English
Guelph
Guelph comes from Italian guelfo, and goes back to Middle High German Welf.
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350Welf
- Italianc. 1300–presentguelfo
- Englishearliest quotation 1973Guelph
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350Welf
- Italianc. 1300–presentguelfo
- Englishearliest quotation 1973Guelph
Earliest quotation: 1973, Stewart A. Stehlin, Bismarck and the Guelph Problem 1866-1890: “Bismarck was aware of the opportunity which the Reichstag…”
The story
Welf II, Duke of Bavaria, inherited from his Italian wife, the Countess Matilda of Tuscany, possessions including Tuscany, Ferrara, Modena, Mantua and Reggio, which played a role in the Investiture Controversy. The Welf dynasty sided with the Pope in this controversy, so partisans of the Pope became known in Italy as Guelfi.
Every English word from Middle High German Welf
Today it means
noun In the politics of medieval Italian city states, any member of a faction that supported the Pope in a long struggle against the Ghibellines and the Holy Roman Emperor.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle High German Welf / Guelph