Welf II (1072 – 24 September 1120,

Kaufering Kaufering is a municipality in the district of Landsberg in Bavaria in Germany. It lies on the river Lech. During World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted ...

), or Welfhard, called Welf the Fat (''pinguis''), was

Duke of Bavaria The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and Monarch, kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic States of Germany, state in th ...

from 1101 until his death. In the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

genealogy, he is counted as Welf V.

Life

Welf was the oldest son of

Welf I, Duke of Bavaria Welf I (c. 1035/10406 November 1101) was Duke of Bavaria from 1070 to 1077 and from 1096 to his death. He was the first member of the Welf branch of the House of Este. In the genealogy of the Elder House of Welf, he is counted as Welf IV. Biog ...

, and his wife

Judith of Flanders Judith of Flanders (circa 843 – circa 870) was a Carolingian princess as the daughter of Charles II, Emperor of the Romans ("Charles the Bald"), who became Queen (consort) of Wessex by two successive marriages and later Margravine (consor ...

. In 1088 or 1089, when Welf was still a teenager, he married

Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany ( it, Matilde di Canossa , la, Matilda, ; 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as th ...

, who was more than twenty years older than him, in order to strengthen the relation between his family and the pope during the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture) and abbots of monast ...

between king and pope. During King Henry IV's Italian campaign of 1090, Welf and Matilda fought against the King. Sometime after April 1095, Welf and Matilda separated from each other. It is not clear whether Welf left Matilda, or vice versa. It is possible that Welf left Matilda after he found out that she had willed her lands to the papacy and he could not expect to inherit them. Together with his father, he changed sides to that of King Henry IV, possibly in exchange for a promise of succeeding his father as duke of Bavaria.Ghirardini, ''Storia critica'', p. 159. After his father's death in 1101, Welf inherited the office of duke of Bavaria. He continued his alliance with the kings of Germany. Although separated from Matilda, he remained married to her until her death in 1115. He did not remarry and died childless in 1120. He was succeeded as duke of Bavaria by his younger brother, Henry IX. Welf was buried at

Weingarten Abbey Weingarten Abbey or St. Martin's Abbey (german: Reichsabtei Weingarten until 1803, then merely ) is a Benedictine monastery on the Martinsberg (''St. Martin's Mount'') in Weingarten near Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). First founda ...

References

Sources

*L.L. Ghirardini, ''Storia critica di Matilde di Canossa'' (Modena, 1989). *E. Goez, 'Welf V. und Mathilde von Canossa,' in ''Welf IV. Schlüsselfigur einer Wendezeit: regionale und europäische Perspektiven'', Bauer D. and Becher M. (eds.), Munich, 2004, pp. 360–387. *Hay, David (2008). ''The military leadership of Matilda of Canossa, 1046-1115''. Manchester University Press. *A. Overmann, ''Gräfin Mathilde von Tuscien: Ihre Besitzungen. Geschichte ihres Gutes von 1115-1230 und ihre Regesten'' (1895). * *I.S. Robinson, ''Henry IV of Germany, 1056-1106'' (Cambridge, 2003).

External links

Welf II/V der Dicke, Herzog von Bayern
(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Welf Ii, Duke of Bavaria 1072 births 1120 deaths 12th-century dukes of Bavaria House of Welf Burials at Weingarten Abbey Matilda of Tuscany