FERDINAND II., king of Leon only (d. I188), was the second son of Alphonso VII. and of Berenguela, of the house of the counts of Barcelona. On the division of the kingdoms which had obeyed his father (1157), he received Leon, which he ruled for 3o years. During the minority of his nephew Alphonso 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 Portugal, which was in process of becoming an independent kingdom. He extended his dominions southward in Estremadura at the expense of the Moors.