Ghibelline

American  

[gib-uh-lin, -leen] / ˈgɪb ə lɪn, -ˌlin /

noun

1. a member of the aristocratic party in medieval Italy and Germany that supported the claims of the German emperors against the papacy: politically opposed to the Guelphs.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Ghibellines.

Ghibelline British  

/ -ˌliːn, ˈɡɪbɪˌlaɪn /

noun

1. a member of the political faction in medieval Italy originally based on support for the German emperor

2. (modifier) of or relating to the Ghibellines Compare Guelph 1

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Other Word Forms

• Ghibellinism
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Ghibelline

1565–75; < Italian Ghibellino < Middle High German *wībeling- ( German Waiblingen ) a Hohenstaufen estate in Germany

Example Sentences

But the trend had been beaten down through the centuries when the peninsula served as the cockpit of Guelph and Ghibelline, despot and noble, rival Spaniard, Frenchman and German.

From Time Magazine Archive

Guelph comes from hwelp or whelp, meaning a wolf's pup, and Ghibelline is an Italian attempt to pronounce the name of the counts of Waiblingen.

From Time Magazine Archive

Moved by the reasons stated above, I believe, the Venetians encouraged the Guelf and Ghibelline sects in their subject cities.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

Under this impulsion and the restless energy of Rainerio no time was lost in extending the institution in every direction save where Ghibelline potentates such as Ezzelin and Uberto prevented its introduction.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles

Its open manifestations were readily suppressed when the Ghibelline chiefs who protected it were destroyed, but in secret it still flourished and maintained its organization.

From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume II by Lea, Henry Charles