The Gesta Ladislai regis (lit. "The Deeds of King Ladislaus") is the historiographical name of a hypothetical Latin epic poem chronicling the life and reign of Ladislaus I of Hungary, which is believed to have been written at the turn of the 11th to the 12th-centuries. According to a scholarly theory, its text was inserted and dissolved into the corpus of various texts of the so-called 14th-century chronicle composition, most notably the Illuminated Chronicle.
Interpretations The 140th chapter of the Illuminated Chronicle writes that "whoever delights to know how many and how great were the good works wrought for his people by the blessed Ladislaus, will find full account of his deeds" ("[...] de gestis eiusdem plenam poterit habere notitiam").The Hungarian Illuminated Chronicle (ch. 140), pp. 262–265. It is uncertain whether the word "deeds" (gesta) refers to the Saint Ladislaus legend or to another chronicle variant. According to historian László Veszprémy, the quoted sentence is typical of chroniclers to draw readers' attention to hagiographical texts. Bálint Hóman considered this gesta is identical with Urgesta, the first Hungarian chronicle, which – as Hóman claimed – was compiled under Ladislaus I. In contrast, János Győry emphasized the phrase "full account of his deeds" is identical with the Saint Ladislaus legend, and the Latin word "gesta" is not a title here.
In his 1913 study, literary historian László Négyesy already outlined an epic poem inserted in the chronicle text narrating the events in 1071–1074, lasted from the siege of Belgrade (104th chapter) to the coronation of Géza I of Hungary (124th chapter). Classical philologist János Horváth, Jr. discovered a separate passage within the text of the chronicle from a stylistic and phraseological point of view, which narrates the events of the second half of the 11th century, from the 91st to the 139th chapter (from the coronation of the child Solomon to the establishment of the church of Várad). According to Horváth, this was the first continuation of the original Urgesta (compiled during the reign of Andrew I of Hungary, as Horváth claimed) and this section can be identified with the Gesta Ladislai regis, compiled under Coloman. Horváth claimed that its author, who wrote his work around 1109, was a descendant of knights Vecelin and Opos the Brave (Ubul Kállay and Bálint Hóman identified this person with bishop Koppány). Historian József Gerics agreed that the aforementioned quote refers to the chronicle written during the reign of Coloman. Historian Elemér Mályusz considered that the Urgesta was continued in the early 12th century, under the guidance of Coloman, and in the centre of that continuation is St. Ladislaus (as a result, Mályusz called this expansion as "Gesta Ladislai regis") and its tone is sharply anti-Solomon. Mályusz claimed this text utilized songs in Hungarian and oral folk traditions. The chronicler also inserted the text of the Urgesta in order to mitigate its basic anti-German perception. Sharing the viewpoint of Horváth, linguist János Bollók identified the Gesta Ladislai regis (compiled under Coloman) in the chronicle text lasted from the 94th to the 141st chapters, which narrates the history of Hungary between 1060 (coronation of Béla I) and 1095 (death of Ladislaus I). This text primarily tells the struggles for the throne between Solomon and his cousins, Géza and Ladislaus. János M. Bak and Ryszard Grzesik considered that the Gesta Ladislai regis covered the 102–141st chapters (from 1067 to 1095), where Ladislaus I appears as central figure of the events.
Literary historian Tibor Klaniczay argued that it is questionable whether only individual heroic songs served as sources, and whether the entire story was already composed by the chronicler, or whether the Latin writer relied on an already established larger poetic composition. In the latter case, it is likely that the author of the chronicle did not translate it into Latin, but considered it a source, fragmented it, or even modified its tendency, supplementing it with his own knowledge.
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