GUELFS
\ɡˈɛlfs], \ɡˈɛlfs], \ɡ_ˈɛ_l_f_s]\
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A potent Italian faction, frequently mentioned in history as opposed to the Ghibellines, and as supporters of the Pope and the independence of Italy.
By Nuttall, P.Austin.
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(It. Hist.) In the twelfth century, the Welfs, or Guelfs, dukes of Bavaria, were constantly at war with the house of Hohenstauffen, whose chief adversary in Italy was the pope. The popes thus became the heads of the Guelf party, as opposed to the Ghibellines, or supporters of the emperor ; and the struggle between the two became a contest between the spiritual and temporal powers.
By Henry Percy Smith
Word of the day
G. K. Chesterton
- conservative English writer of the Roman Catholic persuasion; in addition to volumes criticism and polemics he wrote detective novels featuring Father Brown (1874-1936)