Welf VII was the only son of Welf VI

Welf VI

Welf VI was the margrave of Tuscany and duke of Spoleto , the third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, and a member of the illustrious Italo-German family of the Welf....

, Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Tuscany, and Uta, daughter of Godfrey of Calw, count palatine of the Rhine. He was a member of the House of Welf.

His father inherited the family's estates in Swabia

Swabia

Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...

, including the prominent counties of Altdorf

Altdorf

Altdorf may refer to: In Switzerland:*Altdorf, Switzerland, the capital of the canton of Uri , *Altdorf, Schaffhausen, a village in the canton of Schaffhausen ,...

 and Ravensburg

Ravensburg

Ravensburg is a town in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an important trading centre...

, which he gave to Welf. Welf, however, spent much of his time managing the Italian possessions while his father stayed in Swabia. Both Welfs supported Frederick Barbarossa as king of Germany and the younger Welf (VII) accompanied him on his Italian campaigns, starting in 1154. In 1160, he was made duke of Spoleto by the emperor. Between 1164 and 1166, he participated in the famous feud between his father and Hugh of Tübingen, which the emperor himself resolved. He was a participant in the campaign of 1167, in which malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

 devastated the army and forced the emperor back over the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

. Welf was a victim of the malaria and died at Siena

Siena

Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...

. He was buried in Steingaden Abbey

Steingaden Abbey

Steingaden Abbey was a Premonstratensian monastery in Steingaden in Bavaria, Germany.-History:Dedicated to John the Baptist, the abbey was founded in 1147 as a Premonstratensian house by Welf VI, third son of Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria, and brother of Duke Henry the Proud...

 in Bavaria, where his father was also later buried.