Ferdinand II (León)

Ferdinand II., Miniature 13th century

Ferdinand II (* 1137 ; † January 22, 1188 in Benavente ) was King of León (1157–1188) and Galicia (1154–1188).

Life

Ferdinand was the younger son of King Alfonso VII of León and Berenguela of Barcelona . King of Galicia since 1154, he received the Kingdom of Léon and Asturias after the death of his father , while his older brother, Sancho III. , Castile received.

After the accession to the throne in León, there were disputes with the León nobility, in which Sancho III. interfered. In 1158 these disputes were settled by the Treaty of Sahagún , in which Ferdinand and Sancho delimited their zones of influence and made arrangements for mutual succession. But on August 31, 1158, Sancho died unexpectedly. Ferdinand took over the guardianship of his underage son Alfons VIII , invaded Castile and called himself from then on " King of Spain ". In 1162 he conquered the city of Toledo .

In the period that followed, Ferdinand was able to increase his sphere of influence again: in 1162, after the death of Raimund Berengar IV , he took over the guardianship of his son Alfonso II and thus effectively took over power in Aragón . His influence on Portugal increased in 1165 when he married Urraca, daughter of King Alfonso I.

Ferdinand took part in the Reconquista and in 1166 conquered Alcántara , Albuquerque and Elvas . As a result of a dispute over Badajoz , war broke out with Portugal in 1168, from which Ferdinand emerged victorious. He pulled against the Almohad - Sultan of Morocco , Abu Yaqub Yusuf , in the field, whose troops in 1173 the town of Ciudad Rodrigo had included, and defeated them. A second war with the Portuguese (1177) ended with their defeat at Argannal ; a campaign undertaken together with Portuguese troops against the Moroccans ended with the dissolution of the Moroccan army (1184).

In Castile, Ferdinand increasingly lost influence. The Castilian nobility conquered Toledo as early as 1166. A war against Castile that broke out in 1178 could not be finally ended until 1183.

Others

The establishment of the Order of Santiago in 1170 goes back to Ferdinand II .

Marriages and offspring

• In 1165 Ferdinand married Urraca, daughter of the Portuguese King Alfonso I and his wife Mathilde of Savoy . From this marriage the future King Alfons IX went. (1171-1230). Since Ferdinand was closely related to Urraca - their great grandfather was Alfonso VI. of Castile - a papal dispensation was required. Pope Alexander III refused this . however, which is why the marriage was dissolved in 1175.
• In 1178 Ferdinand married Therese de Trava, a daughter of Ferdinand Pérez Count of Trastámara , widow of Count Nuño Pérez of Lara . Therese, however, died childless on February 7, 1180.
• In 1187 Ferdinand married his previous mistress Urraca Lopez de Haro, daughter of the Count of Biscaya, Lope Díaz de Haro. She gave birth to a son, Sancho, Lord of Aguílar (1188–1220).

literature

• Ludwig Vones : Ferdinand II. 'El Baboso' . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 4, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-7608-8904-2 , column 364 f.

Web links

Commons : Ferdinand II of León  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Alfonso VII	King of León 1157–1188	Alfonso IX