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Birth:          1137 of Toledo, Castile
Death:          22 Jan 1188 Benavente, Italy

Notes
first king to use the royal symbol of the lion in a truly heraldic form
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_II_of_Le%C3%B3n
Ferdinand II (c. 1137 – 22 January 1188) was King of León and Galicia from 1157 to 
his death.
[edit]

Born in Toledo, Castile, he was the son of King Alfonso VII of León and Castile and of 
Berenguela, of the House of Barcelona. At his father's death, he received León and 
Galicia, while his brother Sancho received Castile and Toledo.[1] Ferdinand earned 
the reputation of a good knight and hard fighter, but did not display political or 
organising faculty.

He spent most of his first year as king in a dispute with his powerful nobles and an 
invasion by his brother Sancho III.[2] In 1158 the two brothers met at Sahagun, and 
peacefully solved the heritage matters. However, Sancho died in the same year, being 
succeeded by his child son Alfonso VIII, while Ferdinand occupied parts of Castile.[3] 
The boundary troubles with Castile restarted in 1164: he then met at Soria with the 
Lara family, who represented Alfonso VIII, and a truce was established, allowing him 
to move against the Muslim Almoravids who still held much of southern Spain, and to 
capture the cities of Alcántara and Alburquerque. In the same year, Ferdinand 
defeated King Afonso I of Portugal, who, in 1163, had occupied Salamanca in 
retaliation for the repopulation of the area ordered by the King of León.

In 1165 he married Urraca, daughter of Afonso of Portugal. However, strife with 
Portugal was not put to an end by this move. In 1168 Afonso again felt menaced by 
Ferdinand II's repopulation of the area of Ciudad Rodrigo: he then attacked Galicia, 
occupying Tui and the territory of Xinzo de Limia, former fiefs of his mother. However, 
as his troops were also besieging the Muslim citadel of Badajoz, Ferdinand II was able 
to push the Portuguese out of Galicia and to rush to Badajoz. When Afonso saw the 
Leonese arrive he tried to flee, but he was disabled by a broken leg caused by a fall 
from his horse, and made prisoner at one the city's gates. Afonso was obliged to 
surrender as his ransom almost all the conquests he had made in Galicia in the 
previous year. In the peace signed at Pontevedra the following year, Ferdinand got 
back twenty five castles, and the cities of Cáceres, Badajoz, Trujillo, Santa Cruz and 
Montánchez, previously lost by León. When in the same years the Almoravids laid 
siege to the Portuguese city of Santarém, Ferdinand II came to help his father-in-law, 
and helped to free the city from the menace.

Also in 1170, Ferdinand created the military-religious Order of Santiago de 
Compostela, with the task to protect the city of Cáceres.[4] Like the Order of 
Alcántara, it initially began as a knightly confraternity and took the name "Santiago" 
(St. James) after St. James the apostle.[4]

In 1175 Pope Alexander III annulled Ferdinand II and Urraca of Portugal's marriage 
due to consanguinuity. The King remarried to Teresa Fernández de Traba, daughter of 
count Fernando Pérez de Traba, and widow of count Nuño Pérez de Lara. In 1178 war 
against Castile broke out. Ferdinand surprised his nephew Alfonso VIII, occupied 
Castrojeriz and Dueñas, both formerly lands of Teresa's first husband. The war was 
settled in 1180 with the peace of Tordesillas. In the same year his wife Teresa died 
while bearing their second son.

In 1184, after a series of failed attempts, the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf 
invaded Portugal with an army recruited in Northern Africa and, in May, besieged 
Afonso I in Santarém; the Portuguese were helped by the arrival of the armies sent by 
the archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, in June, and by Ferdinand II in July.

In 1185 Ferdinand married for the third time to Urraca López de Haro (daughter of 
Lope Díaz, lord of Biscay, Nájera and Haro), who was his mistress since 1180. Urraca 
tried in vain to have Alfonso IX, first son of Ferdinand II, declared illegitimate, to 
favour her son Sancho.

Ferdinand II died in 1188 at Benavente, while returning from a pilgrimage to Santiago 
de Compostela. He was buried in the cathedral of Compostela.


 


 Sepulcher of Ferdinand II in the Royal Pantheon of the cathedral of Santiago de 
Compostela.
In 1230 Forty two years after Ferdinand II's death his namesake grandson Ferdinand 
III of Castile united Castile with Leon permanently.

Family[edit]

Ferdinand married Urraca of Portugal around 1165, they had one son:
Alfonso IX.[5]

Following her repudiation, he formed a relationship with Teresa Fernández de Traba, 
daughter of count Fernando Pérez de Traba, and in August 1179 he married her, 
having:[citation needed]
Ferdinand (1178–1187), legitimized through his parents' subsequent marriage
child, b. and d. 6 February 1180, whose birth led to the death of its mother

He then formed a liaison with Urraca López de Haro,[6] daughter of Lope Díaz I de 
Haro, whom he married in May 1187, having:
García (1182–1184)
Alfonso, b.1184, legitimized through the subsequent marriage of his parents, died 
before his father.
Sancho (1186–1220), lord of Fines

Parents
____ Alfonso VII "Pierre-Raimund" (1 Mar 1105 - 21 Aug 1157)
DE BARCELONA Berengaria (Berenguela) Raimundo (ABT 1116 - 2 Feb 1149)

Siblings
ALFONSEZ Sancho III "the Desired" (1134 - 31 Aug 1158)
ALFONSEZ Fernando II (1137 - 22 Jan 1188)
____ Sancha (ABT 1138 - 5 Aug 1177)
OF CASTILE Constance (ABT 1140 - 4 Oct 1160)

Marriage To AFFONSEZ Urraca (1151 - 16 Oct 1188)
    m. 1165 dv. 1175 

Notes

Parents
HENRIQUEZ Afonso I "The Conqueror" (25 Jul 1110 - 6 Dec 1185)
OF SAVOY Matilde (Maud) (1125 - 4 Nov 1157)

Children by AFFONSEZ Urraca 1151 - 16 Oct 1188
FERNANDEZ Alfonso IX (15 Aug 1171 - 24 Sep 1230)

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