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 .
41-724: The Genealogia Welforum ("Genealogy of the Welfs") is the earliest history of the Welf dynasty . It is an anonymous work in Latin , composed at Weingarten Abbey in the early 1120s. It was commissioned by Henry the Black , the Welf duke of Bavaria who died in 1126. It may have been produced in response to the canonization of Bishop Conrad of Constance in 1123. Conrad was a Welf and his canonization stimulated Henry's interest in his ancestors, since at
82-571: A half-brother of the new king Conrad. Saxony, which he had attempted to hold but was not officially invested with, was given to the Ascanian count Albert the Bear , son of Eilika of Saxony , a younger daughter of the last Billung duke Magnus. In 1139 Henry succeeded in expelling his enemies from Saxony and was preparing to attack Bavaria when he suddenly died in Quedlinburg . Henry is buried in
123-648: 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
164-598: 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
205-564: 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
246-501: A war of devastation, Count Frederick submitted in 1133, and two years later the Hohenstaufen brothers made their peace with Emperor Lothair. In 1136, Henry accompanied his father-in-law to Italy , and taking command of a Bavarian division of the Imperial army marched into the south Italian Kingdom of Sicily up to Bari , devastating the land as he went. Having distinguished himself by his military abilities during this campaign, Henry
287-456: 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
328-674: 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,
369-536: 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,
410-578: The Cistercian Order , Henry was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Bavaria . He shared the family possessions in Saxony , Bavaria and Swabia with his younger brother Welf VI . In 1127, Henry married Gertrude , the only child of King Lothair III of Germany . Henry's father had been promised her marriage and inheritance as reward for his changing to support Lothair in the royal election of 1125 against
451-448: The Hohenstaufen rival Duke Frederick II of Swabia . Gertrude was heir of the properties of three Saxon dynasties: the House of Supplinburg , the Brunonids , and the counts of Northeim . The marriage marked the expansion of power of the Welf dynasty, Bavarian dukes since 1070, to the northern parts of Germany . The couple had a son, Henry the Lion . Henry was a loyal supporter in the warfare between his father-in-law King Lothair and
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#1732765267147492-582: 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
533-623: 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
574-697: 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
615-483: 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
656-599: 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
697-531: The Hohenstaufen brothers, Duke Frederick II (who was Henry's brother-in-law, having been married to his sister Judith ) and Conrad, then duke in Franconia and anti-king of Germany. While engaged in this struggle, Henry was also occupied in suppressing a rising in Bavaria, led by Count Frederick of Bogen , during which both duke and count sought to establish their own candidates as bishop of Regensburg . After
738-656: 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
779-579: The Latin catulus , which is synonymous with Middle High German welf , both meaning 'whelp'. The compiler was apparently ignorant of much of early Welf history. The earliest family member he mentions is Eticho , founder of Altomünster Abbey . Some of his information is inaccurate. Henry of the Golden Plough was not a son of Eticho, but lived in the following century. King Louis the Stammerer
820-694: 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,
861-615: 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
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#1732765267147902-488: The contemporary chronicler Otto of Freising , after his appointment as Duke of Saxony he boasted of a realm stretching "from sea to sea, from Denmark to Sicily". However, the same qualities which earned him the cognomen of "the Proud" aroused the jealousy of the princes and so ultimately prevented his election. The new king, Conrad III, demanded the Imperial Regalia which Henry had received from Lothair, and
943-768: 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
984-583: The duke in return asked for his investiture with the Saxon duchy. But Conrad, who feared his power, refused to assent to this on the pretext that it was unlawful for two duchies to be in one hand. Attempts at a settlement failed, and when in July 1138 Henry refused to take the oath of allegiance, he was banned and deprived of both his duchies. Bavaria was given to the Babenberg margrave Leopold IV of Austria ,
1025-524: 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
1066-421: 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
1107-640: 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
1148-537: 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
1189-591: 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
1230-519: The same time he took an inventory of his family's tombs. The Genealogia is a shorter and less detailed work than the Historia Welforum produced a half-century later. It is especially limited in its coverage of the Welfs before Conrad. It contains nothing on the Burgundian branch . It does report the legend that the Welfs were descended from the Roman senator Catiline , whose name is derived from
1271-415: 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
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1312-438: 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
1353-551: The treaty of 1374 was abolished, and the Principality was secured for the Welfs. [REDACTED] Some direct ancestors (fathers and sons) of the present generation are: Henry X, Duke of Bavaria Henry the Proud ( German : Heinrich der Stolze ) ( c. 1108 – 20 October 1139), a member of the House of Welf , was Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X ) from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony (as Henry II ) as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto from 1137 until his death. In 1138 he
1394-568: Was a candidate for the election as King of the Romans but was defeated by Conrad of Hohenstaufen . Henry was the second son of Duke Henry IX of Bavaria and Wulfhilde , daughter of Duke Magnus of Saxony . He was thus not only a member of the Welf family, but, what was quite important, also senior heir of the Saxon House of Billung . Henry came of age in 1123, in 1126 his father retired to Weingarten Abbey where he and his wife died shortly afterwards. As his elder brother Conrad entered
1435-476: 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
1476-527: Was appointed as margrave of Tuscany , succeeding Engelbert III of Sponheim , and as Lothair's successor in the Duchy of Saxony. He was also given the private properties of late Margravine Matilda of Tuscany from the hands of Pope Innocent II . When Emperor Lothair died on his way back from Italy in December 1137, Henry's wealth and position made him a formidable candidate for the German crown. According to
1517-498: 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
1558-515: Was never emperor nor was he married to Eticho's daughter Hildegard. The Genealogia is preserved in Munich, Bavarian State Library , manuscript Clm 21563, at folio 41. It was copied at Weihenstephan Abbey in the 13th century. A copy was made from it in the 18th century, now in Clm 28679 under the title Genealogia de Guelfis . Welf dynasty The (Younger) House of Welf is the older branch of
1599-475: 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
1640-562: 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
1681-497: 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