Ladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary

Ladislaus Jagellion (in Czech "Vladislav II Jagellonský", in Hungarian "II. Ulászló") was the king of Bohemia from 1471 and the king of Hungary from 1490, until his death in 1516.

Wladyslaw was born on March 1, 1456 as son of King Casimir IV of Poland and Lithuania, a member of the Polish ruling dynasty of Jagellon, and of Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of emperor Albert II of Germany.

He was proposed to the Bohemian throne directly by the wife widow of the deceased previous king George of Podebrady.

He was crowned king of Bohemia as Vladislav II on August 22, 1471, and king of Hungary as Vladislaus II (II. Ulászló) on September 18, 1490. His predecessor as the King of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus, was previously a rival king of Bohemia.

The time after the death of King George of Podebrady was a conflict for the Bohemian throne, and Ladislaus couldn't confront it. In the time of his arrival in Prague, he was only fifteen, therefore practically dominated by his advisers.

Everything became settled between 1478 and 1479 in the dealing of Olomouc. Then came a agreement between Ladislaus and Matthias Corvinus, according to which both of them were entitled to use the title "King of Bohemia". Ladislaus would reign in Bohemia, and Matthias in Moravia, Silesia and the two Lusatias. The deal also stipulated that in case of Matthias´ death, Ladislaus would pay 400 000 gold (then, the currency, not "gold") to the full retaking of the Czech lands. But this payment did not need to occur, due to the fact that Ladislaus became king of Hungary directly after Matthias.

Then came the "Kutnohorian deal" in 1485, which practically eliminated Ladislaus' power and granted it to the nobles. Originally the deal should have been in force only 31 years, but in 1512 it was extended to, in the common terms of Middle Ages, "all times".

He was married four times, once with the widow of Matthias (Beatrice of Naples), and fourth, Anne de Foix, who finally gave birth to his only surviving legitimate children, Anne and Louis. Ladislaus died on March 13, 1516, and buried in Székesfehérvár.

He was a very cheerful man and unofficially known in his time as "king Bene" (Bene¨in Latin means "Yes"), because to almost any request he answered Bene (Yes).

His ten-year-old son Louis succeeded him to the throne of both Bohemia and of Hungary. His daughter Anne of Bohemia (b. 1503) was by an imperial marriage contract in 1515 married to Ferdinand of Austria, a younger grandson of Maximilian I Habsburg, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. After death of Louis in Mohacs, the succession devolved to Anne and the cadet line of Eastern Habsburgs.