Many people invoked our King Saint László during the battles against the Turks, especially the Transylvanian Székelys. The picture of the holy king can be seen on many gold Forints issued by the Hungarian kings. Although I have already written about him in several articles, let us dedicate a longer entry to him.
It is indeed a special act of divine providence that he was given to the Hungarian nation after four decades of strife following the death of the first holy king, István. László’s reign was fateful in the history of his people. With his outstanding ability as a ruler, courage, and holiness of life, he led the Hungarians out of the whirlwind of internal dangers. He also saved them from the deadly and destructive attacks of external enemies.
Due to internal conflicts and dissension, he was born in Poland and not in Hungary. The date of his birth is considered to be 1046. His father was King (Bajnok) Béla I of Hungary (1060–1063), his mother was Richéza, daughter of King Micaeslav II of Poland, great-granddaughter of Emperor Otto II. He had two sons and several daughters. His brother Géza reigned from 1074-1077. Of the daughters, Zsófia married Margrave Ulrik Weimar and Ilona married King Zvonimir of Croatia. László married twice. His first wife, whose name is unknown, was probably the daughter of a Hungarian nobleman.
The daughter of this marriage was married to Prince Yaroslav of Russia. He was widowed and married Adelhaid, daughter of Rudolf of Rheinfeld, the German Counter-King, and had a daughter, Irene, who was married to the Greek Emperor John. He was thus related to almost all the neighboring dynasties, including the two most powerful: the Greek and German imperial dynasties. King Salamon (1063-1074), the cousin of King László, married the German emperor’s daughter Judith.
His whole life was marked by many struggles and hardships.
“When you were a child,
King Béla brought you out to good Hungary,
To boast thou in two countries,
In Hungary and heaven.
You settled in Bihar-Várad…”
— says sweetly the hymn about King Saint László, this gem of old Hungarian literature.
He inherited his religious spirit from his mother and his valor from his father, who defeated a Pameran leader in a duel before he was given the Polish princess. László had already lived through difficult times: the battle between King András and his father, Prince Béla, and the years-long feud between King Salamon and his brother Géza.
Thus he was schooled early in the school of life and prepared early for his years of struggle as a ruler. It was his task to “establish” the country, as Hóman Bálint, a modern Hungarian historian noted, that is, to consolidate internal order and secure the external borders.
As a young prince, he repeatedly distinguished himself in the defense of the country. He was perhaps 22 years old when the Oghouz Turks (Úz tribes, the Black Cumans) invaded the east of the country during the reign of King Salamon (1068). He played a decisive role in the victory of the Battle of Kerlés. He was the main hero of the battle, especially when he pursued a fleeing Cuman leader who was carrying a Hungarian girl, defeated him, and rescued the girl, although he was seriously wounded in the battle.
This heroic deed surrounded his figure with a true legend, and in the following centuries, it appeared on the walls of countless Hungarian churches. He also played a decisive role as a brave soldier in the battle between King Salamon and his brother Géza: at the Battle of Mogyoród (1074) he helped his brother to victory and secured his rule. In 1077, although Salamon was still alive, the will of the people forced László to take over the reins of the kingdom.
It is characteristic of his spirit that he did not have himself crowned, “for he desired only peace,” as the chronicler writes, “so that he might return the kingdom to Salamon and keep the principality for himself. But this did not happen because the people of the whole country stood behind him as one man.
“When the Hungarians heard that King Magnus (Géza) was dead, all their numerous people gathered around his brother László, and for one reason, by a common word and a common will, they chose him to govern the country, or rather, by a fervent and persistent request, they forced him to do so. For they all knew him to be endowed with perfect virtues, Catholic in his faith, and above all pious, generous, and full of charity. He shone forth as the morning star amid the mist, which dispersed the darkness; and as the full moon shines in its days, or as the sun shines, so he became a light among his people.”
He was “famous and powerful” because he “conquered Hungary” and was credited with the conquest of Croatia and Slavonia. But the chronicler also noted: “The king did not do this out of greed, but because he was entitled to the inheritance by royal law,” the widowed queen being the sister of the Hungarian king.
In László’s time, the Cumans living beyond the southeastern Carpathians were a constant threat to the Hungarian people. The first attack was launched in 1085 by Prince Kutesk at the instigation of Salamon, who could not accept the loss of his crown. He invaded with a huge army, but László attacked them and the Cumans fled like “wild ducks with feathers plucked from the beaks of vultures”.
The invasion of 1091 was a much greater threat because the king was in Croatia at the time. The nomadic enemy ravaged the eastern part of the country, taking many prisoners and booty. When László heard of the threat to the country, he rushed back to protect his people. In time he managed to catch up with the Cumans. He destroyed or captured all but one of their army. Then, in the heat of battle, he suddenly cried out, “My brothers! Let us not kill these men, but only take them prisoners; let them live if they repent!”
In the other campaigns, whether in Russia, Poland, or on the western frontiers of the kingdom, he always sought to support the side he believed to be just. In the struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry IV, he sided with the pope. The many wars he had to fight led him to confess in a letter to the Abbot of Montecassino in 1091: “I am a guilty man because it is not possible to be a man of earthly power without very serious sins.”
The experience of the invasions of the nomadic Oghuz Turks, the Cumans, and the Peseneghs led László to strengthen the borders of Hungary. He brought new settlers to the depopulated areas and built up the administrative organization in these eastern parts, thus forming the later Hungary into a political entity. He also started this work in the northwestern parts, but it was completed by King Kálmán. Together they established a system of 72 counties.
Parallel to the work of political organization, the renewal of ecclesiastical life, the reorganization and development of its institutions proceeded. He enriched the existing cathedrals, chapels, and monasteries with large estates, completed the church buildings he had started, and founded several new churches and monasteries. He founded Benedictine monasteries in Szentjob, in Báta in Tolna County, and Kolozs in Nyitra County. He built a monastery for French Benedictines in Somogyvár, where even a hundred years later only French monks were admitted. With the same generosity, he provided for the bishoprics. He finished the cathedral of Vác.
He built new ones in Várad (“You have built a church for the Virgin Mary, in whom all honor you now rest”) and in Gyulafehérvár. At that time, according to the Illustrated Chronicle, “he found a place [Várad] in Bihar County, near the Sebes-Körös River, while hunting, where he decided to build a monastery in honor of the Virgin Mary”. This town later became the seat of the bishopric.
His human greatness as a king is shown, among other things, by the fact that in 1083 he canonized King István (Stephen), who had ordered Saint László’s grandfather Vazul to be blinded. Besides him, Bishop Gellért and Prince Imre (St Stephen’s son) were canonized in the same year. He reorganized the diocese of the Archdiocese of Kalocsa and moved its seat to Bács, where he founded a new bishopric in honor of St. Stephen in 1091, but subordinated it to the Archbishop of Kalocsa.
A very important part of his reign was the re-organization of the justice system. Decades of brotherly feuds and other internal struggles had severely undermined the binding force of the law. In particular, thievery became rampant and the laws governing moral life were weakened. This could not be tolerated by László, of whom the chronicler wrote: “In all his judgments he kept the fear of God before his eyes.”
Therefore, in the second year of his reign, in 1078, strict laws were passed in Pannonhalma, in the presence of the clergy and nobles, to strengthen the shaken security of the property. Nor were the rich and noble spared. Anyone who stole or robbed more than the value of a hen was hanged. Nor was manslaughter so severely punished. The newer code of laws of about 1085 shows that the strict rules were effective and that some of them could be reduced.
The spirit of the times, on the one hand, and the great authority and ecclesiastical thinking of László, on the other, led him to intervene in the regulation of the life of the clergy. At the synod convened in 1092 in Szabolcs, the marriage of priests was regulated, the alienation of church property was forbidden, and the observance of feasts and fasts was regulated. The same synod punished those who followed pagan customs and introduced rules to protect the moral life, both within and outside marriage.
László was well known for his hospitality. More than one royal or princely family found refuge in his shelter. In his court, he brought up his brother Géza’s two sons, Kálmán and Álmos, and King András’s son Dávid, and for a time he kept Salamon in his court, providing him with everything he needed for his rank until he left the country voluntarily.
His service to the Hungarian nation and the Church was also manifested when he raised the relics of Stephen, Imre, and Gellért in 1083 in the presence of ecclesiastical and secular dignitaries and a huge crowd. In this way, he gave the Hungarian people holy examples from his nation.
Sík Sándor wrote about him, “He carries his life almost constantly on the palm of his hand, on the edge of his sword, ready at any moment to give it to the Church, to his country, to individuals, to everything and everyone in whom he sees the two sacraments for which he lived embodied: the Hungarian cause and the cause of God.” His whole life, his actions, his deeds bear the mark of holiness. Even the chronicler describes him as someone who was “always flexible and gentle. He comforted the afflicted, lifted the oppressed, and was a merciful father to the orphans”.
All the people of the country referred to him only as the Pious King. “One of his most beautiful traits was forgiveness. He did not punish Salamon according to the custom of the time, but only imprisoned him for a time, and “he prayed continually for Salamon to repent to God’s law.”
The singer also praises László’s appearance:
“You are a full-faced, beautiful red,
With a look that is kinder than men,
Your speech is eloquent, your arms are strong,
You’ll conquer all who fight with you.
Thou art a man of fine bearing, and a man of stature,
You’re taller than a man with a shoulder;
Worthy only of a fair emperor,
That thou art worthy to wear the holy crown.”
His spirit was also outstanding: “Pure in body, bright in spirit, brave in heart, like a wild lion.” When he could, he liked to go away and pray. The effectiveness of his prayers is also reflected in the legends surrounding his figure: the rock would crack before the pursuing enemy, herds of deer would appear to feed his starving soldiers, water would flow from the rock in response to his prayers, his money thrown in front of the enemy would turn to stone… In the same way, the “grass of St. László” becomes a cure for disease.
No wonder that his fame spread beyond the borders, he was seen as one of the finest knights of the age and was chosen to lead the Crusades. But this was not to be, for he passed into eternity on 29 July 1095. His “happy body” (Arany János) rested for a while in the monastery of Somogyvár, and later he was laid to rest in Várad (Oradea).
Read more about the destruction of his statue in Várad:
You can read more about the legends associated with him in a separate article.
Sources: https://itthonrolhaza.hu/, Magyarforumonline, https://szentlaszlooroksege.blog.hu/
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