Ladislaus , Saint, King of Hungary, b. 1040; d. at Neutra, July 29, 1095; one of Hungary‘s national Christian heroes. He was the son of Bela I; the nobles, after the death of Geisa I, passed over Solomon, son of Andrew I, and chose Ladislaus to be their king in 1077. It is true that he made peace with Solomon, when the latter gave up all claims to the throne of Hungary; however, later on he rebelled against Ladislaus, who took him prisoner and held him in the fortress of Visegrad. On the occasion of the canonization of Stephen I, Ladislaus gave Solomon his freedom, but in 1086 Solomon, with the aid of the heathen Cumans, revolted against Ladislaus a second time; the latter, however, vanquished them, and in 1089 gained another victory over the Turkish Cumans. In 1091 Ladislaus marched into Croatia, at the request of his sister, the widowed Queen Helena, and took possession of the kingdom for the crown of Hungary, where, in 1092, he founded the Bishopric of Agram (Zagrab). In the same year (1092), he also founded the Bishopric of Grosswardein (Nagy-Varad), in Hungary, which, however, some trace back to Stephen I. Ladislaus governed the religious and civil affairs of his kingdom with a firm hand, particularly at the great assembly of the Imperial States at Szabolcs, that might almost be called a synod. He tried vigorously to suppress the remaining heathen customs. He was buried in the cathedral of Grosswardein. He still lives in the sagas and poems of his people as a chivalrous king. In 1192 he was canonized by Celestine III.
MICHAEL BIHL