Ladislaus the Posthumous
King of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, Duke of Austria
Ladislaus the Posthumous, known as Ladislaus V (Hungarian: Utószülött László; Croatian: Ladislav Posmrtni; Czech: Ladislav Pohrobek; German: Ladislaus Postumus; 22 February 1440 – 23 November 1457), was Duke of Austria and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia. He was the posthumous son of Albert II of Germany with Elizabeth of Luxembourg. Albert had bequeathed all his realms to his future son on his deathbed, but only the estates of Austria accepted his last will. Fearing an Ottoman invasion, the majority of the Hungarian lords and prelates offered the crown to Władysław III of Poland. The Hussite noblemen and towns of Bohemia did not acknowledge the hereditary right of Albert's descendants to the throne, but also did not elect a new king.
After Ladislaus's birth, his mother seized the Holy Crown of Hungary and had Ladislaus crowned king in Székesfehérvár on 15 May 1440. However, the Diet of Hungary declared Ladislaus's coronation invalid and elected Władysław III of Poland as king. A civil war broke out, which lasted for years. Elizabeth appointed her late husband's distant cousin, Albert VI, Archduke of Austria, as her child's guardian. However, as a representative of the interests of the Austrian and Hungarian estates, he could not defend himself against his older brother and rival, Frederick III, King of the Romans, who in turn took over his role as guardian of Ladislaus.
“Ladislaus the Posthumous” enters the record as king of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, Duke of Austria. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ladislaus, Posthumous and King can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q116382. VIAF identifies the subject as 35251425. The Library of Congress control number is n85383922. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1440 and 1457.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ladislaus the Posthumous” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.