Histories of Medieval Italy

by Oscar Browning

http://amazon.com/dp/1494292602

After the death of Frederick II, an interval of 23 years passed without the appointment of a king of the Romans (1250-1273), and an interval of 60 years without the recognition of an emperor in Italy (1250-1309). The country therefore was left to govern itself, but it was not at all the less divided by discords and distracted by dissensions. The parties of Guelph and Ghibelline raged as fiercely as if the lances of the German hosts were ever glimmering on the crest of the Alps, or as if the Lombard leagues were in constant watchfulness against an impending foe. These two party names occur again and again in history, until the time when both factions were crushed beneath the heel of a common enemy. They represented divergent principles, although in the heat of conflict all question of principle was too often disregarded. Speaking generally, the Ghibellines were the party of the emperor, and the Guelphs the party of the Pope; the Ghibellines were on the side of authority, or sometimes of oppression, the Guelphs were on the side of liberty and self-government. The Ghibellines were the supporters of a universal empire of which Italy was to be the head, the Guelphs were on the side of national life and national individuality.