Ghibelline

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See also: ghibelline

English

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Etymology

From Italian ghibellino, from German Waiblingen, from Middle High German Wibellingen, the name of a castle in Swabia held by the Hohenstaufen dynasty (nowadays in the township of Waiblingen), from Old High German Weibilinga, Weibelingen, possibly a suffixed form of the personal name Wabilo, Wahilo.

The emperor's supporters used the name as a rallying cry, which was probably introduced to Italy during the reign of Frederick Barbarossa, 1155—1190.

Pronunciation

Noun

Ghibelline (plural Ghibellines)

  1. (historical, politics) In the politics of medieval Italian city states, any member of a faction that supported the Holy Roman Emperor in a long struggle against the Guelphs and the Pope.
    • 1878, Arthur Elam Haigh, The Political Theories of Dante: The Stanhope Prize Essay, 1878, Thos. Shrimpton & Co., page 6:
      These two factions came to be called Guelphs and Ghibellines respectively. The Guelphs were the supporters of the Popes, the Ghibellines of the Emperors. The Guelphs upheld the temporal supremacy of the Pope: the Ghibellines would separate temporal from spiritual authority. The Guelphs resisted the establishment of complete imperial government in the cities of northern Italy: the Ghibellines, with the glories of the old Roman Empire before their eyes, longed to see Italy welded together into a single nation, and governed and controlled by the strong hands of the emperor.
    • 2012, Elizabeth K. Haller, Dante Aleghieri (1265—1321), Lister M. Matheson (editor), Icons of the Middle Ages, Volume 1, ABC-Clio (Greenwood) page 246,
      The Ghibellines gained power in Florence in 1249 and immediately banished the Guelphs. Ezzelino da Romano was one of the leaders of the Ghibelline movement and had a reputation for cruelty. He is depicted by Dante as a tyrant in The Divine Comedy.
    • 2019, Nicolino Applauso, Dante's Comedy and the Ethics of Invective in Medieval Italy‎, Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Books), page 117:
      More specifically, Fastello is said to address those Ghibellines who resided in the Valdarno area.

Usage notes

The division between Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy persisted until the 15th century, long after the original controversy had been resolved.

Translations

References

  • Taylor, I. (1896). Names and Their Histories: Alphabetically Arranged as a Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature. United Kingdom: Rivington, Percival, p. 290

Further reading

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