Welf II (1072 – 24 September 1120,
Kaufering), or Welfhard, called Welf the Fat (''pinguis''), was
Duke of Bavaria
The following is a list of monarchs during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1918, Bavaria has been under a republican form of government, and from 19 ...
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
Welf I ( 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.
Bio ...
, and his wife
Judith of Flanders. In 1088 or 1089, when Welf was still a teenager, he married
Matilda of Tuscany, 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.
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
Jure uxoris officeholders