Swiss Guard

The Swiss Guard, formally the Pontifical Swiss Guard, was established in 1506 by Pope Julius II to protect the person of the Pope and the Vatican, drawing on the well-established European reputation of Swiss mercenary infantry, particularly pikemen and halberdiers, as some of the most formidable soldiers for hire in late medieval and early modern Europe. The Guard's most storied moment of active combat came during the 1527 Sack of Rome, when a substantial portion of its members died defending Pope Clement VII, allowing him to escape to the safety of Castel Sant'Angelo, an event still commemorated by the Guard each May with a solemn oath-taking ceremony. Unlike most Swiss mercenary units, which were disbanded or absorbed elsewhere as European warfare modernized, the Swiss Guard persisted continuously as the Pope's dedicated protective force, retaining traditional pike-and-halberd-era ceremonial dress and weaponry alongside modern security training and firearms in its contemporary role. Recruitment remains restricted to Swiss Catholic men, continuing an unbroken institutional lineage that makes the Swiss Guard one of the oldest continuously operating military units in the world.