LADISLAUS I., SAINT king of Hungary, the son of Bela I., king of Hungary, and the Polish princess Richeza, was born in Poland, whither his father had sought refuge. Return ing to Hungary, Ladislaus and his brother Geza refused to con test the throne against their cousin Salomon, whom they served in his campaigns against the Cumans (1070) and Pechenegs (1072). In 1073, however, the brothers quarrelled with and expelled Salomon, Geza taking his throne (1074), and on Geza's death Ladislaus succeeding him (1077). His reign was peculiarly eventful. He defeated an alliance between Salomon and the Cumans, and after crushing a second Cuman invasion by alleged Divine aid (1091), extended Hungary's frontier in Transylvania, founding, amongst other cities, Gyula Fehervar, of which he became the patron saint. He supported the pope against the Emperor Henry IV.; married the daughter of Welf, duke of Bavaria, and is said to have refused the German crown for him self. By supporting the widow of Prince Stephen II. of Croatia
against his enemies he secured Croatia for Hungary (1091) and introduced Catholicism into that country, founding the bishopric of Agram (Zagreb). He extirpated heathendom in his dominions with great severity, and also introduced an elaborate legal code. Ladislaus died suddenly on July 29, 1095, when about to take part in the first crusade. No other Hungarian king was so generally beloved. The whole nation mourned for him for three years, and regarded him as a saint long before his canonization. A whole cycle of legends is associated with his name. His daughter Piriska married the Byzantine emperor John Comnenus.
See Gyorgy Pray, Dissertatio de St. Ladislao (Pressburg, 1774) Antal Ganoczy, Diss., hist. crit. de St. Ladislao (Vienna, 1775) ; J. Babik, Life of St. Ladislaus (Hung.) (Eger, 1892).