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 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, and his wife
Judith of Flanders. 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 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