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House of Welf

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For its maternal parent's house, see Elder House of Welf.
For its agnatic parent's house, see House of Este.
For the faction supporting the Pope in medieval Italy, see Guelphs and Ghibellines.
House of Welf (Guelf, Guelph)
Parent houseHouse of Este (agnatic)
Elder House of Welf (cognatic)
CountryGermany, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Founded11th century
FounderWelf I, Duke of Bavaria
Current headErnst August, Prince of Hanover
Final rulerErnest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick
Titles
Estate(s)Brunswick & Hanover
Deposition1918 (in Germany)
Cadet branchesHouse of Hanover
The possessions of the Welfs in the days of Henry the Lion

The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph[1]) 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.

Origins

The (Younger) House of Welf is the older branch of 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 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 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.

Bavaria and Saxony

Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, from 1120–1126, 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 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, 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 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 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 a huge ransom in 1193. Henry died at Brunswick in 1195.

Brunswick and Hanover

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.[2] He was the only Welf to become Holy Roman Emperor.

Coat-of-arms of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg

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 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 the style of the subordinate principality.[3] 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.

Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

In 1269 the Principality of Brunswick was formed following the first division of the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In 1432, as 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 the principality became the Duchy of Brunswick, ruled by the senior branch of the House of Welf.

Principality of Calenberg – later Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg

Coat of Arms of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1708)

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 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 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.

British succession

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 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 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.

Kingdom 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 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 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 the Prussian province of Hanover. The Welfs went into exile at Gmunden, Austria, where they built Cumberland Castle.

Brunswick succession

Coat-of-arms of the Duchy of Brunswick

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 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 is Queen Frederica's nephew Ernst August, the third and present husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Rulers of the House of Welf

House of Welf

Partitions of Brunswick-Lüneburg under Welf rule

County of Altdorf
(820-1191)
       Lordship of Lüneburg
(1126-1235)

Raised to:
Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
(1235–1269)
Annexed to the
Holy Roman Empire
Brunswick
(1269–1291) 		Lüneburg
(1st creation)
(1269–1369)
Grubenhagen
(1291–1596) 		       Wolfenbüttel
(1st creation)
(1291–1292)
      
Göttingen
(1291–1463) 		Wolfenbüttel
(2nd creation)
(1344–1400)
      
       Lüneburg under
Ascanian rule
(1373–1388)
      
Lüneburg
(2nd creation)
(1388–1705)
             
       Wolfenbüttel
(3rd creation)
(1409–1485)
Calenberg
(1st creation)
(1432–1584) 		      
      
             
Wolfenbüttel
(4th creation)
(1494–1807)
      
       (annexed Grubenhagen 1617)
       Calenberg
(2nd creation)
(1634–1692)
Recalled Hanover 1692
      
Electorate of Hanover
(1692–1866)
Annexed by
Kingdom of France
Brunswick
(1813–1918)
Annexed by Kingdom of Prussia

Table of rulers

Ruler Born Reign Death Ruling part Consort Notes
Elder House of Welf
Welf (I) 776 c.800-825 825 County of Altdorf Hedwig of Bavaria
four children		 Eponymous founder of the family
Conrad I the Elder ? 825-864 864 County of Altdorf Adelaide of Tours
three children
Welf I ? 864-876 876 County of Altdorf Adelaide of Tours
three children
Conrad II the Younger ? 864-876 876 County of Auxerre Waldrada of Worms
one child
Rudolf I 859 825-864 25 October 911 County of Auxerre
(until 888)

Kingdom of Upper Burgundy
(from 888)		 Guilla of Provence
c.880
four children		 First King of Burgundy, from 888.
Rudolf I 11 July 880 911-937 11 July 937 Kingdom of Upper Burgundy Bertha of Swabia
922
two children		 Also King of Italy (922-926).
Conrad the Peaceful 925 825-864 19 October 993 Kingdom of Upper Burgundy Adelaide of Bellay
one child

Matilda of France
866
four children
Rudolf I 859 825-864 25 October 911 Kingdom of Upper Burgundy Guilla of Provence
four children		 First King of Burgundy, from 888.
Eticho ? 876-911 c.911 County of Altdorf Unknown
three children
Henry (I) of the
Golden Chariot		 c.870 911-935 c.935 County of Altdorf Atha of Hohenwart
three children
Rudolf I c.895 935-950 c.950 County of Altdorf Siburgis
at least one child
Rudolf II ? 950-990 c.990 County of Altdorf Ita of Öhningen
three children
Henry (II) c.960 990-1000 15 November 1000[4] County of Altdorf Unmarried Left no descendants. He was succeeded by his brother.
Welf II c.960 1000-1030 10 March 1030[4] County of Altdorf Imiza of Luxembourg
1017
two children
Welf III 1007 1030-1055 13 November 1055 County of Altdorf Unmarried Also Duke of Carinthia. Left no descendants, and the lands passed to his nephews, sons of his sister Kunigunde.
Younger House of Welf
Welf IV c.1035/40 1055-1101 6 November 1101 County of Altdorf Ethelinde of Northeim
1062
no children

Judith of Flanders
1071
three children		 Son of Kunigunde of Altdorf and Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan, inherited his maternal family's possessions. Also Duke of Bavaria (1070-1077 and 1096-1101).
Welf V the Fat 1072 1101-1120 24 September 1120 County of Altdorf Matilda of Tuscany
1088/89
no children		 Left no children, and the county went to his brother. Also Duke of Bavaria.
Henry (III) the Black 1075 1120-1126 13 December 1126 County of Altdorf Wulfhilde of Saxony
1095
eight children		 Inherited by marriage possessions in the Luneburg, to the north.
Welf VI 1115 1126-1191 15 December 1191 County of Altdorf Uta of Schauenburg
c.1130
two children 		Children of Henry the Black, Welf VI and Henry the Proud divided their inheritance: Welf VI kept the original possessions to the south, and Henry the northern ones, besides inheriting his father's title of Duke of Bavaria (1136-38), and conquering also the title of Duke of Saxony (1137-1139) inherited from their mother. Welf VI would also went on to become Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto (1152-1160 and 1167-1173).

In 1129, after Henry the Proud's defeat against Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor, his sister Sophia was given a seat at Regensburg[5].

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 was annexed to the Holy Roman Empire.

Henry (I) the Proud 1108 1126-1139 20 October 1139 Lordship of Lüneburg Helena of Denmark
1202
Hamburg
one child
Sophia 1105 1129-1145 1145 County of Altdorf
(at Regensburg)		 Berthold III, Duke of Zähringen
c.1120
no children

Leopold, Margrave of Styria
c.1122
four children
Welf VII 1135 c.1150-1167 12 September 1167 County of Altdorf Unmarried
Regency of Gertrude of Süpplingenburg (1139-1142) Inherited Brunswick from his mother after her death in 1143. Also Duke of Saxony (1142-1180) and Duke of Bavaria (1156-1180). When Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, became king of Germany, he restored Bavaria to the Welf line.
Henry (II) the Lion 1129/31 1139-1195 6 August 1195 Lordship of Lüneburg Clementia of Zähringen
1147
three children

Matilda of England
1168
five children
Henry (III) the Elder 1173 1195-1213

1195-1212		 28 April 1227 Lordship of Lüneburg

Electoral Palatinate		 Agnes of Hohenstaufen
1193
three children

Agnes of Landsberg
1209
no children 		Inherited the land jointly until 1213, when after William's death, they resigned this posessions in favor that William's son, the inheritor of the Luneburg property. Henry was Count Palatine of the Rhine (1195-1213), and Otto was Holy Roman Emperor (1212-1218).
Otto 1175 1195-1213 19 May 1218 Lordship of Lüneburg

Beatrice of Swabia
1212
no children

Maria of Brabant
19 May 1214
Maastricht
no children

William Longsword 11 April 1184 1195-1213 12 December 1213 Lordship of Lüneburg Helena of Denmark
1202
Hamburg
one child
Henry (IV) the Younger 1196 1212-1214 26 April 1214 Electoral Palatinate Unmarried After his death the Palatinate was inherited by the House of Wittelsbach, to which his sister Agnes had married.

Dukes of Bavaria and Saxony

  • Welf I, Duke of Bavaria (1070–1077, 1096–1101)
  • Welf II, son of Welf I; Duke of Bavaria (1101–1120)
  • Henry IX, the Black, son of Welf I; Duke of Bavaria (1120–1126)
  • Henry X, the Proud, son of Henry the Black; Duke of Bavaria (1126–1138), Duke of Saxony (1137–1139)
  • Henry XI, the Lion, son of Henry the Proud; Duke of Saxony (1142–1180), Duke of Bavaria (1156–1180)

Count Palatine of the Rhine

  • Henry V, son of Henry the Lion; Count Palatine of the Rhine (1195–1213)
  • Henry VI, son of Henry V; Count Palatine of the Rhine (1213–1214)

Holy Roman Emperor

  • Otto IV, son of Henry the Lion; Holy Roman Emperor (1198–1215)

Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg

  • Otto I, grandson of Henry the Lion; Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1235–1252)
  • Albert I, son of Otto I; Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1252–1269); ancestor of the House of Hanover
  • John, son of Otto I; Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1252–1269)

Family trees

Welf family tree 12th century

Welf family tree 18th century to present

Some direct ancestors (fathers and sons) of the present generation are:

See also

References

  1. ^ Jones, B. (2013). Dictionary of World Biography. Canberra, Australia: Australian National University. p. 356. ISBN 9781922144492.
  2. ^ Canduci, pg. 294
  3. ^ Riedesel, Friedrich Adolf (1868). von Eelking, Max (ed.). Memoirs, and Letters and Journals, of Major General Riedesel During His Residence in America. Vol. 1. Translated by Stone, William L. Albany: J. Munsell. p. 29. I remain ever, Your affectionate Charles, Duke of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Brunswick, February 14, 1776. To Colonel Riedesel.
  4. ^ a b Medieval Lands - Wurttemberg
  5. ^ "Sophia von Bayern. In: Genealogie Mittelalter: Mittelalterliche Genealogie im Deutschen Reich bis zum Ende der Staufer". Retrieved 2016-04-27.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Welf".
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