Guelphs & Ghibellines

Some of you may remember the ‘Shadow Empire’ incident of EU4, where the Emperor ‘races’ to keep the Italian countries inside the HRE. However, one century earlier, the political landscape of Italy was more complex in that regard, as two main political factions had been fighting for around 200 years: the Guelphs, defenders of the Pope, and the Ghibellines, supporters of the Imperial power.