Welf VI

Welf VI (1115–1191), third son of Duke Henry IX of Bavaria, inherited the Welf family lands in Swabia around Ravensburg while his elder brothers took Bavaria and the church.

In 1152 his nephew, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, enfeoffed him with the duchy of Spoleto and the margraviate of Tuscany, founding the Italian line of the Welf dynasty. He campaigned with Barbarossa in Italy; his only son Welf VII died of epidemic illness at Siena during the retreat in 1167. He later surrendered his Italian states to the emperor and was buried at Steingaden Abbey, which he had founded.