Continuation of the Welf-Hohenstaufen Feud

Name: Continuation of the Welf-Hohenstaufen Feud
Start: 1198

Type Event Region Germany Time 1198

In 1198 Otto IV of the Welf family was crowned King of Germany at Aachen, marking a new peak of the Welf-Ghibelline feud since the mid-12th century.

Timeline

1125–1197Holy Roman Empire · Holy Roman EmpireThe Welf family (Guelphs) and the Hohenstaufen family (Ghibellines) had been opposed since the 12th century over imperial succession and Italian policy; Henry VI died early in 1197 and his son Frederick II was still a child, plunging the empire once again into factional struggle.
1201Aachen · AachenOn 12 July 1198 the Archbishop of Cologne crowned Otto IV as King of Germany at Aachen; the Welf faction thereby openly challenged the Hohenstaufen monopoly on the imperial throne, creating a dual kingship alongside Philip of Swabia, already crowned at Mainz.
1201–1208Germany · GermanyAfter the 1198 coronation both sides formed alliances: Otto gained support from England, France, and initially the pope, while Philip controlled most princes of southern Germany; the feud expanded from a family quarrel into an empire-wide civil war with international intervention, with no turning point until 1208.

Guelphs and Ghibellines https://www.britannica.com/topic/Guelphs-and-Ghibellines
Germany in the High Middle Ages c. 1050-1200 — Horst Fuhrmann (1986)