Ladislaus I of Hungary

Who was Ladislaus I of Hungary?

Ladislaus I or Ladislas I, also Saint Ladislaus or Saint Ladislas was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary who died in 1063. He and his elder brother, Géza concluded a treaty with their cousin, Solomon: they acknowledged Solomon's reign in exchange for receiving their father's former duchy which included one third of the Kingdom of Hungary. Ladislaus was an influential advisor of his brother who was proclaimed king against their cousin in 1074.

Ladislaus succeeded his brother in 1077, but Solomon was able to contest him from two fortresses—Moson and Pressburg —in the western regions. For King Henry IV of Germany supported Solomon, Ladislaus made an alliance with the German monarch's opponents during the first phase of the Investiture Controversy. Solomon abdicated and acknowledged Ladislaus's reign in 1081, but he conspired against the king and was imprisoned. Ladislaus set his dethroned cousin free on the occasion of the canonization of the first saints in Hungary—including, his distant relatives, King Stephen I and Duke Emeric—in 1085.