Ladislaus II or Ladislas II (, Croatian and Slovak: Ladislav II; 113114 January 1163) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1162 and 1163, having usurped the crown from his nephew, Stephen III. Ladislaus received the title of Duke of Bosnia from his father, Béla II of Hungary, at the age of six but never ruled the province. Instead, around 1160, he followed his younger brother, Stephen's, example and settled in Constantinople but both were to return to Hungary following the death of their elder brother, Géza II of Hungary, in 1162. Their return was backed by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos who used their return in a bid to expand his suzerainty over Hungary. Initially, the Emperor was planning to assist Stephen IV in seizing the throne, but the Hungarian lords were only willing to accept Ladislaus as king against the late Géza II's son, Stephen III. Although the latter's staunch supporter, Lucas, Archbishop of Esztergom, refused to crown Ladislaus and excommunicated him, he was crowned by Mikó, Archbishop of Kalocsa, in July 1162 but died within six months of his coronation. Youth Born in 1131, Ladislaus was the second son of King Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Rascia. A few months after his birth, his mother took him and his elder brother, Géza, to an assembly held at Arad where the barons who were considered responsible for the blinding of the King were massacred upon the Queen's order. Béla II's army invaded Bosnia in 1136, which he commemorated by adopting the title King of Rama after a small river. The following year, the King appointed Ladislaus Duke of Bosnia at an assembly of the prelates and barons in Esztergom. However, Ladislaus never personally ruled the territory and administration was overseen by the Ban, who was either an appointed or an elected official. Béla II died on 13 February 1141 and was succeeded by his oldest son, Ladislaus's elder brother, Géza II. The Illuminated Chronicle writes that during his reign King Géza "granted ducal revenues to his brothers", Ladislaus and his younger brother, Stephen, in an unspecified year, although according to historian Bálint Hóman, this happened in 1146. Scholars Ferenc Makk and Gyula Kristó argue that the two dukes only received this grant around 1152, when the King appointed his son, Stephen, his successor. Ladislaus's younger brother, Stephen, conspired against King Géza but failed in