The Guelphs and Ghibellines are factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of central and northern Italy.

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the split between these two parties is a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of medieval Italy.

The struggle for power between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire had arisen with the Investiture Conflict, which began in 1075 and ended with the Concordat of Worms in 1122.

The division between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy, however, persists until the fifteenth century.