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Welf VIMargrave of Tuscany in 1152-1160 and 1167-1173
Date of Birth: 16.12.1116
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Welf VI, Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto
- Rise to Power
- Italian Lands and Relationship with Barbarossa
- Family
Welf VI, Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto
Early Life and FamilyWelf VI was born as the third son of Henry IX the Black of the Welf dynasty and Wulfhild, daughter of Magnus Billung. His elder brother, Henry the Proud, married the daughter of Emperor Lothair, securing a substantial portion of the family's ancestral lands in Swabia. Henry the Proud became Duke of Bavaria and Saxony, while their brother Conrad pursued an ecclesiastical career. Welf's sister Gertrude (Edith) married Frederick the One-Eyed, becoming the mother of Frederick Barbarossa. In 1131, Welf married Uta, daughter of Godfrey Calvus, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and became embroiled in a dispute over the inheritance of Calw.
Rise to Power
After the death of his brother Henry the Proud in 1139, Welf led the opposition to King Conrad III in Bavaria, but was defeated at Weinsberg in 1140. He later joined the Second Crusade in King Conrad's army and suffered defeat at Dorylaeum on October 25, 1147. When King Conrad allied with Byzantine Emperor Manuel I against King Roger II of Sicily, Welf supported the Sicilian ruler. However, despite returning from the crusade ahead of the emperor, Welf lacked significant success in Germany. He was defeated at Flochberg in February 1150 and concluded peace with the emperor in 1151.
Italian Lands and Relationship with Barbarossa
In 1152, the new Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who was Welf's nephew, appointed him Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Tuscany, granting him Sardinia, Corsica, and lands that had been the "inheritance of the Countess Matilda." Following the death of his son Welf VII in 1167, Welf VI sold his Italian possessions and rights to Frederick Barbarossa in 1173. In 1179, he offered to sell his ancestral lands in Swabia, including Ravensburg, to his nephew, Henry the Lion. While Henry agreed, he delayed payment, prompting Welf VI to offer the lands to Barbarossa. By purchasing the lands, Barbarossa strengthened the Hohenstaufen position in Swabia, leading to conflict with Henry the Lion.
Family
Welf and Uta had one child:Welf VII(d. 1167): Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Tuscany from 1160-1167, who died in an epidemic.
