Guelfs and Ghibellines, gwelfs and gib'e-linz, in Italian history, the names of two great factions. During the Middle Ages the conflicts of these parties filled the pages of history. The names arose in Germany from rival contestants for the imperial dignity. In Italy the Guelfs were identified with the cause of the pope, that is to say, the church, and of the free or independent cities. The Ghibellines were the party of the emperor. Local tyranny, despotism, and villainy of the worst sort veiled themselves under either name. Local factions, cities, and dukes changed sides as might seem best calculated to promote their interest, but, on the whole, the Guelf name is identified with decentralization and local independence; the Ghibellines with imperial authority. A statement of the way the Italian cities were defeated in 1167 may be found in the Britannica. In 1334 Pope Benedict XII forbade the further use "of those once stirring names which had long been the rallying words of a sanguinary warfare."