Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/310

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GUELPH GUELPHS AND GHIBELLUSTES cal masses of crowded white petals, which have given to it the popular name, and the one most used in this country, of snowball, and with the French of boule de neige. The gar- den form is supposed to have originated in Gelderland, but it has been so long in culti- Ouelder Kose (Viburnum opulus). vation that its history is obscure. A form with variegated foliage is cultivated, and there has recently been introduced a variety with very large flower clusters as V. macrocepha- lum. The Japanese viburnum plicatum has finer foliage and flowers than the common plant. All are of the easiest culture. GUELPH, a town and inland port of entry, capital of Wellington co., Ontario, Canada, 45 m. W. S. W. of Toronto; pop. in 1871, 6,878. It is built upon several hills, on the river Speed, and on the Grand Trunk railway, at the terminus of the Wellington, Grey, and Bruce line, and the Gait and Guelph branch of the Great Western railway. The court house and several other buildings are of limestone quar- ried in the vicinity. The surrounding country is a rich agricultural region, and wheat and flour are shipped in considerable quantities. The river here falls about 30 ft., furnishing abundant water power. There are several flour mills, saw mills, planing mills, breweries, and manufactories of woollens, iron castings, ma- chinery, agricultural implements, leather, sew- ing machines, musical instruments, wooden ware, &c. There are three branch banks, a library and reading room, two daily and three weekly newspapers, and churches of seven de- nominations. GUELPHS AND CHIBELLIKES (Ger. Welfen, Ital. Guelfi, and Ger. Wiblingen or Waiblin- gen, an estate belonging to the Hohenstaufen family, in the modern Wurtemberg), the names of two celebrated factions in Italy and Ger- many during the middle ages. Guelph or Welf is a baptismal name in several German fami- lies, but more particularly known in the his- tory of a line of princes originally Italian, and traced to the 9th century. They emigrated to Germany two centuries later, and became di- vided into two branches, both possessing large estates in southern Germany, between the Brenner and St. Gothard. The present royal family of England and the ducal line of Bruns- wick in Germany trace their descent to a Guelphic princess, Kunigunde, the heiress of one of the branches, who became the wife of Alberto Azzo II., prince of Este, born in 996. By this marriage the estates of the Guelphs were united to those of the Este princes in Lombardy. The son of Kunigunde, Guelph IV., duke of Bavaria, inherited also the estates of the senior branch of the Guelphs, called the Guelphs of Altorf, and became thus the found- er, as it were, of the reunited Guelphs. The emperor Henry IV. bestowed upon him the duchy of Bavaria, but soon incurred his enmity by restoring a part of the Bavarian possessions to their rightful duke, Otho II. Guelph took up arms against the emperor, and, in league with other discontented princes, defeated him in several battles. They were afterward rec- onciled, and Guelph joined in the first crusade and was present at the taking of Jerusalem. He died in Cyprus in 1101, on his return. Guelph If., his son, at first supported the em- peror Henry IV., but soon deserted him and embraced the cause of his rebellious son Henry V., of whom he became a great favorite. He died in 1120, without children; and the duchy of Bavaria was inherited by his brother, Henry the Black, who transmitted it to his son, Henry the Haughty, in 1126. The latter married the daughter of the emperor Lothaire, and received from his father-in-law the duchy of Saxony. He subsequently disputed the crown of Ger- many with Conrad III., was deprived of most of his possessions, and was put under the ban of the empire (1139). His brother, Count Guelph of Altorf, guardian of the famous Henry the Lion, his nephew, the son of Henry the Haughty, at that time but ten years of age, endeavored to recover for his ward possession of the confiscated duchies. Bavaria had been bestowed upon Leopold of Austria; Saxony upon Albert the Bear, of Brandenburg. The Saxons demanded a Guelphic prince ; and Al- bert, at the emperor's desire, formally resigned the duchy to the youthful heir. In Bavaria Count Guelph was less successful. He was put under the ban of the empire as a rebel in 1140, but ventured nevertheless to give battle to Conrad's troops, near Weinsberg, and was de- feated. In this action were first heard those famous battle cries, which afterward became the most noted in Europe: "Strike for the Guelphs ;" " Strike for the Ghibellines." The wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines, origina- ting thus, soon became of much wider political consequence. In Germany they were of no great duration, but they long raged in Italy. Throughout the peninsula the family of the Guelphs found partisans weary of the yoke of