GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES, originally the names of two German parties formed in the 12th century around the fam ilies to which respectively belonged the dukes of Saxony and Bavaria and the lords of Hohenstaufen. The rivalry between these two families determined much of the history of Germany (q.v.) in the 12th century, and the names in question were employed at an early date in Italy, where the Ghibellines formed the party of the emperor Frederick I. (q.v.), and the Guelphs formed the party opposed to him. In the next century the terms acquired a wider sense ; the Ghibellines still formed the Imperialist party, but the term Guelph lost all trace of its original association with dynastic rivalries in Germany and became applied to the sup porters of the papacy in its struggle against the empire. Long after this struggle had become a matter of history these ancient names survived in Italian civic politics, often denoting factions whose origin had no real connection with the rivalry of empire and papacy in an earlier age.
Of the terms themselves, Guelph represents the old German personal name Hwelp, originally perhaps a nickname (it corres ponds to the English word "whelp"), but borne by many persons of rank, notably Welf duke of Bavaria in the 11th century. Ghibelline is a form of the Waiblingen, an ancient possession of the lords Hohenstaufen, and not far from the castle of that name.