The Alidosi or Alodosi are a family of Romagna , Italy , who held the signoria of the city of Imola during the Late Middle Ages . They were originary of the Santerno valley.
66-564: During the 13th century, the Alidosi supported the Guelph cause during the Guelphs and Ghibellines conflicts. The Alidosis ruled Imola beginning with 1341, when Pope Benedict XII turned the city and its territory over to Lippo II Alidosi with the title of pontifical vicar. The family would rule the city until 1424, when it would be stripped from them by Filippo Maria Visconti , forcing them to retreat to
132-450: A capo d'Angiò or "chief of Anjou", containing yellow fleurs-de-lys on a blue field, with a red heraldic "label" , while Ghibellines had a capo dell'impero or "chief of the empire", with a form of the black German imperial eagle on a golden background . Families also distinguished their factional allegiance by the architecture of their palaces, towers, and fortresses. Ghibelline structures had "swallow-tailed" crenellations, while those of
198-702: A brief resurgence during the Italian campaigns of Emperors Henry VII (1310) and Louis IV (1327). Since the Pope granted Sicily (Southern Italy) to the French prince Charles I of Anjou , the Guelphs took a pro-French stance. As late as the 16th century, Ghibellines like the Colonna or Gonzaga still fought for Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , while Guelphs like the Orsini and Este still fought for
264-623: A huge ransom in 1193. Henry died at Brunswick in 1195. Henry the Lion's son, Otto of Brunswick, was elected King of the Romans and crowned Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV after years of further conflicts with the Hohenstaufen emperors. He incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215. Otto was forced to abdicate the imperial throne by the Hohenstaufen Frederick II . He
330-611: A means of preserving its independence, rather than out of loyalty to the temporal power, as Forlì was nominally in the Papal States. Over the centuries, the papacy tried several times to regain control of Forlì, sometimes by violence or by allurements. The division between Guelphs and Ghibellines was especially important in Florence . The two factions frequently fought each other over power in many other northern Italian cities. The two sides were now fighting either against German influence (in
396-603: A peace, but failed. Frederick defeated the League at Cortenuova and refused all peace offers from them. He besieged Brescia but was repulsed. In 1239, Frederick was again excommunicated by Pope Gregory. In response, he expelled Franciscan and the Dominican friars from Lombardy and made his son Enzo Imperial vicar in Italy. He also annexed Romagna , Marche , the Duchy of Spoleto , and part of
462-581: A result of increasing tensions with the townsfolk of Brunswick , the Brunswick Line moved their residence to Wolfenbüttel Castle , thus the name Wolfenbüttel became the unofficial name of this principality. With Ivan VI of Russia the Brunswick line even had a short intermezzo on the Russian imperial throne in 1740. Not until 1754 was the residence moved back to Brunswick, into the new Brunswick Palace . In 1814
528-557: A revealing indicator of their past factional leanings. House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph ) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconian family from the Meuse-Moselle area was closely related to the imperial family of the Carolingians . The (Younger) House of Welf
594-549: A time when anti-Catholic sentiment ran high in much of Northern Europe and Great Britain. Sophia died shortly before her first cousin once removed, Anne, Queen of Great Britain , the last sovereign of the House of Stuart . Sophia's son George I succeeded Queen Anne and formed a personal union from 1714 between the British crown and the Electorate of Hanover, which lasted until well after
660-452: Is Queen Frederica's nephew Ernst August , the third and present husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco . In 1129, after Henry the Proud's defeat against Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor , his sister Sophia was given a seat at Regensburg . From c. 1150 until his death in 1167, Welf VI's son, Welf VII, was associated to his father, but predeceased him. After Welf VI's death, Altdorf
726-589: Is the older branch of the House of Este , a dynasty whose earliest known members lived in Veneto and Lombardy in the late 9th/early 10th century, sometimes called Welf-Este. The first member was Welf I, Duke of Bavaria , also known as Welf IV. He inherited the property of the Elder House of Welf when his maternal uncle Welf III , Duke of Carinthia and Verona, the last male Welf of the Elder House, died in 1055. Welf IV
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#1733084695260792-568: The Battle of Legnano in 1176. Frederick recognized the full autonomy of the cities of the Lombard league under his nominal suzerainty . The conflict between the two factions dominated the politics of medieval Italy, and persisted long after the confrontation between emperor and pope had ceased. Smaller cities tended to be Ghibelline if the larger city nearby was Guelph. For example, Guelph Republic of Florence and Ghibelline Republic of Siena faced off at
858-485: The Battle of Montaperti , 1260. Pisa maintained a staunch Ghibelline stance against her fiercest rivals, the Guelph Republic of Genoa and Florence. Local or regional political reasons motivated political alignments. Within cities, party allegiances differed from guild to guild, rione to rione , and a city could easily change party after internal upheavals. The conflicts between Guelphs and Ghibellines ended in
924-699: The Bishop of Minden and Count of Schaumburg and set up his own army. On 28 May 1388, battle was joined at Winsen an der Aller; it ended in victory for Henry . According to the provisions of the Treaty of Hanover from the year 1373, after the death of Wensceslas, the Principality passed to the House of Welf. In 1389, an inheritance agreement between the Welfs and the Ascanians was concluded,
990-525: The Brunonids , to his daughter Gertrud. Her husband Henry the Proud became then the favoured candidate in the imperial election against Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen . Henry lost the election, as the other princes feared his power and temperament, and was dispossessed of his duchies by Conrad III. Henry's brother Welf VI (1115–1191), Margrave of Tuscany, later left his Swabian territories around Ravensburg,
1056-590: The Concordat of Worms in 1122. Timeline The conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines arose from the political divisions caused by the Investiture Controversy , about whether secular rulers or the pope had the authority to appoint bishops and abbots. Upon the death of Emperor Henry V , of the Salian dynasty , the dukes elected an opponent of his dynasty, Lothair III , as the new emperor. This displeased
1122-599: The House of Luneburg residing at Celle Castle . In 1635 it was given to George , younger brother of Prince Ernest II of Lüneburg , who chose Hanover as his residence. New territory was added in 1665, and in 1705 the Principality of Luneburg was taken over by the Hanoverians. In 1692 Duke Ernest Augustus from the Calenberg-Hanover Line acquired the right to be a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire as
1188-786: The Papal States , and marched through Tuscany hoping to capture Rome . He was forced to retreat, sacking the city of Benevento . Soon the Ghibelline city of Ferrara fell and Frederick once more advanced, capturing Ravenna and Faenza . The Pope convened a council, but an Imperial-Pisan fleet defeated a Papal fleet carrying cardinals and prelates from Genoa in the Battle of Giglio . Frederick approached Rome. Meanwhile, Pope Gregory died. Frederick withdrew his forces and freed two cardinals he had jailed in Capua. However, Frederick marched again against Rome throughout 1242 and 1243. A new pope – Innocent IV –
1254-717: The Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages . During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalry between these two parties dominated political life across medieval Italy . The struggle for power between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire arose with the Investiture Controversy , which began in 1075 and ended with
1320-670: The Prince-Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg . Colloquially the Electorate was known as the Electorate of Hanover . In 1814 it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Hanover . Religion-driven politics placed Ernest Augustus's wife Sophia of the Palatinate in the line of succession to the British crown by the Act of Settlement 1701 , written to ensure a Protestant succession to the thrones of Scotland and England at
1386-582: The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229) while excommunicated. While Frederick was in the Crusader states , this division developed there, and his regent in Italy fought a war with the Pope. That war was ended and the excommunication was lifted in 1230, but the hostility continued. In 1237, Frederick entered Italy with a large army, intending to subdue the defiant cities of the Lombard League . Pope Gregory tried to broker
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#17330846952601452-423: The 13th century, in 1270, Ghibellines Oberto Spinola and Oberto Doria revolted against the Guelphs and established a separate government which lasted a couple of decades. Guelph families fled to their strongholds east (Fieschi) and west (Grimaldi). They were forced to cease their resistance after several military campaigns: they were again accepted in the city's political life, after paying war expenses. After
1518-506: The 14th century with the creation of a new situation, where the State and the laity began to withdraw from any ecclesiastical interference. At the beginning of the 13th century, Philip of Swabia , a Hohenstaufen, and Otto of Brunswick , a Welf, were rivals for the imperial throne . Philip was supported by the Ghibellines as a son of Frederick I, while Otto was supported by the Guelphs. Although
1584-550: The 15th century, the Guelphs supported Charles VIII of France during his invasion of Italy at the start of the Italian Wars , while the Ghibellines were supporters of the emperor Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor . Cities and families used the names until Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , consolidated the imperial power over Italy in 1529. In the course of the Italian Wars of 1494 to 1559, the political landscape changed radically and
1650-474: The British throne was inherited by an elder brother's only daughter, Queen Victoria . Her offspring belong to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha : in 1917 the name was changed to the House of Windsor . The Kingdom of Hanover was lost in 1866 by Ernest Augustus's son George V of Hanover , Austria's ally during the Austro-Prussian War , when it was annexed by Prussia after Austria's defeat and became
1716-503: The Captain-General Andrea Claudio Galluzzo under the custody of Consul Luciano Artusi. The Mayor of Florence established the headquarters of the reborn Guelph Party in the historic Palazzo di Parte Guelfa in the city. Some individuals and families indicated their faction affiliation in their coats of arms by including an appropriate heraldic "chief" (a horizontal band at the top of the shield). Guelphs had
1782-591: The Florentine Guelphs at the Battle of Montaperti (1260). After the Hohenstaufen dynasty lost the Empire when Charles I executed Conradin in 1268, the terms Guelph and Ghibelline became associated with individual families and cities, rather than with the conflict between empire and papacy. The stronghold of Italian Ghibellines was the city of Forlì , in Romagna . That city remained with the Ghibelline factions, partly as
1848-549: The French. During the French-dominated Avignon Papacy , Pope John XXII , who supported the French-allied King John of Bohemia , excommunicated John's rival Emperor Louis IV in 1324 and threatened heresy charges against the Ghibellines. The Ghibellines then supported Louis' invasion of Italy and coronation as King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. In Milan , the Guelphs and Ghibellines cooperated in
1914-516: The Guelphs initially succeeded in getting Otto crowned as Emperor, Otto turned against the Papacy, was excommunicated, and was replaced with Philip's heir Emperor Frederick II . Frederick II was an enemy of both Otto and the papacy, and during Frederick's reign, the Guelphs became more strictly associated with the papacy while the Ghibellines became supporters of the Empire and Frederick in particular. Pope Gregory IX excommunicated Frederick II in 1227 for failing to go on Crusade, then again for going on
1980-400: The Guelphs were square. During the 12th and 13th centuries, armies of the Ghibelline communes usually adopted the war banner of the Holy Roman Empire – white cross on a red field – as their own. Guelph armies usually reversed the colors – red cross on white. These two schemes are prevalent in the civic heraldry of northern Italian towns and remain
2046-532: The Hohenstaufen Conrad III was elected, while Lothair's heir, Henry the Proud , of the House of Welf , continued fighting. Guelph (often spelled Guelf ; in Italian Guelfo , plural Guelfi ) is an Italian form of the name of the House of Welf , the family of the dukes of Bavaria (including the namesake Duke Welf II of Bavaria , as well as Henry the Lion ). The Welfs were said to have used
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2112-577: The Hohenstaufen Emperor in 1185 and returned to his much diminished lands around Brunswick without recovering his two duchies. Bavaria had been given to Otto I, Duke of Bavaria , and the Duchy of Saxony was divided between the Archbishop of Cologne, the House of Ascania and others. Diminished lands did not prevent him from imprisoning Richard I on his return from the Third Crusade , and demanding
2178-592: The Hohenstaufen dynasty, tried to get along with him, but when Henry refused to assist him once more in an Italian war campaign, conflict became inevitable. Dispossessed of his duchies after the Battle of Legnano in 1176 by Emperor Frederick I and the other princes of the German Empire eager to claim parts of his vast territories, he was exiled to the court of his father-in-law Henry II in Normandy in 1180. He returned to Germany three years later. Henry made his peace with
2244-569: The Pope in this controversy, partisans of the Pope came to be known in Italy as Guelphs ( Guelfi ). The first genealogy of the Welfs is the Genealogia Welforum , composed shortly before 1126. A much more detailed history of the dynasty, the Historia Welforum , was composed around 1170. It is the earliest history of a noble house in Germany. Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria , from 1120 to 1126,
2310-602: The Prussian province of Hanover. The Welfs went into exile at Gmunden , Austria, where they built Cumberland Castle . The senior line of the dynasty had ruled the much smaller principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , created the sovereign Duchy of Brunswick in 1814. This line became extinct in 1884. Although the Duchy should have been inherited by the Duke of Cumberland , son of the last king of Hanover, Prussian suspicions of his loyalty led
2376-554: The Tuscan Guelphs finally defeated the Ghibellines in 1289 at the Battle of Campaldino and at Vicopisano , the Guelphs began infighting. By 1300, the Florentine Guelphs had divided into the Black and White Guelphs. The Blacks continued to support the Papacy, while the Whites were opposed to Papal influence, specifically the influence of Pope Boniface VIII . Dante was among the supporters of
2442-471: The Tyrant of Verona, laid siege to the city. The imperial camp was ambushed by the Guelphs and in the ensuing Battle of Parma the imperial party was routed, losing much of their treasury. Frederick retreated and gathered another army, but the resistance of Parma encouraged other cities to rebel, and Frederick was powerless to do anything. The Ghibellines were eventually defeated in the Battle of Fossalta against
2508-526: The White Guelphs. In 1302 he was exiled when the Black Guelphs took control of Florence. Those who were not connected to either side or who had no connections to either Guelphs or Ghibellines considered both factions unworthy of support but were still affected by changes of power in their respective cities. Emperor Henry VII was disgusted by supporters of both sides when he visited Italy in 1310. In 1325,
2574-532: The army of Bologna. Enzo was captured and imprisoned until his death. Although the Ghibellines started recovering, defeating the Guelphs in the Battle of Cingoli , Frederick by then was ill. By the time he died, his son Conrad IV had reconquered much of his possessions. This brought peace to Italy for a few years. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, the Ghibellines were supported by Conrad IV and later King Manfred of Sicily . The Guelphs were supported by Charles I of Naples . The Ghibellines of Siena defeated
2640-565: The case of the Guelphs) or against the temporal power of the Pope (in the case of the Ghibellines). In Florence and elsewhere, the Guelphs usually included merchants and burghers, while the Ghibellines tended to be noblemen. To identify themselves, people adopted distinctive customs such as wearing a feather on a particular side of their hats, or cutting fruit a particular way, according to their affiliation. The conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines
2706-574: The city-states of Guelph Bologna and Ghibelline Modena clashed in the War of the Bucket , resulting in Modena's victory at the Battle of Zappolino , which led to a resurgence of Ghibelline fortunes. In 1334, Pope Benedict XII threatened people who used either the Guelph or Ghibelline name with excommunication . The term Ghibelline continued to indicate allegiance to the declining Imperial authority in Italy, and saw
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2772-423: The countryside seigniory of Castel del Rio , in the Romagna Apennines . Several member of the Alidosi family were employed by the Grand Duke of Tuscany which put them at odds with the Papal States and the Roman Inquisition . In 1608, Rodrigo , the then head of the family, was accused of various offences, chief among them protecting Germans. This resulted in a lengthy trial which saw the Grand Duke clash with
2838-482: The creation of the Golden Ambrosian Republic in 1447. However, over the next few years they engaged in intense disputes. After the initial leadership of the Ghibellines, the Guelphs seized power at the election of the Captains and Defenders of the Liberty of Milan. The Guelph government became increasingly autocratic, leading to a Ghibelline conspiracy led by Giorgio Lampugnino and Teodoro Bossi. It failed, and many Ghibellines were massacred in 1449. Others fled, including
2904-407: The division between Guelphs and Ghibellines became irrelevant. This became evident with the election of Pope Paul V (1605), the first to bear the "Ghibelline" Reichsadler in chief on his Papal coat of arms . On 25 March 2015, the Parte Guelfa was reconstituted as a Christian order and archconfraternity to serve the Catholic Church and the Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, guided by
2970-652: The duchy's throne to remain vacant until 1913, when the Duke of Cumberland's son, Ernst August , married the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II and was allowed to inherit it. His rule there was short-lived, as the monarchy came to an end following the First World War in 1918. The Welf dynasty continues to exist. The last member sitting on a European throne was Frederica of Hanover , Queen of Greece († 1981), mother of Queen Sofia of Spain and King Constantine II of Greece . Frederica's brother Prince George William of Hanover married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark , sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh . The House's head
3036-405: The end of the Napoleonic Wars more than a century later, through the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and the rise of a new successor kingdom. The British royal family became known as the House of Hanover . The "Electorate of Hanover" (the core duchy) was enlarged with the addition of other lands and became the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814 at the Congress of Vienna . During the first half of
3102-421: The estates, which was to supervise the treaty. However, 1373–1388 would be the only period in which a Brunswick-Luneburg land was not ruled by a Welf: In the wake of his death, Elector Wenceslas appointed Bernard, his brother-in-law, as co-regent involved him in the government. But his younger brother Henry did not agree with this ruling, and after vain attempts to reach an agreement, the fight flared up again in
3168-492: The garrison massacred. The Pope made another treaty but he immediately broke it and continued to back the Guelphs. The Pope supported Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia as King of the Romans and soon plotted to have Frederick killed. After an attempted assassination failed, the pope fled to Liguria . Soon the tide turned against the imperial party. The Lombard city of Parma rebelled. Enzo – who had not been present – asked his father for help. Frederick and Ezzelino III da Romano ,
3234-413: The house of Hohenstaufen , who were allied with and related to the old dynasty. Out of fear of the Hohenstaufen, Lothair III placed himself under the pope's protection. To this end, he ceded all Imperial rights to the pope under Henry V's Concordat of Worms . War then broke out in Germany between those who supported the Hohenstaufen, and those who were aligned to Lothair and the pope. Upon Lothair's death,
3300-467: The imperial party, while the Guelphs supported the pope. Cities more directly threatened by the enlargement of the Papal States tended to align with the Ghibelline faction, while the cities that wanted more autonomy from the Empire tended to belong to the Guelph faction. The clash between the municipalities of Northern Italy and imperial power originated in the struggle for investitures . The Guelph Lombard League defeated Emperor Frederick Barbarossa at
3366-406: The name as a rallying cry during the Siege of Weinsberg in 1140, in which the rival Hohenstaufens (led by Conrad III) used "Wibellingen" (the name of a castle today known as Waiblingen , as their cry; "Wibellingen" subsequently became Ghibellino in Italian). Thus, the Hohenstaufen faction became known as the Ghibellines and the Welfs eventually became known as the Guelphs. The Ghibellines were
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#17330846952603432-416: The nineteenth century, the Kingdom was ruled as personal union by the British crown from its creation under George III of the United Kingdom, the last elector of Hanover until the death of William IV in 1837. At that point, the crown of Hanover went to William's younger brother, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale under the Salic law requiring the next male heir to inherit, whereas
3498-537: The original possessions of the Elder House of Welf , to his nephew Emperor Frederick I , and thus to the House of Hohenstaufen. The next duke of the Welf dynasty Henry the Lion (1129/1131–1195) recovered his father's two duchies, Saxony in 1142, Bavaria in 1156 and thus ruled vast parts of Germany. In 1168 he married Matilda (1156–1189), the daughter of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine , and sister of Richard I of England , gaining ever more influence. His first cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor of
3564-409: The principality became the Duchy of Brunswick , ruled by the senior branch of the House of Welf. In 1432 the estates gained by the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel between the Deister and Leine split away as the Principality of Calenberg . In 1495 it was expanded around Göttingen and in 1584 went back to the Wolfenbüttel Line. In 1634, as a result of inheritance distributions, it went to
3630-485: The prominent Ghibelline Vitaliano I Borromeo , who was sheltered in his County of Arona . Public opinion turned against the Guelphs. In the next elections the Ghibellines were briefly victorious, but were deposed after imprisoning Guelph leaders Giovanni Appiani and Giovanni Ossona. After Francesco I Sforza was made Duke by Milan's senate in 1450, many Ghibellines who had fled such as Filippo Borromeo and Luisino Bossi were restored to positions of prominence in Milan. In
3696-446: The prosecuting efforts of the Inquisition. They were ultimately ousted from the Castel del Rio in 1638 by Pope Urban VIII . Another notable member was Cardinal Francesco Alidosi (1455–1511), who was a friend of Pope Julius II . He is mentioned by several sources as having been appointed Cardinal protector of England in 1509, but this appointment "cannot be exactly established" as his only surviving letters to England do not mention
3762-511: The protectorate. He was murdered in 1511 by members of the Duke of Urbino 's entourage, after being accused of treason. Guelphs and Ghibellines The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( / ˈ ɡ w ɛ l f s ... ˈ ɡ ɪ b ɪ l aɪ n z / GWELFS ... GHIB -il-ynze , US also /- l iː n z , - l ɪ n z / -eenz, -inz ; Italian : guelfi e ghibellini [ˈɡwɛlfi e ɡibelˈliːni, -fj e -] ) were factions supporting respectively
3828-415: The spring of 1388. Elector Wenceslas had to assemble an army without the help of Bernard, supported by the town of Lüneburg. From Winsen an der Aller , he wanted to attack Celle , which was held by Henry and his mother. During the preparations Elector Wenceslas fell seriously ill and died shortly thereafter. According to legend, he was poisoned. Lüneburg continued the preparations, formed an alliance with
3894-438: The style of the subordinate principality. By 1705, the subordinate principalities had taken their final form as the Electorate of Hanover and the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , and these would become the Kingdom of Hanover and the Duchy of Brunswick after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. In 1269 the Principality of Brunswick was formed following the first division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1432, as
3960-409: Was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire . Beatrice of Swabia 1212 no children Maria of Brabant 19 May 1214 Maastricht no children After their death, rule of the Principality was to revert to the Ascanians. In order to underpin the agreement, in 1374 Albert of Saxe-Lüneburg married Catharina, the widow of Magnus II. The treaty also envisaged the creation of a statutory body representing
4026-451: Was elected. At first, Frederick was pleased with the election since Innocent had relatives in the Imperial camp. However, the new Pope immediately turned against Frederick. When the City of Viterbo rebelled, the Pope backed the Guelphs. and Frederick immediately marched to Italy and besieged Viterbo . The pope signed a peace treaty with the emperor, relieving the city. After the Emperor left, Cardinal Raniero Capocci , leader of Viterbo, had
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#17330846952604092-437: Was generally named after the ruler's residence, e.g., the rulers of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel originally lived in Wolfenbüttel. Whenever a branch of the family died out in the male line, the territory was given to another line, as the duchy remained enfeoffed to the family as a whole rather than its individual members. All members of the House of Welf, male or female, bore the title Duke/Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg in addition to
4158-410: Was important in the Republic of Genoa , where the former were called rampini ("grappling hooks") and the latter mascherati ("masked"), although the origin of these terms is not clear. Local families like Fieschi and Grimaldi usually sided with the Guelph party, in conflict with the Doria and some branches of the Spinola families. While Genoa was often under Guelph rule in the early years of
4224-414: Was the first of the three dukes of the Welf dynasty called Henry. His wife Wulfhild was the heiress of the house of Billung , possessing the territory around Lüneburg in Lower Saxony. Their son, Henry the Proud , was the son-in-law and heir of Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor and became also Duke of Saxony on Lothair's death. Lothair left his territory around Brunswick , inherited from his mother of
4290-443: Was the only Welf to become Holy Roman Emperor. Henry the Lion's grandson Otto the Child became duke of a part of Saxony in 1235, the new Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and died there in 1252. The duchy was divided several times during the High Middle Ages amongst various lines of the House of Welf. The subordinate states had the legal status of principalities within the duchy, which remained as an undivided imperial fief . Each state
4356-422: Was the son of Welf III's sister Kunigunde of Altdorf and her husband Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan . In 1070, Welf IV became Duke of Bavaria . Welf II, Duke of Bavaria married Countess Matilda of Tuscany , who died childless and left him her possessions, including Tuscany , Ferrara , Modena , Mantua , and Reggio , which played a role in the Investiture Controversy . Since the Welf dynasty sided with
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