Guelphs and Ghibellines

Wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines
	Part of the Investiture Controversy
	; A 14th-century conflict between the militias of the Guelph and Ghibelline factions in the comune of Bologna, from the Croniche of Giovanni Sercambi of Lucca
Date	1125–1186; 1216–1392
Location	Northern-Central Italy
Result	1st phase: Peace of Constance (1186); 2nd phase: Stalemate (1392); Decline of free communes; rise of signorie; Diffusion of Black Death; Extinction of Hohenstaufen dynasty; Conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily by Charles of Anjou; Interregnum after Frederick II's death; Weakening of Imperial Authority over Italy;
Territorial; changes	Italian city-states and communes
Belligerents
Guelphs Holy See (Papacy); 1st phase Lombard League; ; 2nd phase Welfen (Empire); Pro-Angevin Sicily; Papal States; Pro-Guelph Florence; Pro-Guelph Milan led by Della Torre; Pro-Guelph Milan led by Visconti; House of Della Torre; Commune of Bologna; Republic of Siena; Republic of Lucca; Republic of Genoa; March of Ferrara; Republic of Massa; Pro-Guelph Montferrat; County of Savoy; Republic of Ancona; Patriarchate of Aquileia; Lodi; Perugia; Mantua; Orvieto; Variable Italian city-states; ;	Ghibellines Holy Roman Empire; 1st phase Holy Roman Empire; ; 2nd phase Staufen (Empire); Pro-Staufen Sicily; March of Treviso; County of Urbino; Pro-Ghibelline Florence; Pro-Ghibelline Milan led by Della Torre; Pro-Ghibelline Milan led by Visconti; Republic of Siena; Republic of Lucca; Republic of Pisa; Duchy of Modena; Republic of Massa; Pro-Ghibelline Montferrat; Pavia; Commune of Terni; Asti; Todi; Santa Fiora; Variable Italian city-states Empire of Nicaea; ; ;
Commanders and leaders
1st phase Guido da Landriano; ; 2nd phase Emperor Otto IV; Pope Gregory IX; Pope Celestine IV; Pope John XXII; Ottaviano degli Ubaldini; Charles of Anjou; John III of Armagnac; Azzo VII, Marquis of Ferrara; ;	1st phase Emperor Frederick I; ; 2nd phase Emperor Frederick II; Emperor Henry VII; Emperor Louis IV; Ezzelino III da Romano; Enzo of Sardinia; Manfred of Sicily; Guido I, Count of Urbino; ;

The Guelphs and Ghibellines (/ˈɡwɛlfs ... ˈɡɪbɪlaɪnz/ GWELFS ... GHIB-il-ynze, US also /-liːnz, -lɪnz/ -⁠eenz, -⁠inz; Italian: guelfi e ghibellini [ˈɡwɛlfi e ɡibelˈliːni, -fj e -]) were factions supporting respectively 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 the Concordat of Worms in 1122.

^ Angelov, Dimiter (2019). The Byzantine Hellene: The Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p.89.
^ Ippolito, Antonio Menniti (2005). Treccani (ed.). Guelfi e Ghibellini (in Italian).
^ Faini 2006, pp. 7–36
^ Jacques, Tony (2007). Greenwood Publishing Group (ed.). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 209. ISBN 9780313335372.

[1] Angelov, Dimiter (2019). The Byzantine Hellene: The Life of Emperor Theodore Laskaris and Byzantium in the Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p.89.

[2] Ippolito, Antonio Menniti (2005). Treccani (ed.). Guelfi e Ghibellini (in Italian).

[3] Faini 2006, pp. 7–36

[4] Jacques, Tony (2007). Greenwood Publishing Group (ed.). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 209. ISBN 9780313335372.

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