Ladislaus Kán

Ladislaus (III) Kán (? – before 13 May 1315) (Hungarian: Kán (III) László, Romanian: Ladislau Kán al III-lea), was a Hungarian oligarch in the Kingdom of Hungary who ruled de facto independently Transylvania. He held the office of Voivode of Transylvania (erdélyi vajda) (1295–1314 or 1315). Taking advantage of the internal discords within the kingdom, he could maintain his rule over Transylvania until his death even by struggling against the several claimants for the throne.

Ladislaus Kán belonged to the Transylvanian branch of the kindred Kán which founded by Ladislaus' great-grandfather Julius I Kán. There is no any information on his early life, but he was one of the three sons of Ladislaus II, who held the office of judge royal (országbíró). His father died in or after 1278 and he inherited his possessions: Hosszúaszó (today Valea Lungă in Romania), Szépmező (today Șona in Romania), Bun (today Boiul Mare in Romania), Mezőszilvás, Septér (today Şopteriu in Romania) and Mezőörményes (today Urmeniş in Romania). By 1280, Ladislaus had been legally an adult and capable person. It is possible that a certain Ladislaus who sold his village Vasary in 1290, is identical with Ladislaus Kán.

Ladislaus Kán appeared in the sources in 1297 when he issued a charter; by that time, he had been holding the office of Voivode of Transylvania, i.e., he had been governing that province of the Kingdom of Hungary. Ladislaus replaced Roland Borsa in that position, who, initially loyal to the royal power, became the source of new conflicts and rebelled against his monarch, as a result he was dismissed. At that time, Ladislaus must have been one of the partisans of King Andrew III of Hungary (1290–1301), because he attended an assembly convocated by the king in Buda in 1298 and he was a member of the king's Council in 1299. Following the king's death, when several claimants for the throne were struggling with each other between 1301 and 1308, he probably did not intervene in their conflict. Nevertheless, during the period from 1297 until 1313, the kings of Hungary granted several possessions to him in the eastern parts of the kingdom, e.g., he received Veresegyháza (today Roşia de Secaş in Romania) before 1313.