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About the Swiss Guard
Defenders of the Church's Freedom
The Uniform of the Swiss Guard
Not many of the visitors to Rome, who pose for a photograph in front of the Swiss soldiers on guard at the gates of Vatican City, are familiar with the history of these troops who take an oath of loyality to the Pope. To know more we must go back to the period of the Renaissance and discover the motives that in 1506 caused Pope Julius II to invite to Rome the Helvetian soldiers, renowned for their courage, noble sentiments and loyality. Many centuries earlier the great Latin historian, Tacitus, had said: "The Helvetians are a people of warriors, famous for the valour of their soldiers." This is why the Swiss Cantons, as allies first with one side and then with another, payed such an important role in the history of European politics. In fact as allies of Pope Julius II in 1512 they helped to shape Italy's destiny and were granted by the Pope the title of "Defender of Church's freedom". In those times, when to be a mercenary soldier was a commonplace occupation, there lived a people of warriors in the very heart of the Alps.
The first Swiss Cantons had about 500,000 inhabitants and formed an overpopulated country, where, because of the precarious economic conditions of the times, there was much poverty. There was no choice but jobs was that of a mercenary soldier abroad.
There were some 15,000 men available for this type of work which was "organized" and controlled by the small Confederation of Cantons. The Confederation authorized the enlistment of the men and in return received corn, salt, or other commercial goods. The men themselves regarded this warring as a temporary period of summer emigration. They took part in brief but glorious wars and then returned home with the "pay" and the booty, to spend the winter. They were the best troops of those times. Without cavalry and with little artillery, they had invented a tactic of movement that was superior to all others.
Therefore they were in great demand both by France and by Spain. They were similar to a semimobile rampart, standing tall and impenetrable, and it is impossible to understand the Italian Wars without taking these mercenaries into account. Already in th 13th and 14th centuries, after the Swiss Cantons had become independent, many of their men were fighting in Germany and Italy and as the Cantons were unable to prevent this type of emigration, they sought at least to organize it.
The Swiss Guards in the Vatican
January 22nd, 1506, is the official date of birth of the Pontifical Swiss Guard, because on that day, towards the evening, a group of one hundred and fifty Swiss soldiers commanded by Captain Kaspar von Silenen, of Canton Uri, passed through the first time the Vatican, where they were blessed by Pope Julius II
The prelate Johann Burchard of Strassbourg, Master of Pontifical Ceremonies at that time, and author of a famous chronicle, noted the event in his diary. In actual fact Pope Sixtus IV made a previous alliance in 1497 with the Confederates, which forsaw the possibility of recruiting mercenaries, and he had barracks built for them near where there is, still today, the small Church of St. Pellegrino, in Via Pellegrino in Vatican City. Later, renewing the old pact, Innocent VIII (1484-1492) also desired to make use of them against the Duke of Milan. And Alexander VI also engaged Confederate soldiers during the time of the alliance between the Borgia family and the King of France. While the Borgias were so powerful the so called Italian Wars bean in which the Swiss soldiers were always present, in the front line, at times for France, and at others to support the Holy See or the Holy Roman Empire ruled by a German sovereign.
When the Swiss mercenaries heard that Charles VIII, King of France, was planning a great expedition against Naples, they flocked to enlist. Towards the end of the year 1494, thousands of them were in Rome, passing through with the French army, which in February of the following year, occupied Naples. Among the participants in that expedition against Naples, there was also Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, future Pope Julius II, who under Pope Alexader VI had left Italy and gone to France.
He was well aquainted with the Swiss, because some twenty years earlier he had been granted as one of many benefices, the Bishopric of Lausanne. A few months later however, Charles VIII was forced to abandon Naples in all haste and he barely succeeded in forcing a blockade and escaping to France, In fact Pope Alexander VI had connected Milan, Venice, the Germanic Empire and Ferdinand the Catholic to form a barrier against the French.
Giuliano della Rovere was born at Albissola, in the province of Savona on December 5th, 1443, into a poor family. He became a Franciscan. His life was greatly influenced by his father's brother, Francesco who, on becoming Pope Sixtus IV, called him to Rome and bestowed on the ypung man, titles and reponsibilites, and in December 1471 created him a Cardinal assigning him the titular church of St. Peter in Chains. Later, as Pope Julius II, Giuliano soon realized the sad plight of Italy under the dominion of foreigners, France, Spain and the Empire, and the even more pitiful condition of the Roman Pontificate. Therefore he devoted all the energy of his "terrible" nature, to defending and restorning the Church's temporal power, because in the servitude of Italy he saw the danger of the Church's servitude.
For this reason he wanted the great powers to be kept away from Italy. All his political action was aimed at sterngthening the authority of the Pope in Rome and in the Papal States, at retrienving lost territories and at driving foreign powers from Italy. In this sense he can truly be considered as one of the builders of a united italy.
He was an excellent ruler and gave Rome order and peace. He banned duelling, promoted hygiene and agriculture, and issued maritime laws. He was a wise and just administrator, and reformed the monetary system introducing a new coin, the "giulio".
In religious affairs too, he was no less active: he convoked a Lateran Council and issued a reconfirmation of the Bull that nullified any simoniacal papal election. He punished with excommunication whoever hindered the free exercise of papal authority or appealed against the Pope to the Council. He encouraged the reform of convents and religious orders, gave impulse to the mission. He also put a proposal of Church reform to the Latern Council, and to enhance the beauty of the liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica, he institute the famous Giulia Chapel.
Juliu II strove not only for civil and political order but also for "beauty", and he promoted a series of initiatives tha gave Rome immortal work of architecture, sculpture and painting. For this he called to Rome, Michelangelo, Raffaello, Pinturicchio and Bramante. He was personally present at the laying of the foundaion stone for the new St. Peter's Basilica.
In roder to ensure the continuity of his restoration, Julius had first of all to protect his own personal safety.
Rather than call on the Spaniards, also renowned for their valour, but who were a reminder of the little-loved Borgia domination, he chose to surround himself with Swiss Guard for the defens of his person and the Vatican.
Who was largely responsible for the creation of this pontifical body-guard?
At the Papal court during the Pontificate of Innocent VIII there had been a certain, Peter von Gertenstein, Swiss, whose gather was priminent figure in the French sympathizing party in Lucerne. After having followed his father in the service of the French, he became a priest and for his father's merits was chosen to be the King's candidate for the Diocese of Sion, in Vallese. Pope Alexander, however, who opposed the French, preferred Nikolaus Shiner, uncle of the future cardinal Matthaeus Schiner. This man, an enemy of France from whom he feard damage to the Church and whom he judged to be a dangerous neighmour, helped Ludovico to reconquer Milan and the acted as mediator for a peace treaty between the King of France and the Confederates. And for this, Switzerland obtainded, in 1503, Bellinzona and the Blenio valley. Schiner worked tenaciously to bring about an alliance between Julius II and the Swiss: Canon von Hertenstein, was the man who achieved it. In fact, in 1505, Pope Julius II recalled von Hertenstein to Rome, nominated him a member of the Apostolic Chamber, and entrusted to him Letters of Credit for the Swiss Diet, from which he requested two hundred Swiss soldiers to serve as a personal guard for the Pope and of the Apostolic Palaces.
As it happended though, in the Swiss Cantons considerable opposition to mercenary soldiering had arisen, especially against the "free" type that was not accompanied bu a pact of alliance. This free enlistment had created most awkward situations, like in 1500 when the Swiss soldiers fighting for Ludovico found themselves face to face with other Swiss man, those of the King of France. For this reason the Swiss Diet had, in 1503, prohibited under very severe penalty, all foreign enlistment. Von Hertenstein, for his part, guaranted that the soldiers would not be used for war, but rather as a body-guard for the Pope and for the defense of the Vatican. Moreover, many of the Swiss Cantons pretended to have forgotten the Diet's resolution, and so eventually, in spite of numerous difficulties, von Gertenstein succeeded in gathering a company of 150 men under the command of his cousin, Kaspar von Silene. They made their first entry into the Vatican: the date was Juanuary 22nd, 1506.
Defenders of the Church's freedom
On July 5th, 1512, with the "Etsi Romani Pontifices" Bull, Pope Julius decreed as a special mark of gratitude to the Swiss, the title of "Defensores Ecclesiae Libertatis" (defender of the freedom of the Church).
On this occasion he presented them with two Standards: one bearing the creossed keys and the inscription "Dominus mihi adiutor; non timebo quid faciat mihi homo" (The Lord is my help; I will not fear that which man can do to me); the other bearing the tiara, the keys and the coat of arms of the della Rovere family with the inscription, "Julius II, Pont. Max. Ligurus Sixti IV Nepos Patria Savonensis" (Julius II Supreme Pontiff, Ligurian, Savonese, nephew of Sixtus IV). Cardinal Schiner also gave each Canton a silk banner bearing the coat of arms of the Canton and a religious motif.
Julius II had sought with the ardour for which he was known and with a supehuman effort, to save Italy and Christianity from the barbarians. Certainly he was not loved by all and the Swiss Guards had no easy task in protecting his person, to the point that towards the end of his life the Swiss contingent of 189 men hed been increased to 300. On his death-bed the Pope expressed his trust in the Swiss Guard with the words "They will remain faithful to Us and to the Church of Rome as they always have been."
On the morning of May 6th, 1527, from his headquarters set up in St. Onofrio's Convent on the Gianicolo hill, Captain General Bourbon launched a series of attacks on Rome. During one of them, at the Torrione Gate, while leading the assault of the walls, he himself was mortally wounded. After just a moment's hesitation, the Spanish mercenaries broke through the Torrione Gate, while the lansquenets invaded the road of Borgo Santo Spirito and St. Peter's. The Swiss Guard, standing firm at the foot of the obelisk (now in St. Peter's Square, but then near the German Cemetery within the Vatican close to the Basilica), together with the few remnants of the Roman troops, resisted desperately. Their Captain, Kaspar Roeist was wounded, and later killed by the Spaniards in his quarters in front of his wife, Elizabeth Klingler. Of the 189 Swiss Guards, only 42 survived, the ones who, when all was lost, under the command of Hercules Goeldli guarded Clement VII's retreat to safety in Castel Sant'Angelo. The rest fell gloriously, massacred together with two hundred fugitives, on the steps of the High Altar in St. Peter's Basilica.
Pope Clement VII and his men were able to escape to safety, thanks to the "Passetto", a secret corridor which Pope Alexander VI had built along the top of the wall connecting the Vatican with Castel Sant'Angelo.
The savage horde was in a hurry, for fear that the League troups would cut off their retreat. Across the Sisto bridge the lansquenets and Spaniards fell on the city and for wight days committed every sort of violence, theft, sacrilege and massacre, even the tombs of the Popes, including that of Julius II, were violated in search of spoils. There were as many as 12 thousand dead and the booty amounted to ten million ducats.
All that happened cannot really be regarded with surprise because the imperial army and in particular Frundsberg's lansquenets, were animated by a violent spirit of crusade against the Pope. In front of Castel Sant'Angelo where the Pope had retreated, a parody of a religious procession was set up, in which Clement was asked to cede the sails and oars of the "Navicella" (boat of Peter) to Luther, and the angry soldiery shouted "Vivat Lutherus pontifex!" (Long live Luther, Pontiff!). The name of Luther was incised with the tip of a sword across the painting of the "Dispute of the Most Holy Sacrament" in the Rooms of Raffaello, out of disdain, while on another wall a graffito hailed Charles V, emperor.
Concise and exact was the description given by the Prior of the Canons of St. Augustine at that time: "Mali fuere Germani, pejores Itali, Hispani vero pessimi." (The Germans were bad, the Italians were worse, the Spaniard were the worst.)
Besides the irreplaceable damage of the destruction of the relics, during the Sack of Rome, inestimable art treasures, namely the treater part of the Church finest artisan-made gold and silver ware, were lost forever.
On june 5th, Clement had to surrender and to accept heavy condition: he had to cede the fortresses of Ostia, Civitavecchia, and Civita Castellana, to hand over the cities of Modena, Parma and Piacenza, and to pay the sum of four thousand ducats.
Moreover, a ransom for the freedom of prisoners was demande. The papal garrison was replaced by four companies of Germans and Spaniards, and two hundred lansquenets took the place of the Swiss Guard which had been suppressed. The Pope obtained permission for the surviving Swiss Guards to join the new Guard, but only 12 of them accepted.
Certaninly, to be forced to accept lansquenets as the Pontifical Guard had been a humiliation, and therefore Pope Paul III (1534-1549) sought to free himself of this unhappy inheritance.
So he approached the Canton Lucerne which had been the main stronghold of Catholicism in Switzerland. Negotiations with the "defenders of the Church's freedom" began in December, 1542, and a hundred and twenty Swiss men were obtained to form a Guard for the Legate of Bologna. There were more negotiations in 1546 and at last, a real pact was made in February, 1548.
A Papal Guard composed of a Commandant, a Lieutenant, an Ensign, fout Sergeants and two hundred and twenty-five Halberdiers, was officially formed.
The uniform of the Swiss Guards
The colours which make the uniform so attractive are the traditional Medici blue, red and yellow, set off nicely by the white of the collar and gloves. The bue and yellow bands give a sense of lightness as they move over the red doublet and breeches.
The Guard's every-day uniform is completely lbue. With the passing centuries there have been a few minor changes, but on the whole the original dress has been maintained. It is commonly thought that the uniform was designed by Michelangelo, but it would seem rather that he dah nothing to do with it. However, Raffaello certanily did influence its development, as he indeed influenced fashion in general in Italy in the Renaissance, through his painting.
As an armed corp, the Swiss Guard has, from the start, always had its own flag or standard. In the Vatican, serving Julius II, the Guard took the yellow and blue of the Rovere family. Under Pope Leo X, red was added to the yellow and blue to form the three Medici colours.
Like the uniform, the standard too, was often altered over the centuries. It would take too long to list all the changes. It will suffice to say that in Pius IX's time it was divide in three horizontal flieds: red bearing the Papal tiara and keys, then blue whit the guard with the Guard's coat-of-arms (a white cross on a red field, between two laurel branche), hhen a blank yeoow field. The reverse side of the flag was dominate by Pius IX's coat-of-arms.
During Pius X's pontificate (1903-1914), the order of the colours was changed. First came blue with the Papal coat-of-arms, then a blank red field and then a yellow field bearing the blazon of the Commandant.
Jules Repond contributed considerably to the forming of the Guard's uniform, and the reform of the standard can also be traced back to him. And it has not changed since. A large white Swiss cross divides the flag in four fields: the upper left red, near the pole, carries the blazon of the reigning Pontiff, with tiara and keys; the lower right red field, therefore external, bears the coat-of-arms of the Guard's founder, Julius II; in the centre of the large white cross is the blazon of the present Commandant; in the other two fields, the blue, yellow and red are alternated in horizontal stripes.
Whit regar to the weapons used by the Guard, except for a brief period in the recent past when a rifle was used when mounting guard at the Vatican Gates, the Swiss Guardsmen's arms have always been the halberd, the pike and the sword.
When the Pope was carried shoulder-high on the chair, ha was always flanke by six Swiss Guards bearing broadswords with undulated blade on their shoulders.
In the past, beginning from Leo X's pontificate, the Guard was also equipped with fire-arms, and even a few canons, but hese, it seems, were only user on festive occasions as fireworks. And it was also customary to fire a number of mortar and musketry volleys after the Holy Year Bull of Proclamation had been read out.
One Commandant with the grade of Colonel;
one Lieutenant with the grade of Lieutenant Colonel;
two Chaplain with the grade of Lieutenant Colonel;
one Second Lieutenant, grade of Major;
one Second Lieutenant, grade of Captain;
one Sergeant Major, actin as Adjutant, grade of Lieutenant;
four Sergeants, grede of Second Lieutenant;
ten Corporals, grade of Adjutant;
ten Vice-Corporals, grade of Sergeant Major;
seventy Halberdiers, grade of Sergeant.
The Captain Commandant with the grade of Colonel is a member of the Papal Household and a Gentleman of His Holiness. The Lieutenant and the Second Lieutenant with the grade of Major are also Gentlemen of His Holiness.
May 6th: The Recruits Take Their Oath of Loyality
There is a date in the history of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican, that is closly linked with the history of the Church herself, because it was a day marked by the blood of 147 of her sons: May 6th, 1527, the Sack of Rome.
This date, wich in 1527 was a day of death, today, is a day of life, because each year on this day, the new recruits take their solemn oath of loyalty. It is a most moving ceremony which takes place in the historic St. Damaso Courtyard within the Vatican City, in the presence of religious personalities, political and military representatives of the Swiss Confederation and many relatives, friends and admirers of the Guard. The Guard, from the Commandant down to the newest Halberdier, is in full dress-uniform, a marvellous sight. The band with its superb drummers is warmly applauded. The Chaplain of theGuard gives a solemn reading of the oath:
"I swear I will faithfully, loyally and honourably serve the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II and his legitimate successors, and also dedicate myself to them with all my strength, sacreficing if necessary also my life to defend them. I assume this same commitment with regard to the Sacred College of Cardinals whenever the See is vacant."
Furthermore I promise to the Commanding Captain and my other superiors, respect, fidelity and obedience. This I swear! May God and our Holy Patrons assist me!"
The one bu one the new recruits are called by name . Each one adv ances alone, and with his left hand he grasps the Guard's standard, holding high his right hand with three fingers open, as a symbol of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and he confirms the oath:
"I, ……, swear I will observe faithfully, loyally and honourably all that has now been read out to me!
May God and his saints assist me!"
These saints included especially the Guard's Patrons, St. Martin (November 11th), St. Sebastian (January 20th) and St Niklaus von Flue, "Defensor Pacis et pater patriae" (September 25th).
The recruist must be Swiss citizens from birth, they must be Catholics, and be at least 174 centimeters tall. They sign up for a minimum two-year period of service: after which about two thirds of the Halbardiers return home. For those, who remain there is the possibility, with time and according to the posts available, of promotion, as vice corporal and later even corporal and then sergenat.
May the members of the Swiss Guard marry? Certainly, on the conditions: tha they have reached the age of twentyfice, ha completed a minimum theree years of service and sign on for another three, and that an apartment is availagle in the Guard's living quarters.
Naturallyu the Guards have a pension scheme: with ten years of service they have a right to the minimum pension., which agter 15 years is substantially increased; 20 years of service entitle the guard to recerive a full pension.
At this point we should take a look at the normal routine of the Guard's day. Every day two thirds of the staff are engaded in mounting guard at the entrances to the Apostolic Palace. That is in the Courtyard of St. Damaso, the Belvedere Courtyard, on the floors of the vaious "Loggias", in the Sala Regia, in front of the Secreatry of Sata offices, and also in front of the entrance to the Pope's private apartment, as well as at the external entrances, which are the Petrine Gate (fromerly the Holy Office Gate) at the Arch of the Bells, the Bronze Door and the St. Anna Gate.
The Guard serve not only as a Guard of Honour but also keep order every time the Pope is in public, that is for liturgical celebrations in St. Peter's Basilica, at the General Audiences, during visits to the Pope by Heads of States or Governments, Foreign Ministers and Ambassadors.
However, the day is not only given to these official duties; there is also the life of the Gurad itself, that requires a series of inspecions, brienfing, marches and shooting practice. And of course time must be found for various group activities: the band, drums, choir and last but not least, sport: soccermatches agains other Vatican teams such as the Vatican Security Corps, table-tennis and courses in self-defence.
With all this physical and mental sctivity by relatively young men, it is obviousthat the Quarters need a well run kitchen to provide for the Guard members in the most suitable manner. This task is admirably carried out by the Swiis Sister of Divine Povidence from Baldegg.
By way of conclusion, it would seem appropriate to mention that, once their service has ende, all those who have serced with whatever title or grade in Swiss Guard in the Vatican, remain in close contact with each other throught the "Ex-Guardsmann Association" which publishes a regual bulletin, the"Exgardist". The members gather periodically for regional and federal meetings, and the latter are usually, if possible, abbended by the Commandant and the Chaplain.
However, the most important meeting is the one which takes place in Vatican every year on May 6th, on the occaion of the "Swearing in" of the new recruits. Around them, on that day, hundreds of people come and go in the Guard's Quarters; relatives of the Guards in service as well as many ex-Guardsmen and their families pass a day of true and festive friendship.
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Last update: 04/23/98
