Ferdinand II of Leon

Fernando II of León (Toledo, 1137-Benavente (Zamora), January 22, 1188), King of León between 1157 and 1188.

Biography

Family origins

Son of Alfonso VII of León and Queen Berenguela of Barcelona, his paternal grandparents were Count Raymond of Burgundy and Queen Urraca I of León and his mother was Ramón Berenguer III of Barcelona, Count of Barcelona, and his wife the Sweet Countess of Provence. He had several siblings, including Sancho III and Sancha de Castilla, who married Sancho VI of Navarre. He was half-brother of Sancha de Castilla, who married Alfonso II of Aragon.

Childhood and youth of the king

His education was entrusted to a Galician magnate, Count Fernando Pérez de Traba of the same lineage as the former knights of his grandmother, Queen Urraca, and of the tutors and defenders of his father, Alfonso VII, also father of who was his second wife, Teresa Fernández de Traba. He was soon initiated into the tasks of government. Since 1151 he has been associated to the throne by his father, along with his brother the infante Sancho, King of Castile, for which reason in documents from León and Galicia it is usual to confirm him with the title of rey, or king from Galicia. From the beginning he was surrounded by magnates from Leon and Galicia, such as the counts Ponce de Minerva, Ramiro Froilaz, Pedro Alfonso and Fernando Pérez de Traba.

In a council initiated in Valladolid in the year 1155, the terms of the division of the States of his father, who was still living, were agreed upon. There the kingdoms of León and Galicia were assigned under his sovereignty, excluding Tierra de Campos, Sahagún and Asturias de Santillana.

Beginning of his reign and first marriage to Urraca of Portugal

In 1157 his father, King Alfonso VII of León, died and as the late king had arranged in his will, his second son became king under the name of Fernando II of León, ruling the territories of the kingdom of León and Galicia. In 1158 he agreed with his brother Sancho III of Castilla, King of Castile, in the Treaty of Sahagún, to make war against the Muslims, to divide up the conquered territories, that in the event that one of the two brothers died, the survivor would inherit the kingdom of the deceased brother., and the distribution of the Kingdom of Portugal. The death of his brother Sancho de él, who died in 1158 and was succeeded on the Castilian throne by his son Alfonso VIII of Castile, annulled the clauses of Sahagún's treaty.

During the minority of his nephew Alfonso VIII of Castile, in the kingdom of Castile began the rivalry between the House of Lara and the House of Castro for exercising the regency on behalf of the child king. Taking advantage of the anarchic state in which the kingdom of his deceased brother was found, Fernando II de León invaded the kingdom of Castile at the head of an army, and demanded, in order to restore order in the kingdom, that the Lara hand over to him his nephew Alfonso VIII, whose education he wanted to take charge of.

In 1160 Fernando Rodríguez de Castro the Castilian, in command of the forces of the house of Castro, defeated the supporters of the Lara in the Battle of Lobregal, in which Count Osorio Martínez, his father-in-law, lost his life. and in which Nuño Pérez de Lara was captured. That same year, Fernando II was cured of a serious illness, supposedly through the intercession of San Martín de Tours and Santa Eufemia de Orense.In 1162 Rodríguez de Castro was appointed majordomo of Fernando II de León, a position he held on two occasions; In the first of them he took office on August 15, 1162 and was dismissed on September 6, 1164. Later he returned to the same post, between October 19, 1165 and May 15, 1166.

He married Urraca of Portugal, Infanta of Portugal, daughter of King Alfonso Henriques and Mafalda of Saboya in 1165. Around those dates, he restored and repopulated the cities of Ledesma and Ciudad Rodrigo, and this caused the inhabitants of Salamanca, who had apparently bought the city of Ledesma, to take up arms against the king and the magistrates of Ledesma; When King Ferdinand found out about it, he marched with his army against the rebels and forced them to return to his city.

The war against the kingdom of Castile (1162-1166)

Fernando II according to a miniature of the Tumbo A of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

In 1162, he conquered the city of Toledo, seizing it from the Castilians, and then naming Fernando Rodríguez de Castro governor of the city. The city of Toledo remained in the hands of the Leonese until the year 1166, when it was recovered by the Castilians. On September 27, 1162, the King of León signed an agreement, known as the Treaty of Ágreda, with Alfonso II of Aragón.

In 1164 Fernando Rodríguez the Castilian entered the kingdom of Castile for the second time with an army and defeated Count Manrique Pérez de Lara in the Battle of Huete, fought in June or July of that year. Four years later he was appointed mayor of León, it being his duty to control and command the existing fortresses in the city, until 1182, when he left office.

Fernando II de León and the members of the House of Lara met in Soria and agreed that, in order to defend the city of Toledo from the Saracens, they would hand over to the Order of the Temple the Uclés square, located in the current province of Cuenca, and which would later become the headquarters of the Order of Santiago. The King of León, fearful that the members of the House of Lara would break the agreed peace, allied with Sancho VI of Navarre to intimidate said Castilian magnates and, in this way, be able to direct his troops against the Almohads, whom he took from them. the cities of Alcántara and Alburquerque.

Conquest of Badajoz and war with the kingdom of Portugal

Recreation of the physical shield of Fernando II de León (Tumbo A).

Between the years 1166 and 1168 Alfonso I of Portugal seized several places belonging to the Leonese crown. Fernando II de León repopulated Ciudad Rodrigo, and the sovereign of Portugal, suspecting that his son-in-law was fortifying it with the purpose of attacking him in the future, sent against that place an army commanded by his son and heir, the infante Sancho from Portugal. The King of León came to the aid of the besieged square and, in an encounter he had with the Portuguese troops, put them to flight, capturing numerous prisoners. Alfonso I of Portugal then invaded Galicia, seized Tuy and many other castles, and in 1169 attacked the city of Cáceres. Later he marched together with his troops against the city of Badajoz, which was in the hands of the Saracens, but which, according to what was agreed in the Sahagún treaty, which had been signed in 1158, should belong to the kingdom of León when it was reconquered..

In the early summer of 1169, Gerardo Sempavor, of the Kingdom of Portugal, took the city of Badajoz after a long siege, but the governor of the city took refuge in the Alcazaba of Badajoz, and the siege continued.

Seeing the opportunity presented to him to add to his domains the main city of the region at the expense of his Christian and Muslim enemies, Alfonso I of Portugal went with an army to Badajoz in order to replace Gerardo Sempavor as driver of the siege.

The city of Trujillo became the head of the lordship assembled by Fernando Rodríguez de Castro el Castellano. This provoked the opposition of King Fernando, who argued that Badajoz belonged to him. The King of León then headed south at the head of an army, at the request of the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf, who had already sent a contingent of five hundred knights to help his besieged governor. The Castilian, as majordomo mayordomo of the monarch, he was one of the Leonese leaders of the expedition. The Portuguese who were besieging the Alcazaba of Badajoz, were then besieged by the Leonese, fighting broke out in the streets of the city. While trying to escape, Alfonso I of Portugal was captured by Ferdinand II's men, having broken his leg. At the same time, Fernando II captured Gerardo Sempavor. After the capture of the city and the Alcazaba de Badajoz by the Leonese, the latter left the city in the hands of their Muslim allies. Gerardo Sempavor had to deliver to the kingdom of León several of the towns that he had conquered, in exchange for his freedom. Fernando II de León retained the city of Cáceres, but the towns of Trujillo, Montánchez, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Monfragüe became the property of Fernando Rodríguez de Castro. After the donation received, Rodríguez de Castro became lord of a semi-independent dominion located between the Tagus and Guadiana rivers, whose headquarters were in the city of Trujillo. Alfonso VIII realized the strategic importance of the fortresses granted to the Castilian, with a view to a future repopulation, since the fortresses were in the area that, according to the Sahagún Treaty of 1158, belonged to the area of influence of the kingdom of Castile. by Alfonso I of Portugal, the Muslims attacked the kingdom of León in 1173, trying to seize Ciudad Rodrigo; but Fernando II, who learned of his intentions, entrenched himself in the city of Salamanca with the troops he could gather in León, in Zamora, in various places in Galicia and in other parts of the kingdom, giving order to the rest of his army at the same time. army to join him as soon as possible. The Muslims were defeated and only those who fled could retain their freedom.

In 1170 the Order of Santiago was created in order to protect the pilgrims who visited the tomb of the Apostle Santiago.

Second marriage to Teresa Fernández de Traba

Sello de Fernando II

In the year 1175, King Ferdinand was forced to repudiate his first wife, Queen Urraca of Portugal, when Pope Alexander III annulled their marriage ten years after it took place, since they were relatives in the third degree and were cousins seconds. All this despite the fact that the queen had given birth to the infante Alfonso in 1171, who would succeed his father on the Leonese throne. The gold from Castile and England counterbalanced the one that León offered to Rome to achieve the Papal bull, since its validity implied the de facto alliance of Portugal and León, which was of no interest to Castile or England, who had family ties to each other. King Alfonso VIII of Castile was married to Eleanor de Plantagenet, daughter of Henry II of England.

Between 1177 and before October 7, 1178, he married his second wife, Teresa Fernández de Traba, illegitimate daughter of Count Fernando Pérez de Traba and Teresa de León and widow of Count Nuño Pérez de Lara.

War with the kingdom of Castile and conference of Tordesillas (1178-1180)

In 1178 Ferdinand II of León invaded the kingdom of Castile. He seized the municipalities of Castrojeriz and Dueñas before Alfonso VIII had been able to put these fortresses on alert, while the Castilian sovereign was allied with Alfonso I of Portugal, who sent his son, the Infante Sancho of Portugal, to fight against the king of León.

In 1180 the kings of Castilla y León met in the Valladolid town of Tordesillas, where they agreed to put an end to their differences, sealing a peace agreement. On February 6, 1180, her second wife, Queen Teresa Fernández de Traba, died giving birth to a son, who died at the same time as her mother and was buried with her in the Pantheon of Kings. of San Isidoro de Leon.

Sphere planning

It was from Ribadavia.

King Ferdinand granted charters to numerous cities and towns; in 1164, to Padrón and Ribadavia; in 1168, to Noya; in 1169 to Castro Caldelas and the city of Pontevedra; in 1170 to the city of Tuy and in 1177 to the city of Lugo. He also favored numerous monasteries, such as Sobrado, Melón, Armenteira, Moraime and San Martín de Xubia. He also benefited the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, granting a lifetime pension to Maestro Mateo. During his reign the Order of Santiago was founded and Pope Alexander III granted the grace of the Jacobean jubilee holy year ( Bull Regis Aeterni , year 1181) as perpetual. This privilege granted to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela favored the peak of pilgrimages, while promoting the economic, cultural and artistic development of the territories crossed by the Camino de Santiago.

Third marriage to Urraca López de Haro

In 1187 Fernando II de León married for the third time with Urraca López de Haro, daughter of Lope Díaz I de Haro, Lord of Vizcaya, Nájera and member of the House of Haro, and Countess Aldonza, with whom he maintained love affairs since the year 1180, when his second wife died. The king donated the castles of Aguilar and Monteagudo to his wife.

Fernando helped the king of Portugal when the Muslims besieged the city of Santarém. Urraca López de Haro, who knew that the end of her husband's life was approaching, wanted to elevate her only surviving son, Sancho Fernández de León, to the throne of León, to the detriment of the infante Alfonso de León, Fernando's eldest son and of Queen Urraca of Portugal. To achieve her purpose, Queen Urraca maintained that the birth of the infante Alfonso was illegitimate, since the marriage of his parents had been annulled due to the blood ties between the two spouses. King Ferdinand then banished his eldest son, which was a triumph for her stepmother, who strove for her son Sancho to inherit the throne upon her father's death.

Death and burial

Sepulchre of King Fernando II of Leon. Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Tomb of the king. Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

King Ferdinand died in the Zamora city of Benavente on January 22, 1188, at fifty-three years of age and was succeeded to the throne by his eldest son, Alfonso IX of León. The First General Chronicle describes the death of the Leonese sovereign as follows.

Et este Rey Don Fernando de Leon, fixed dell Emperador et hermano del Rey Don Sancho de Castiella, termina ya con buena andança XXI anno de su in his regno, fine in the village of Benavent: et enterraronle en la eglesia de Sant Yague de Gallizia, near his grandfather the Count Remond who lies and, and near the Empress Donna Berenguella her mother...Et finco per heir to Leon Don Alffonsso, fixed to you King Don Fernando et de la Reyna Doña Urraca, fixed by the King Don Alffonsso of Portugal.

Contrary to his wishes to be buried in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, he was buried somewhere, possibly in the Pantheon of Kings of San Isidoro de León, because his widow, Queen Urraca, did not want to move the remains deadly to Santiago de Compostela, since its archbishop, Pedro Suárez de Deza, was a supporter of King Alfonso IX and not of Queen Urraca.

Later, his remains were transferred by order of his son Alfonso IX to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the late King of León had stated that he wished to be buried, since his mother, Queen Berenguela, were buried there. of Barcelona, and his grandfather Raimundo de Borgoña, husband of Queen Urraca and, therefore, in a document granted in the city of Benavente on July 26, 1180, confirmed to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela the donations that the sovereign gave him. had granted in the past, and which concerned the chaplaincy and the royal burials of the cathedral, furthermore ordering in said document that no one build any castle in that territory.

The transfer of the remains of King Fernando II is mentioned in a diploma granted in Zamora by King Alfonso IX of León, and dated May 4, 1188, which certifies that the royal remains were transferred to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela by order of his son, who wished to fulfill the last wishes of his parents, and buried with the remains of the Apostle Santiago with royal honours, while confirming in said document the privileges and exemptions granted to the cathedral by the soul his late father's, and his own.

The tomb of King Ferdinand is located in the Chapel of the Relics of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, where the Royal Pantheon of the Compostela Cathedral is located. On a smooth stone sepulcher there is a recumbent statue that represents the deceased king, who appears dressed in a tunic and mantle, with a royal crown on his forehead, and his head is represented with curly hair and a beard, with the right arm of the king. sovereign raised and placed at the height of his head, while his left hand rests on his chest. The recumbent statue representing Fernando II de León has been dated to the first half of the 20th century XIII, and was made after the death of the king, who died in the year 1188, which has led to the consideration that it must have been commissioned by the king's heir, Alfonso IX of León.

Marriages and offspring

As a result of his marriage to Queen Urraca of Portugal, a son was born:

• Alfonso IX de León (1171-1230). It happened to his father on the throne of Leon.

From his second marriage to Teresa Fernández de Traba were born:

• Fernando Fernández de León (1178-1187), born illegitimate, was legitimized after the marriage of his parents.
• Son (1180) died at the same time as his mother as a result of childbirth and buried in the Pantheon of Kings of St.Isidoro of Lion in which his mother was smote.

The children of the third marriage with Urraca López de Haro, I Mrs. of Monteagudo and Aguilar, were:

• García Fernández de León (1182-1184), born and died natural.
• Alfonso Fernández de León (1184-c. 1188), born natural, was legitimized after the marriage of his parents.
• Sancho Fernández de León (1186-1220), born natural, was legitimized after the marriage of his parents; II Mr. de Monteagudo y Aguilar.