Royal Guardians Profile: The Papal Swiss Guard

The Papal State of Vatican City is the smallest sovereign nation in the world and it is protected by the world's smallest army; the Papal Swiss Guard or, as they are officially titled, The Pontifical Helvetian Cohort. Founded in 1506 they are the longest serving active duty military unit in the world and are charged with guarding the Vatican and the immediate protection of the person of the Pope. Some might view the Papal Swiss Guard in their Renaissance uniforms and armed with halberds as chocolate box soldiers, purely ceremonial, intended to simply add color to grand papal ceremonies. Do not be fooled! The Swiss Guards are a highly trained and extremely motivated elite corps of soldiers who have seen combat more often than one might think. Recruitment standards are extremely high, one must be a Swiss citizen, of a certain age and certain height, of good character and a devout Catholic. Hours are long, the duties are hard and the pay is low; conditions which ensure only the truly committed will volunteer. For many service runs in the family and a number of the guardsmen serving today are descendants of the original Swiss mercenaries first hired by the "Warrior Pope" Julius II centuries ago.

Their greatest moment of military sacrifice (which has become their unit holiday and the day new guardsmen are sworn in) was on May 6, 1527 when 147 of 189 Swiss Guards fought to the death defending Pope Clement VII from invading imperial troops during the infamous Sack of Rome. Their sacrifice allowed the 40 remaining guards to safely escort the Pope to Castel Sant'Angelo. The modern Swiss Guard is a highly trained, elite fighting force. All must have gone through extrensive training with the Swiss Army and after being accepted into the guard they are trained in marksmanship, crowd control and hand-to-hand combat. Their halberds might be their most visible weapons but they have a respectable modern arsenal as well with the latest firearms kept out of sight but close at hand in case of emergencies. Plain-clothes officers of the Guard are around the Pope constantly to guard against assassination attempts and every guardsmen must swear an oath to defend the Pontiff even to the sacrifice of his own life.

In the old days of Renaissance Italy when the Popes often had to fight to maintain their independence from secular powers the Swiss Guards were the hardcore of their armies and the Guard has seen formal battle on occasions ranging from the Napoleonic invasion of the Papal States to the wars for the unification of Italy. Recruited from the German-speaking part of Switzerland this language barrier was once maintained to ensure that clerics in the Vatican could speak freely in their presence without fear of delicate information being passed along. Today, however, guards are immediately taught Italian and most speak a wide variety of languages so as to be able to help tourists visiting Vatican City. The Guard is very proud of the fact that despite many attacks, invasions and assassination attempts (sadly more common now than in centuries past) no Pope under their protection has been killed in all of their 500 years of service.

Royal Guardians Profile: The Hundred Swiss

Of all the royal guardians in the world some of the most famous must be the Swiss Guards of France. Switzerland had long been renowned for its soldiers and every monarch worth his salt had to have some Swiss troops at his disposal. The tradition started in France in 1497 with the arrival of the famous "Hundred Swiss" to serve as a private protection force for the King. Later, in 1567 the French King added a complete Swiss Regiment to his Royal Army. Later these were formalized into two distinct royal guard units. The first was the Hundred Swiss who served closest to the King, inside the palace as his bodyguards. The second was the "Swiss Guard" who served outside as palace guards at the gates and keeping watch on the perimeter. Units of Swiss troops also served with the French army on campaign as regular mercenary soldiers. Today one might consider it odd for a monarch to place his personal safety in the hands of foreign troops rather than his own people, but the people could always turn on you (though rest assured he had French bodyguards too) and the Swiss mercenaries were famously loyal -so long as they were paid- and given that could always be counted on. The famous phrase, "no silver, no Swiss" did not come about for no reason. The Hundred Swiss had many famous episodes in their history since their initial employment by King Charles VIII. At the famous battle of Pavia, for instance, they fought to the death against the Spanish trying to protect King Francis I from capture.

However, their moment of immortality came on August 10, 1792 when they fought to the death defending the Tuileries Palace from the revolutionary mob for King Louis XVI. The guard fought heroically against impossible odds, losing some 600 men in the clash or from being massacred after surrender for the handful that tried. The only survivors were about a hundred men who were taken in by sympathetic Parisians and a corps of 300 that was serving in Normandy. Many of those who did live were later killed in the September Massacres anyway. It was a moment of heroic sacrifice that would never be forgotten by the royalists of France and, over a great deal of time, even the revolutionaries came to appreciate the courage and determination of the Swiss Guards. In 1821 a monument to their sacrifice and heroism was erected in Lucerne (known as the "Lion of Lucerne") which is a truly moving sight to see. After being banned for a time the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte brought back the Swiss Regiments and the Swiss Guards returned to service when the monarchy was restored. They were dissolved during the July Revolution of 1830 and never saw service again though some of the veterans did go on to form the original core of the French Foreign Legion.