Dante
and Petrarch had many commonalities – they were great literary figures, they
contributed to the development of Italian literature, and they both experienced
the political divide between Guelfs and Ghibellines. The rivalry between
Ghibellines and Guelfs led to the expulsion of Dante and Petrarch’s family as
they sided with the Guelfs. But this rivalry between Ghibellines and Guelfs not
only created an impact on the lives of this 2 figures, but also created a mark
in the political history of Italy.
Who were the Guelfs
and Ghibellines?
These
2 parties represented the competing interest of the 2 most powerful figures in
Medieval European politics – Guelfs or guelphs supporting the Pope and
Ghibellines supporting the Holy Roman Emperor. The Pope led the Catholic
Church, by then, the richest and most influential institution of the Medieval
Age and stood as a central power that connected all of Europe right after the
fall of the Rome in the 5th century. On the other hand, the Holy Roman Empire
was a state composed of loose principalities that elected an Emperor. The
Emperor led his Central European realm either nominally or by force and exacted
his authority through divine right. These 2 divine authorities – one leading an
institution, and the other a federated empire – clashed over influence and
authority that led to the emergence of the Guelfs and Ghibellines.
The
name Guelfs and Ghibellines came from the Game of Thrones of 2 houses in the
Holy Roman Empire in the 12th century. In one side, the Guelf came from the Bavarian
Welf Dynasty. On the other hand, the Ghibellines’ name came from Waiblingen, a
castle of the Hohenstaufen Dynasty of Swabia that challenged the Welfs for the
throne of the Holy Roman Empire. The competition only ended with the
Hohenstaufen Dynasty started to rule the Empire with Emperor Frederick I.
 |
| Frederick Barbarossa (Center) in Historia Welforum |
Frederick
I who ruled from 1152 until 1190 aimed to reassert imperial authority,
especially in Northern Italy that once ruled directly by the Emperors and fell
into small independent states or communes. From 1154 up to 1183, he led 6
expedition to the region reestablish his control. His advance to Italy gave him
his famous Italian nickname inspired by his red beard – Barbarossa. His attempt
to reassert his control met opposition from numerous Italian communes and Pope
Alexander III, who commanded great influence in the region and wanted also to
put a stop in Barbarossa’s advance. They formed a coalition called the Lombard
League. In the middle of the 3 decades of resistance, Florentines thought of a
name for those who opposed the German Emperor inspired by the recent political
divide of the Holy Roman Empire. Frederick Barbarossa being a Hohenstaufen, they
called his supporters as Ghibellines. They then decided to naturally name the
resistance party as Guelfs, the Italian for Welf.
Barbarossa’s
advance to Italy eventually ended in failure. He suffered a military defeat in
the hand Lombard League and the Pope in the Battle of Legano. After which, he
decided to end the conflict the Treaties of Anagni, Venice, and Constance that
recognized the Pope and the autonomy, if not the de facto independence, of the many Italian states.
In Italian Politics
After
Barbarossa, his successors tried again to reassert Imperial authority over Italy
and challenged the Papacy’s power. It polarized cities that already suffered
from social divide and made different states fight the other. This resulted
into exiles and foreign intervention that destabilized Italy’s political arena.
In
many Italian states, especially the commercially successful, the divide between
Ghibellines and Guelfs worsened the already existing tensions between merchants
and landed aristocracy. Most nobles joined the Ghibellines because the
privileges the landed gentry enjoyed under imperial tutelage, while most
wealthy merchants supported the Guelfs to oppose the stifling and restrictive
authority of the Emperor. These tensions with their political rally points
eventually led to civil strife that engulfed many cities such as Genoa and Florence.
In
the end, the defeated party suffered exile as in the case of Petrarch and
Dante. In Florence, Guelfs suffered exile in 1248 and 1260. The properties of
the defeated also were confiscated and became booties for the victorious.
When
one party dominated a city, it sometimes also went to war with the city state
dominated by the opposite. For example, the Guelf Genoese and Florentines
fought the Ghibelline Pisa and Siena. Only Venice that choose to concentrate in
its commercial activities went unscathed by the Guelf and Ghibelline fighting.
 |
| Frederick II |
Because
of the Guelf and Ghibelline competition, Italy became a battle ground for
foreign powers. German Emperors continued incursions and Popes resisted and
sought assistance from other powers. In the 1230’s Emperor Frederick II,
grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, aimed to finish where his grandfather failed.
He struggled with the Pope and took some of his lands. He took Sardinia, which
was nominally under the Pope, and married off his son to a local princess and declaring
him King. Ghibelline parties also started to rose up in Rome. He successfully
defeated the Guelf Lombard League in the Battle of Cortenuova. He took the
opportunity to re-impose imperial rule by establishing viceroyalties in Italy
and placing the population under constant surveillance. He also threatened to
extinguish the Pope’s power by besieging Rome in February 1240. But the death
of the Pope led to his withdrawal with the view that the Papacy won’t pose a
threat for a long time. That, however, was a mistake. The next pope, Innocent
IV continued the fight against Frederick, calling him the Anti-Christ and
rallied the Guelfs to fight the Emperor and the Ghibellines. The Guelf-Ghibelline
War ended only with the death of Frederick in 1250.
Nonetheless,
Ghibellines continued to dominate the Italy ever since. Only in 1266 that
tables turned when Charles of Anjou marched into Italy in support of the Pope
and the Guelfs that the Ghibellines suffered defeat.
In
the aftermath, Guelfs’ attention turned from opposing Ghibellines to keeping
them out. They benefitted with the exile of the Ghibellines. Soon, however,
cracks formed within the Guelfs. In Florence, 2 Guelf parties emerged – the
White and Black. The White opposed to the growing influence to the local
affairs by the Papacy, in particular that of Pope Boniface VIII, while the
Black remained staunch supporters of the Pope.
Nevertheless,
the Ghibellines continued to be a threat as several Emperors continued to
aspire for control over Italy, like Henry VII and Louis IV.
Decline of Guelfs and
Ghibellines
The
14th century saw the decline in the fighting between the Guelfs and
Ghibellines. The Holy Roman Emperors started to lose interest in Italy and
concentrated in consolidating power within Germany. The Popes also lose
interest when the Papacy moved its seat from Rome in Italy to Avignon in
France. The remnants of the Guelfs and Ghibellines solely focus on local
antagonism between different factions.
In
the 19th century, at the height of Italian Unification, Neo-Guelfs
and Neo-Ghibellines emerged with the latter believing in the Pope’s role in
unifying the Peninsula and the latter otherwise.
Conclusion
The
Guelf and Ghibellines symbolized the division that prevailed in Medieval Italy.
It illustrated the divide in society and whose authority they wanted more. It
impacted the history of many Italian states like Genoa, Florence, Pisa, and
Milan, as well as the lives of many Italians, like Dante and Petrarch. It was
the predecessor of the left and right wing of modern politics that fight for
control of power. Eventually, the parties disappeared as the political climate
changed. But the concept of political divide it represents continues to be
relevant to this day.
Bibliography:
Encyclopedia
English, Edward. Encyclopedia of the Medieval World. New York, New York: Fact on File, Inc., 2005.
Websites
"Guelphs and Ghibellines." The Columbia Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. Accessed on October 28, 2017. URL: http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/italian-history/guelphs-and-ghibellines
The Editors of Britannica Encyclopedia. "Guelf and Ghibelline." Encyclopedia of Britannica. Accessed on October 28, 2017. URL: https://www.britannica.com/event/Guelf-and-Ghibelline
No comments:
Post a Comment