Ladislaus I

(c. 1040 –1095) was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary. Ladislaus canonized the first Hungarian saints (including his distant relatives, King Stephen I and Duke Emeric) in 1085. After a series of civil wars, Ladislaus’s main focus was the restoration of public safety. He introduced severe legislation, punishing those who violated property rights with death or mutilation. He occupied almost all Croatia in 1091, which marked the beginning of an expansion period for the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. Ladislaus’s victories over the Pechenegs and Cumans ensured the security of his kingdom’s eastern borders for about 150 years.