 It has been proposed to have been as early as 1199 or even 1198, although more recent researchers commonly date Ferdinand's birth in the summer of 1201.Ferdinand was born at the Monastery of Valparaíso (Peleas de Arriba, in what is now the Province of Zamora).As the son of Alfonso IX of León and his second wife Berengaria of Castile, Ferdinand descended from Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile on both sides; his paternal grandfather Ferdinand II of Leon and maternal great grandfather Sancho III of Castile were the sons of Alfonso VII between whom his kingdom was divided.