Coat of arms of an Italian family with Ghibelline-style heraldic chief at top

Guelphs and Ghibellines

In his 2013 novel Inferno, Dan Brown mentions the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. As it was so important for both Medieval Florence and the life of poet Dante Alighieri, we want to briefly explain what this opposition was about. Simply put, the Guelphs and Ghibellines were rival parties in medieval Germany and…