Ferdinand II of Leon

Ferdinand II, king of León (d. 1188), was the son of Alfonso VII of Castile & León and of Berenguela, of the house of the Kings of Aragon & Counts of Barcelona. On the division of the kingdoms which had obeyed his father, he received León. His reign of thirty years was one of strife marked by no signal success or reverse. He had to contend with his unruly nobles, several of whom he put to death. During the minority of his nephew Alfonso VIII of Castile he endeavoured to impose himself on the kingdom as regent. On the west he was in more or less constant strife with the Kingdom of Portugal, which had separated from León in 1139. His relations to the Portuguese House of Burgundy must have suffered by his repudiation of his wife Urraca, daughter of King Afonso I of Portugal. Though he took the King of Portugal prisoner in 1169, he made no political use of his success. He extended his dominions southward in Extremadura at the expense of the Moors. Ferdinand, who died in 1188, left the reputation of a good Knight and hard fighter, but did not display political or organizing faculty.

Related Topics:
1188 - Alfonso VII of Castile & León - Kings of Aragon & Counts of Barcelona - León - Alfonso VIII of Castile - Portugal - 1139 - House of Burgundy - Urraca - Afonso I of Portugal - 1169 - Extremadura - Moors - Knight

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He was succeeded by his only son Alfonso IX.

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