X-Nico

3 unusual facts about house of Welf


Brick Gothic

In the areas dominated by the Welfs, the use of brick to replace natural stone began with cathedrals and parish churches at Oldenburg (Holstein), Segeberg, Ratzeburg, and Lübeck.

Golden Bull of Sicily

In September 1198 Frederick's younger half-brother Ottokar I made use of the rivalry among Otto IV from the House of Welf and the Hohenstaufen duke Philip of Swabia, youngest son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who both had been elected King of the Romans.

Welf pudding

Welf pudding gets its name from the colours of the House of Welf (also known as the House of Guelph), a German aristocratic family that ruled the Principality of Lüneburg in medieval times.


Acciaioli family

Descent can be traced in an unbroken line from one Gugliarello Acciaioli in the 12th century; family legend says that Gugliarello (a name possibly derived from It. guglia, needle) migrated from Brescia to Florence in 1160 because they were Guelphs and fled Barbarossa's invasion of Northern Italy.

Bernhard von Spanheim

In the conflict between the rivaling House of Hohenstaufen and the Welfs around the German throne, he originally continued his brother's support for their relative Philip of Swabia, grandnephew of King Conrad III, who had been elected King of the Romans in 1198.

Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg

Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1488 – 29 June 1563, Neuhaus upon Elbe) was a member of the house of Welf and a Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg.

County of Calvelage

Hermann I, died probably in 1082, Count of Calvelage; after 1070 he married Ethelinde von Northeim, daughter of Otto of Northeim, 1061-1070 Duke of Bavaria, after he had been deposed and his daughter had been repudiated by his son-in-law and successor, Welf I, Duke of Bavaria 1070-1101 (Welf).

House of Hanover

Patrilineal descent, descent from father to son, is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations, which means that the historically accurate royal house of monarchs of the House of Hanover was the House of Lucca (or Obertenghi, or Este, or Welf).

Ludwig Windthorst

Windthorst was born at Kaldenhof manor in the present-day municipality of Ostercappeln, in the lands of the former Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück, which had been securalised to the Electorate of Hanover under the Protestant Welf dynasty in 1803.

Oleśnica

When the Podiebrad family became extinct in 1647, town and duchy were inherited by the Swabian dukes of Württemberg, and in 1792 by the Welf dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Privilegium Minus

The issue of the Privilegium Minus document is to be seen before the backdrop of the conflict between the Imperial House of Hohenstaufen and the ducal House of Welf in the Holy Roman Empire.

White horse of Kent

Indeed, continental origins of this emblem can be found from the coat of arms of Lower Saxony, the Dutch region of Twente, the House of Welf (who adapted it in the late 14th century; before then the Welf coat of arms was a golden lion on red ground) and the modern German State of North Rhine-Westphalia: the Saxon Steed.


see also

County of Brunswick

The County developed out of the possessions of the Brunonen dynasty centered on the town of Brunswick and was enlarged by the inheritances of Henry the Fat of Northeim around Northeim and Göttingen and a part of the Billung inheritance around Lüneburg, which fell to the House of Welf in 1106.