ghibelline
Noun
Meaning
One of a faction in Italy, in the 12th and 13th centuries, which favored the German emperors, and opposed the Guelfs, or adherents of the poses.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
Examples
Dante says it was got by treachery by "long promises and short performances" as Guido of Montefeltro counselled, but this account by the implacable Ghibelline has long since been discredited.
Eventually, however, the Visconti family were able to seize power (signoria) in Milan, based on their "Ghibelline" friendship with the German Emperors.
Both the Guelph and the Ghibelline factions worked together to bring about the Ambrosian Republic in Milan.
Ghibelline revolts broke out across the north of Italy, and increasingly occupied the attention of Charles, even as Michael Palaeologus was negotiating a union of churches with the Pope.
The general tendency of its policy throughout the war of investitures was Imperial ( Ghibelline )and not Roman ( Guelph ); and its bishops were, for the most part, of German extraction.
The Ghibelline Visconti family was to retain power in Milan for a century and a half from the early 14th century until the middle of the 15th century.