GUELPHS AND GHIBEL1NES, the names of two great political parties which divided Italy and Germany duriug the middle ages, became first known as the watchwords of their respective adherents at the battle of Winsberg, in Suabia, between two rivals for the Imperial throne, Conrad, duke of Franconia, and Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, of the house of Weif, or Wolf. Welt, who was young Henry's uncle, fought on behalf of his nephew, and his name was the war-cry of his followers; whilst those of Conrad took for their rallying word the name of Weiblingen, a town of Wiirtemberg, and the patrimonial eeat of the Hohenstauffcn family, to which Conrad belonged. [CON RAD III.] In the course of time the name of Guelphs was given to all who were disaffected to the Emperor, and that of Ghibeliues to the supporters of the Imperial authority; and as the popes, reviving their old rivalry with the empire, encouraged and supported the disaffected Guelphs, they became at last the leaders of that party, and the Italian cities were divided between the adherents of the popes and those of the emperors. The names of Guelphs and Ghibelines were not how ever generally adopted in Italy till the reign of Frederick IL, when Italy was divided, as it were, into two camps; some cities, such as Florence, Milan, Bologna, ranging themselves ou the Guelph side, while Pisa, Arezzo, Verona, and others, remained Ghibeline. But in the long struggle that ensued many alternate changes took place in each city, where sometimes the Guelphs and sometimes the Ghibelines gained the upper hand. Most of the powerful nobles in northern
Italy, the Visconti, Doric, Della Scala, Pelavicino, were Ghibelinea; the Anjou dynasty, which the popes had called to the throne of Naples, were the main support of the Guelphs. As the emperors, engrossed by their German affairs, neglected and dropped their hold upon Italy, the names of Guelph and Ghibeline lost their original meaning, and the struggle became one of personal or municipal ambi tion among the Italians themselves, the Ghibelines being for the most part animated by a spirit of aristocracy, the Guelphs professing to be favourers of a popular form of government. [Dams.] But even this distinction was often belied by facts, and the leaders of the Guelphs iu some towns tyrannised over their countrymen; whilst in some instances, as at Genoa, the Ghibelines formed really the popular party. In the 15th century the names of Guelphs and Ghibelines had become a mere traditional shadow, and at last the popes themselves united with the emperor iu extinguishing the independence of the Italian republics, without distinction of parties. (Sismoudi, History of the Italian Republics ;' ltaumer, 'Geschichte der Hohenstauffeu.') The House of Brunswick, being descended from both the houses of Este and Weif, once allied by marriage, assumes the name of Este. Guelph.