetuo). Accordingly, when Philip died, William instantly became the owner of the following castles and possessions with its accessories: the castle of Lubló and the nearby town Podolin in Szepes County (present-day Stará Ľubovňa and Podolínec in Slovakia, respectively), the castle of Palocsa (Plaveč) with six villages, Bertót (Bertotovce), Újfalu (Vámosújfalu, present-day Chminianska Nová Ves), Frics (Fričovce), Hedri (Hendrichovce), Siroka (Široké), Vitézfalva (Víťaz) in Sáros County, the castle of Parics with the village Terebes (Trebišov, Slovakia), along with the castles of Barkó and Jeszenő in Zemplén County (present-day Brekov and Jasenov in Slovakia, respectively).
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.
More prominently, William took over the governance of those counties, which were belonged to the "office fiefs" of his late uncle. Consequently, he became ispán of Szepes, Abaúj (or Újvár), Borsod, Gömör, Heves and – plausibly – Torna counties since the second half of 1327, according to historian Pál Engel. In accordance with the honor system, numerous royal castles – which mostly secured his revenues – and its accessories were also assigned to William's province in Northeast Hungary ("pro honore" estates). William became castellan of the castles of Szepes (Spiš) in Szepes County, Füzér, Regéc, Gönc, Boldogkő, Jászó (Jasov), Somodi (Drienovec) in Abaúj County, Dédes and Diósgyőr in Borsod County and Szádvár in Torna County. William also took over his uncle's honors outside the Drugeth Province; the castles of Fülek (Fiľakovo) in Nógrád County, Makovica (Zborov) and Szokoly (Sokoľ) in Sáros County. 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. Meanwhile, his father John succeeded Philip as Palatine of Hungary, the most prestigious position in the royal court. 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. In the subsequent years, William gradually expanded his territorial province and private equity, simultaneously.
Drugeth Province Still in the first half of 1328, Charles also transferred the authority to William in Sáros County – where he owned lands in a hereditary right and two castles as honors too –, together with its most important namesake fort. Following his father's death in 1334, William succeeded him as Palatine of Hungary. In the same time, he took over the governance of Ung and Zemplén counties, where a significant portion of his private property laid. Charles I attached Patak Castle – without the town – in Zemplén County (near Sátoraljaújhely) to William's office fief in the same year. This could be a compensation for him, because, shortly before, the monarch retook Diósgyőr Castle and donated to his wife, Queen Elizabeth of Poland. Following that the castle became permanent holiday residence for the queens of Hungary. At the end of his life, the castle of Sirok in Heves County was given to the Drugeth Province in 1339. In 1342, the year of his death, William possessed twenty-three castles; within the border of his province thirteen pro honore and nine castles possessed by the right of inheritance and only one outside of his province, the fort of Fülek in Nógrád County, a pro honore possession. 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. Similarly to his uncle's title until the holding the position of Palatine, William initially governed his province as the ispán of these counties with the increased jurisdiction of "royal judge" () received extra power and have been given the authority of the position of Palatine in their respected territories. After himself was appointed Palatine too in 1334, William abandoned this title. William was among those appointed noble judges in May 1330, who has ruled over the kindred Záh, which one of notable members, Felician Záh had attempted to assassinate the royal family on 17 April 1330 in Visegrád (his son, Nicholas was one of those courtiers, who defended the lives of the young princes).
During the first phase – until 1333/34 – of his reign as lord of Northeast Hungary, William mostly resided in his permanent seat Sáros Castle, which functioned practically as the capital of the province. He stored his charters – royal donations, privilege letters, appointment documents etc. – in Gönc, while his treasury was located in the fortress of Regéc. His personal residence was in Terebes. In Szepes County, the core territory of the Drugeth Province, two privileges groups, the Zipser Germans and the ten-lanced nobles tenaciously defended their previously acquired privileges against William's efforts in order to integrate them into the administrative institution of the province. Unlike his uncle, William did not recognize their privileges, territorial and judicial separation. As ispán of Szepes County, he clearly considered the two groups to be under his jurisdiction, and violently drew them under his suzerainty. After their complaints, Charles I warned William that his deputy – vice-ispán Peter of Siena – should not force the Saxons under his judgment in 1330. A similar violation was recorded in 1336. During a prolonged lawsuit between the provost of Szepes and the settlers of Szepesváralja (Spišské Podhradie) in 1338–39, the litigants did not recognize William's right of jurisdiction in the case, and they brought the case to Lőcse (Levoča), instead of Szepes Castle, where William intended to settle the conflict. Exceptionally, Charles did not support William in his effort to eliminate the privileged territories in his province, and in the absence of royal support he had to acquiesce to this, at most he could only push the superiors of the two groups into the background. Despite that Charles I did not give any settlement full municipal privileges in the territory of the Drugeth Province, because of the maximization of the royal income. Only Gölnicbánya (Gelnica) and Szomolnokbánya (Smolník) had mining town privileges until the abolition of the Drugeth Province in Northeast Hungary. At the discretion of William, he had control over all royal income during the administration of the province. For instance, he provided relief from duty for certain goods to burghers of Eperjes (Prešov) in 1331.