Welf II (1072 – 24 September 1120,
Kaufering), 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 kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
from 1101 until his death. In the
Welf genealogy, he is counted as Welf V.
Life
Welf was the oldest son of
Welf I, Duke of Bavaria, 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 (consort ...
. 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 ...
, 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 mona ...
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.
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