Swiss Guard
The Pontifical Swiss Guard, also known as the Papal Swiss Guard or simply Swiss Guard, is an armed forces, guard of honour, and protective security unit, maintained by the Holy See to protect the Pope and the Apostolic Palace within the territory of the Vatican City State. Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, it is among the oldest military units in continuous operation and is sometimes called "the world's smallest army".
The Swiss Guard is recognised by its Renaissance-era dress uniform, consisting of a tunic striped in red, dark blue, and yellow; high plumed helmet; and traditional weapons such as the halberd. Guardsmen perform their protective duties in functional attire and with modern firearms. Since the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in 1981, the Guard has placed greater emphasis on its nonceremonial roles and has sought more training in anti-irregular military counterintelligence, commando-style raids, counter-sniper tactics, counterterrorism, close-quarters battle, defusing and disposal of bombs, executive protection, hostage rescue, human intelligence, medical evacuation, reconnaissance, tactical driving, tactical medical services, and tactical fast shooting by small arms.
The Swiss Guard is considered an elite military unit. It is highly selective in its recruitment: candidates must be unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 5 feet 8.5 inches, who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces and hold a professional diploma or high school degree. As of 2024, there were 135 members.
The Swiss Guard's security mission extends to the Pope's apostolic travels, the pontifical palace of Castel Gandolfo, and the College of Cardinals when the papal throne is vacant. Though the Guard serve as watchmen of Vatican City, the overall security and law enforcement of the city-state is conducted by the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City, which is a separate body.
History
Italian Wars
The Pontifical Swiss Guard has its origins in the 15th century. Pope Sixtus IV had allied with the Swiss Confederacy and built barracks in Via Pellegrino after foreseeing the possibility of recruiting Swiss mercenaries. The pact was renewed by Pope Innocent VIII in order to use Swiss troops against the Duke of Milan. Alexander VI later used the Swiss mercenaries during his alliance with the King of France.During the time of the Borgias, the Italian Wars began, in which the Swiss mercenaries were a fixture on the front lines among the warring factions, sometimes for France, and sometimes for the Holy See or the Holy Roman Empire. The mercenaries enlisted when they heard King Charles VIII of France was going to war with Naples. Among the participants in the war against Naples was Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, the future Pope Julius II, who was well acquainted with the Swiss, having been Bishop of Lausanne years earlier.
The expedition failed, in part thanks to new alliances made by Alexander VI against the French. When Cardinal della Rovere became Pope Julius II in 1503, he asked the Swiss Diet to provide him with a constant corps of 200 Swiss mercenaries. This was made possible through financing by German merchants from Augsburg, Ulrich, and Jacob Fugger, who had invested in the Pope and saw fit to protect their investment.
In September 1505, the first contingent of 150 soldiers departed on foot to Rome, under the command of Kaspar von Silenen. They entered the city on 22 January 1506, now regarded as the official date of the Guard's foundation.
"The Swiss see the sad situation of the Church of God, Mother of Christianity, and realize how grave and dangerous it is that any tyrant, avid for wealth, can assault with impunity, the common Mother of Christianity," declared the Swiss theologian Huldrych Zwingli, who later became a Protestant reformer. Pope Julius II later granted the Guard the title "Defenders of the Church's freedom".
The force has varied greatly in size over the years and on occasion has been disbanded and reconstituted.
Its most significant hostile engagement came on 6 May 1527 during the Sack of Rome. As troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V advanced, 147 of the 189 Guards, including their commander Caspar Röist, died fighting to allow Clement VII to escape through the Passetto di Borgo, escorted by the other 42 guards. The last-stand battlefield is located on the southern side of St. Peter's Basilica, close to the Campo Santo Teutonico.
Clement VII was forced to replace the depleted Swiss Guard with a contingent of 200 German mercenaries.
In 1537, Pope Paul III ordered the Swiss Guard to be reinstated and sent Cardinal Ennio Filonardi to oversee recruitment. Anti-papal sentiment in Switzerland hindered recruitment. In 1548, the papacy reached an agreement with the mayor of Lucerne, Nikolaus von Meggen, to swear-in 150 new Swiss Guardsmen under commander Jost von Meggen, the mayor's nephew.
Early modern history
After the end of the Italian Wars, the Swiss Guard ceased to be used as a military combat unit in the service of the Pope and its role became mostly that of the protection of the person of the Pope and of an honour guard.However, twelve members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard of Pius V served as part of the Swiss Guard of admiral Marcantonio Colonna at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
The office of commander of the Papal Guard came to be a special honour in the Catholic region of the Swiss Confederacy. It became strongly associated with the leading family of Lucerne, Pfyffer von Altishofen, a family which between 1652 and 1847 provided nine out of ten of the commanders. The exception was Johann Kaspar Mayr von Baldegg, of Lucerne, who served 1696–1704.
In 1798, commander Franz Alois Pfyffer von Altishofen went into exile with the deposed Pius VI. After the death of the Pope on 29 August 1799, the Swiss Guard was disbanded and then reinstated by Pius VII in 1800. In 1809, Rome was again captured by the French and the guard was again disbanded. Pius VII was exiled to Fontainebleau. The guard was reinstated in 1814, when the Pope returned from exile, under the previous commander Karl Leodegar Pfyffer von Altishofen.
Modern history
The guard was disbanded in 1848, when Pius IX fled to Gaeta. In 1849, it was reinstated when the Pope returned to Rome.After the Piedmontese invasion of Rome, the Swiss Guard declined in the later 19th century into a purely ceremonial body with low standards. Guards on duty at the Vatican were "Swiss" only in name, mostly born in Rome to parents of Swiss descent and speaking the Roman dialect. The guards were trained solely for ceremonial parade, kept only a few obsolete rifles in store and wore civilian dress when drilling or in barracks. Administration, accommodation, discipline and organization were neglected and the unit numbered only about 90 men out of an authorized establishment of 133.
The modern Swiss Guard is the product of the reforms pursued by Jules Repond, commander during the years 1910–1921. Repond proposed recruiting only native citizens of Switzerland, and he introduced rigorous military exercises. He attempted to introduce modern arms, but Pius X permitted the presence of firearms only if they were not functional. Repond's reforms and strict discipline were not well received by the corps, culminating in a week of open mutiny in July 1913, and the subsequent dismissal of thirteen ringleaders from the guard.
In his project to restore the Swiss Guard to its former prestige, Repond dedicated himself to the study of historical costume, with the aim of designing a new uniform that would be both reflective of the historical Swiss costume of the 16th century and suited for military exercise. The result of his studies was published in 1917 as Le costume de la Garde suisse pontificale et la Renaissance italienne. Repond designed the distinctive Renaissance-style uniforms worn by the modern Swiss Guard. The introduction of the new uniforms was completed in May 1914.
In 1929, the foundation of Vatican City as a modern sovereign state was effected by the Lateran Treaty, negotiated between the Holy See and Italy. The duties of protecting public order and security in the Vatican lay with the Papal Gendarmerie Corps, while the Swiss Guard, the Palatine Guard and the Noble Guard served mostly ceremonial functions.
In 1970, the Palatine and Noble Guards were disbanded by Paul VI, leaving the Swiss Guard as the only ceremonial guard unit of the Vatican. At the same time, the Gendarmerie Corps was transformed into a central security office, with the duties of protecting the Pope, defending Vatican City, and providing police and security services within its territory, while the Swiss Guard continued to serve ceremonial functions only. In June 1976, Paul VI in a decree defined the nominal size of the corps at 90 men. In April 1979, this was increased to 100 men by John Paul II. As of 2010 the guard numbered 107 halberdiers, divided into three squads, with commissioned and non-commissioned officers.
Since the assassination attempt on John Paul II of 13 May 1981, a much stronger emphasis has been placed on the guard's non-ceremonial roles. The Swiss Guard has developed into a modern guard corps equipped with modern small arms. Members of the Swiss Guard in plain clothes now accompany the Pope on his travels abroad for his protection.
On 4 May 1998 commander Alois Estermann was murdered on the day of his promotion. Estermann and his wife, Gladys Meza Romero, were killed by the young guardsman Cédric Tornay, who later committed suicide. The case received considerable public attention and became the subject of a number of conspiracy theories alleging Cold War politics or involvement by the Opus Dei prelature. British journalist John Follain, who published a book on the case in 2006, concluded that the killer acted purely out of personal motives.
In 2002, the first non-white Swiss Guard joined the militia.
In April–May 2006, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Swiss Guard, 80 former guardsmen marched from Bellinzona in southern Switzerland to Rome, recalling the march of the original 200 Swiss guards to take up Papal service in 1505. The march had been preceded by other celebrations in Lucerne, including a rally of veterans of the Guard and a Mass. In a public ceremony on 6 May 2006, 33 new guards were sworn in on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, instead of the traditional venue in the San Damaso Courtyard. The date chosen marked the anniversary of the Sack of Rome when the Swiss Guard was nearly destroyed. Present at this event were representatives of the Company of Pikemen and Musketeers of the Honourable Artillery Company of London and the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts.
In December 2014, Pope Francis directed that Daniel Anrig's term as commander should end on 31 January 2015, and that he be succeeded by his deputy Christoph Graf. This followed reports about Anrig's "authoritarian style".
In 2015, with the rise of Islamic terrorism in Europe and open threats against the Vatican issued by the Islamic State, Vatican officials collaborated with Italian authorities to improve the protection of Vatican City against attacks that cannot be reasonably defended against by the Swiss Guard and Vatican Gendarmerie, notably against drone attacks.
In October 2019, the Swiss Guard was expanded to 135 men. Previously, according to article 7 of the regulations, the Swiss Guard was made up of 110 men.