Saint László I

Polish-born king of Hungary (r. 1077-1095)

• Born: June 27, 1040
• Birthplace: Poland
• Died: July 29, 1095
• Place of death: Nitra, Slovakia

By means of legislative reforms, diplomacy, and military bravura, László attained for Hungary both internal security and, with the annexation of Croatia, a new, more active role in the affairs of the world.

Early Life

Saint László (LAHS-lo) was the second of three sons born to Hungarian king-to-be Béla I (r. 1060-1063), who at the time still lived in exile in Poland. Béla had fled Hungary, along with his brothers Andrew and Levente, shortly before the end of the great Stephen I’s reign, when it was learned that their father, Vászoly, had been arrested for his part in an alleged pagan conspiracy and tortured to death. (His eyes were removed, and his ears were filled with molten lead.) Béla sought refuge at the court of the Polish king Mieszko II (r. 1025-1034) and eventually married the prince’s daughter, Richeza. This marriage produced three sons, Géza, László, and Lambert.

László’s early life is shrouded in mystery. Essentially all that is known of it is that he spent his boyhood years at the court of his uncle, King Casimir I of Poland (r. 1034-1037, 1040-1058). In that atmosphere, imbued as it was with the spirit of the Christian renaissance, László apparently was reared to be a devout Christian. Eventually, in 1046, Béla and his brothers were summoned home by the growing legions weary of the rule of Stephen’s nephew and handpicked successor, Peter. When Andrew I (r. 1046-1060), who had married his son Salamon to the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III (r. 1046-1056), decided on his only child as his successor, Béla, who was the rightful heir to the crown, revolted. In the ensuing struggle, Béla’s forces defeated those of Andrew, who died in battle. Béla thus succeeded his brother, but was himself assassinated in 1063, presumably by backers of Salamon.

Civil war was averted only through the intervention of the priests and nobles. In exchange for their oath to Salamon, Géza and László were appointed duces (herceg), or leaders, of Nitra and Bihor counties respectively. It was during this period that László distinguished himself as a soldier. In 1068, a horde of Cumans, on their way home after raiding Hungary, were intercepted by the united front of László, Géza, and Salamon and were utterly defeated. Concerning this battle, a legend arose that László had rescued an innocent girl by chasing down and slaying the Cuman heathen who had abducted her. This Hungarian paladin, the very embodiment of courage and valor, was also blessed with a majestic appearance. With his powerful six-foot frame, László towered over his contemporaries.

In 1074, a protracted feud resulted in armed conflict and, ultimately, in the ouster of Salamon and the coronation of Géza. Finally, on Géza’s death in 1077, László was proclaimed regent of Hungary. (Salamon had absconded with the crown, thus delaying somewhat the naming of László as king.)

Life’s Work

When László took power in 1077, Hungary was in serious trouble. Forty years of dynastic struggles had cast doubt on the senioratus principle of succession and seriously weakened the authority of the state. Lawlessness, particularly in the form of theft and robbery, was rampant. The slow spread of Christianity in Hungary began to be undermined by a resurgence of paganism. In this weakened state, moreover, the country was even harder pressed to defend its borders against the constant threats posed by the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and such nomadic Turkic peoples as the Petchenegs and the Cumans. Yet, a mere eighteen years later, when László died and the crown was passed on to Kálmán (r. 1095-1116), Hungary was again internally strong, indeed so much so that it had relinquished its largely defensive posture in favor of an expansionist one.

When László succeeded Géza, he was already esteemed by the nobles for his abilities as a ruler (which, as dux of Bihor, he had had occasion to demonstrate), by the churchmen for his generous financial support, and by the warriors for his prowess as a soldier. These would all be attributes of László the king as well, each of them contributing something to the restoration, indeed enhancement, of Stephen’s Christian Hungarian state. László introduced new law codes, which for the most part aimed at curbing theft and robbery. He generously supported and expanded the Church, thus ensuring that Hungary would remain Christian and not isolate itself from the European community. Finally, he continued to distinguish himself in the battlefield and, when diplomacy failed, defended Hungary’s interests with the sword.

The new laws , including those drawn up at the Synod of Szabolcs of 1092, were extremely severe, even by the standards of the age. The theft of a hen, for example, was punishable by the lopping off of the perpetrator’s hand. As László was known by his contemporaries to be as gentle and kind as he could be severe, it must be supposed that these laws were drastic measures, sorely needed to control the lawlessness that had engulfed the realm. The worst problem was clearly the one posed by theft, robbery, and a general disregard for private property. Underscoring the severity of this problem is the curious phenomenon that, in these laws, violent crimes were less severely punished than proprietary violations. The defense of private property embodied in these laws safeguarded, first and foremost, the vital economic resources of the realm.

It is ironic that it would be László, grandson of the pagan rebel Vászoly, who would take such a strong hand in preserving, indeed developing, Stephen’s Christian state. Originally, there was a network of ten bishoprics, serving as the foci of Church activity, which, in theory, reached even the most outlying villages. Besides moving two of these old bishoprics to more accessible locations, László founded a new bishopric, between the Drava and Sava Rivers, in Zagreb. The proliferation of churches, and with it the growing need for priests, naturally required material resources and these László was only too happy to provide, diverting much of the income from minting, taxes, and export duties to the expansion and upgrading of the Church.

As might be expected from such a devout Christian, László had mostly good relations with the pope. László came to power in 1077, the year Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) and Henry IV (r. 1056-1106) met at the castle called Canossa, and took the side of the pope in the matter of investiture. While László ceded to the pope the right to make ecclesiastical appointments, in practice he routinely did it himself. For the most part, however, the Papacy turned a blind eye to this discrepancy between theory and practice, until, in the early 1090’, László continued to act without papal consent in the newly annexed territory of Croatia.

László also cultivated a reverence for Hungary’s great Christian leaders. On July 25, 1083, the body of Gerard, the bishop Stephen most relied on in his program of disseminating Christianity, was exhumed. Later, on August 20, the remains of Stephen himself were exhumed, in a ceremony attended by the king, nobles, and the masses. The subsequent canonization of Stephen and Gerard and later that of Stephen’s son Emeric was apparently welcomed by the pope, although he was not able to bring the matter before the synod for official approval. While there is no questioning László’s basically devout nature, the elevation to sainthood of Stephen, Gerard, and Emeric was at bottom a political tool, aimed at consolidating the position of the Church.

László is also immortalized for his daring feats as a soldier, and indeed he was the hero of many a campaign. During his reign, he twice led armies to victory against invading Cuman forces, in 1085 and 1091. Yet he was not only a valiant warrior but also a crafty tactician. During the conflict between Henry IV and Duke Rudolf of Swabia (1078-1080), László saw the opportunity to strike and so, in early 1079, led a campaign against the German frontier resulting in the reoccupation of Moson.

When the king of Croatia, Zvonimir (r. 1076-1089), died, the ensuing struggle for succession was settled when László, the late king’s brother-in-law, claimed the throne for himself. By 1091, Croatia had become an indisputable dynastic acquisition, conferring on Hungary, among other things, a passage to the Adriatic Sea. In 1095, while hurrying to the aid of the prince of Moravia, László suddenly fell ill and died.

Significance

It might not be going too far to say that if had not been for Saint László I, Hungary would not have developed into the Christian state for which Stephen had so painstakingly laid the groundwork. László restored relative peace and tranquillity to a nation that had suffered through nearly four decades of internal strife, in large part a consequence of Stephen’s failure to establish firm laws of succession. László accomplished this feat, moreover, by a variety of means: military, diplomatic, economic, and legislative.

It must be conceded, however, that when László came to power in 1077, he did so under rather favorable circumstances. Henry IV who would have liked to turn Hungary into a vassal state and who, with this aim in mind, aided and abetted László’s rival, Salamon found himself embroiled in a struggle with the pope over investiture. The Byzantine Empire, which had always posed a threat to Hungary, was suffering from internal conflicts of its own (in addition to the constant harassment of Turkic nomads). Russia faced similar problems. Meanwhile, the smaller Slavic nations the Czechs, Poles, and Croatians continued to pose no significant threat to Hungary.

Even so, the extent of László’s achievement is indisputable. With the annexation of Croatia, for example, László paved the way for Hungary to become a great power. By the same token, however, he also burdened Hungary with an unassimilable alien region, one which proved an immediate source of problems and which would later contribute to the country’s downfall.

Árp´d Kings of Hungary, c. 896-1301

Reign

• Ruler

c. 896-907

• Árp´d

d. 947

• Zsolt

d. 972

• Taksony

997

• Géza

997-1038

• Saint Stephen (István) I

1038-1041

• Peter Orseleo

1041-1044

• Samuel

1044-1046

• Peter (second rule)

1047-1060

• Andrew I

1060-1063

• Béla I

1063-1074

• Salamon

1074-1077

• Géza I

1077-1095

• Saint László (Ladislas) I

1095-1116

• Kalman

1116-1131

• Stephen II

1131-1141

• Béla II

1141-1162

• Géza II

1162-1163

• László II

1163-1172

• Stephen III

1163-1165

• Stephen IV

1172-1196

• Béla III

1196-1204

• Imre

1204-1205

• László III

1205-1235

• Andrew II

1235-1270

• Béla IV

1270-1272

• Stephen V

1272-1290

• László IV

1290-1301

• Andrew III

Bibliography

Domjan, Joseph. Hungarian Heroes and Legends. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1963. Includes a short chapter on László, recounting some of the outstanding tales and legends associated with his name. Intended for young readers, this volume is of modest help for the serious scholar as well. Illustrations.

Klaniczay, Gábor. Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses: Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe. Translated by Éva Pálmai. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Explores royal and dynastic sainthood in medieval Hungary and other central European countries of the Middle Ages. Presents a chapter on László titled “St. Ladislas Between East and West.” Discusses his status as a “knight saint.” Bibliography, index.

Kosáry, Dominic G. History of Hungary. 1941. Reprint. New York: Arno Press, 1977. Gives a fairly lengthy and readable account of László’s reign in the chapter titled “The Christian Kingdom in the Middle Ages.” Bibliography, index, list of kings of Hungary, and genealogical tables.

Kosztolnyik, Z. J. Five Eleventh Century Hungarian Kings: Their Policies and Their Relations with Rome. Boulder, Colo.: East European Quarterly, 1981. A heavily documented study of the Hungarian kings from Stephen to László. Features a bibliographical essay and an index.

Kosztolnyik, Z. J. Hungary Under the Early Árpáds, 890’s to 1063. Boulder, Colo.: East European Monographs, 2002. A historical survey of the House of Árpád. Discusses the early years of the Magyars, their migrations and settlement patterns, military campaigns, and more. Genealogical tables, maps, bibliography, index.

Lázár, István. Hungary: A Brief History. Translated by Albert Tezla. 6th ed. Budapest: Corvina Press, 2001. Presents a brief but concise history of Hungary, from its beginnings during the days of Árpád through the present day. Maps, index.

Sinor, Denis. History of Hungary. 1959. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1976. The brief account of László in this primer on Hungarian history is colorful and vivid. Has both an index and a chronology of events.

Vámbéry, Armin. Hungary in Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Times. 1886. Reprint. Freeport, N.Y.: Books for Libraries Press, 1972. In this venerable but rather dated work on Hungarian history, the reign of László is briefly treated in the chapter “The Kings of the House of Árpád.” Includes an index and illustrations.

Yolland, Arthur B. Hungary. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1917. This work includes an entire chapter on László titled “St. Ladislas and His Age.” Bibliography, index, appendix, photographs, and maps.

Zarek, Otto. The History of Hungary. London: Selwyn and Blount, 1939. The chapter on László and his successor Kálmán is brief but informative. The text is supplemented by many study aids, including a map, an index, a bibliography, and a table of place-names in Hungarian, German, Slavonic, and Romanian (with a phonetic guide to pronunciation).