Source |
Why the 6th of May, you might ask?
Well, in 1527 Rome was sacked. Not the first time, but it occurred during one of the many wars which occur in Europe over the centuries. (Note, both Ukraine and Russia - some of it anyway - are in Europe, so European War part 753, or so.)
During that particular sacking of Rome, there were 189 Swiss Guardsmen in service to the Pope. They died, to a man. On the 6th of May, 1527.
The uniforms those men wore are the same as those worn today.
I'm doing more research but it sounds like a Vignette might come out of this. As a bit of background, here's a rerun from 2017.
Tourists might mock the Swiss Guards at the Vatican ...
I don't, tough soldiers they are, don't let that uniform kid you, these men know how to fight and die.
They've proven that throughout history.
More to come ...
For instance Spain has its own Legión Española (Spanish Legion) which has varied over time from admitting foreigners, to only admitting Spaniards, then admitting Spanish speakers, now, from what I understand, recruits (male and female) from Spanish-speaking areas of South America are admitted, but Spaniards are preferred. I shall post about them someday. A fascinating, and effective, military force.
One interesting tidbit is that the Spanish Legion has a very fast marching pace, as compared to the French Foreign Legion's slow marching pace. Normal marching pace is roughly 120-steps per minute, the French Foreign Legion's pace is very slow at 88-steps per minute whereas the Spanish Legion moves right along at 180-paces per minute. (Which in the U.S. Army is called double time and which in the Air Force is called "are you kidding me?") You can see for yourself in this video -
I think that would wear me out in pretty short order, those guys can sustain that pace! Truth be told though, the Italian Bersaglieri would run them into the ground...
Not sure who would get the nod in a fight though, but I digress.
So I was researching foreign units in the service of other countries. One might say mercenaries, which can be individuals fighting in the pay of a foreign nation, or entire units rented out to other countries (think the "Hessians" of our own Revolution). The Swiss have a long tradition of hiring out entire units to other countries, like these fellows (though not exactly a Swiss unit, they are Swiss in the pay of a foreign nation, and yes, the Vatican is a nation) -
Now this post does tie back into the French Revolution. An episode of which is commemorated by the monument in that opening photo, the Lion of Lucerne.
The Swiss are wearing red uniforms in that painting, traditional for them in that era.
The Swiss have produced tough soldiers for centuries now. The Swiss pikemen in the late Middle Ages were known for their ferocity and discipline in battle. You can read a very colorful account of them (language alert, very salty) here. Tough bastards those Swiss, even today.
When Switzerland is mentioned, many of us think of the beautiful mountains and lakes, Swiss Army knives, clocks, bankers, and chocolate. I remember a time when Swiss soldiers made Europe tremble. That monument in Lucerne tells me all I need to know about the Swiss...
Leonidas' Spartans would have recognized Louis XVI's Swiss Guards as kindred souls.
Faithful unto Death.
(Source) |
The Lion lies in his lair in the perpendicular face of a low cliff — for he is carved from the living rock of the cliff. His size is colossal, his attitude is noble. His head is bowed, the broken spear is sticking in his shoulder, his protecting paw rests upon the lilies of France. Vines hang down the cliff and wave in the wind, and a clear stream trickles from above and empties into a pond at the base, and in the smooth surface of the pond the lion is mirrored, among the water-lilies.After yesterday's somewhat fanciful post concerning the history of France leading up to the storming of the Bastille I wanted to do a more serious historical post. At first I thought that a post on the French Foreign Legion (La Légion Étrangère) might be appropriate. But the subject of the Legion reminded me that other nations have had (or still have) their own version of a foreign legion.
Around about are green trees and grass. The place is a sheltered, reposeful woodland nook, remote from noise and stir and confusion — and all this is fitting, for lions do die in such places, and not on granite pedestals in public squares fenced with fancy iron railings. The Lion of Lucerne would be impressive anywhere, but nowhere so impressive as where he is.
— Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad, 1880
For instance Spain has its own Legión Española (Spanish Legion) which has varied over time from admitting foreigners, to only admitting Spaniards, then admitting Spanish speakers, now, from what I understand, recruits (male and female) from Spanish-speaking areas of South America are admitted, but Spaniards are preferred. I shall post about them someday. A fascinating, and effective, military force.
One interesting tidbit is that the Spanish Legion has a very fast marching pace, as compared to the French Foreign Legion's slow marching pace. Normal marching pace is roughly 120-steps per minute, the French Foreign Legion's pace is very slow at 88-steps per minute whereas the Spanish Legion moves right along at 180-paces per minute. (Which in the U.S. Army is called double time and which in the Air Force is called "are you kidding me?") You can see for yourself in this video -
I think that would wear me out in pretty short order, those guys can sustain that pace! Truth be told though, the Italian Bersaglieri would run them into the ground...
Not sure who would get the nod in a fight though, but I digress.
So I was researching foreign units in the service of other countries. One might say mercenaries, which can be individuals fighting in the pay of a foreign nation, or entire units rented out to other countries (think the "Hessians" of our own Revolution). The Swiss have a long tradition of hiring out entire units to other countries, like these fellows (though not exactly a Swiss unit, they are Swiss in the pay of a foreign nation, and yes, the Vatican is a nation) -
Papal Guard (Source) |
From the early 17th century, a regiment of Swiss Guards had served as part of the Royal Household of France. On 6 October 1789, King Louis XVI had been forced to move with his family from the Palace of Versailles to the Tuileries Palace in Paris. In June 1791 he tried to flee to Montmédy near the frontier, where troops under royalist officers were concentrated. In the 1792 10th of August Insurrection, revolutionaries stormed the palace. Fighting broke out spontaneously after the Royal Family had been escorted from the Tuileries to take refuge with the Legislative Assembly. The Swiss Guards ran low on ammunition and were overwhelmed by superior numbers. A note written by the King half an hour after firing had commenced has survived, ordering the Swiss to retire and return to their barracks. Delivered in the middle of the fighting, this was only acted on after their position had become untenable.
Of the Swiss Guards defending the Tuileries, more than six hundred were killed during the fighting or massacred after surrender. An estimated two hundred more died in prison of their wounds or were killed during the September Massacres that followed. Apart from about a hundred Swiss who escaped from the Tuileries, the only survivors of the regiment were a 300 strong detachment which, with the King's authorization, had been sent to Normandy to escort grain convoys a few days before August 10. The Swiss officers were mostly amongst those massacred, although Major Karl Josef von Bachmann — in command at the Tuileries —was formally tried and guillotined in September, still wearing his red uniform coat. Two surviving Swiss officers achieved senior rank under Napoleon. (Source)
La Prise des Tuileries (10 août 1792) - Henri-Paul Motte (Source) |
The Swiss have produced tough soldiers for centuries now. The Swiss pikemen in the late Middle Ages were known for their ferocity and discipline in battle. You can read a very colorful account of them (language alert, very salty) here. Tough bastards those Swiss, even today.
When Switzerland is mentioned, many of us think of the beautiful mountains and lakes, Swiss Army knives, clocks, bankers, and chocolate. I remember a time when Swiss soldiers made Europe tremble. That monument in Lucerne tells me all I need to know about the Swiss...
The heroic but futile stand of the Swiss is commemorated by Bertel Thorvaldsen's Lion Monument in Lucerne, dedicated in 1821, which shows a dying lion collapsed upon broken symbols of the French monarchy. An inscription on the monument lists the twenty-six Swiss officers who died on 10 August and 2–3 September 1792, and records that approximately 760 Swiss Guardsmen were killed on those days. (Source)
Prise du palais des Tuileries - Jacques Duplessis-Bertaux (Source) |
Faithful unto Death.
Great post and great rerun. That hand position of the Guardsman taking the oath harkens back to the Roman Senate, at least. A gesture that means, "LISTEN UP! THIS IS IMPORTANT!"
ReplyDeleteAbout the Spanish Legion, as well as some other European armies, Why do they march with their heads tilted back? Legion, Soviet & Russian, East German, a few others. Marching and standing guard, eyes skyward. Not straight up, but enough that they can't see the horizon.
The hand position of the Swiss Guardsman is intentional. Three fingers held up as a symbol of the Trinity.
DeleteFor most of those heads tilted back marchers their eyes are not skyward, that would be a bad idea.
Trinity, and the Dual natures of Christ - fully God and fully Man. You see it in a lot of Orthodox icons.
DeleteBut, it was used before that in Rome as a sign that what was being said was important.
Re looking up. OK, the face is skyward, but the eyes are glancing down. But WHY? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2018/01/04/TELEMMGLPICT000150421874_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQfyf2A9a6I9YchsjMeADBa08.jpeg?imwidth=680
Some of their ceremony during La Semana Scanta (Holy Week) are quite impressive.
I don't get the head tilted back thing, but now I need to find out why!
DeleteLOL! Sorry!
Deletelol
DeleteVisited The Vatican in 2011, and as it twas late in the day witnessed the Swiss Guards shift change. The night crew were in dark camo, from what I could see, carrying Main Battle Rifles with fixed bayonets. For the loss on their faces, I don't believe anyone in their right mind would engage them.
ReplyDeleteThey mean business, that's for sure.
DeleteWhen I think of the Swiss it's bankers & chocolate makers, I never think that all those bankers & chocolate makers have a rifle, ammunition and a uniform in the closet at home...
ReplyDeleteAt one point in time Swiss pikemen were the most feared infantry in Europe.
DeleteI have seen the monument that is pictured. It is well worth a visit.
ReplyDeleteDuring the late 15th and early 16th Centuries A.D., the Swiss Pike formations were some of the most effective in late Medieval/Early Renaissance Europe. Yet another fascinating era of history that I never seem to have quite enough time for...
I do believe that there is never enough time to explore all the really interesting bits of history.
Delete"The Last Stand" by Sabaton tells the 1527 story.....
ReplyDeleteIndeed they do.
DeleteThe Swiss Pike (and Halberd) developed from fighting knights of the Holy Roman Empire (Germans) who would fight on foot with lance (basically... a pike.) The Swiss fought for every bit of land in now-Switzerland, very hard fighting. And then, when freedom reigned, what to do with all those pissed-off pikemen and halberdiers? Well... Thus the mercenary portion of Swiss exports came about.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's due to those mercenaries and the overall Swiss concept of "We'll never live under someone else's boot ever again, EVER!" that all those other Swiss exports and businesses of which they are famous had a chance to become famous.
Looking forward to your take on the Papal Guard.
And, well, to have the chance to look into the Papal Guard's armory. What a fascinating look into history, everything from crossbows and pikes to matchlocks, wheellocks, snaphances, flintlocks, rifled muskets, all the way to completely modern weapons.
Yes, I've heard that their armory is very impressive. I'd pay good money to see it!
DeleteThe Swiss Guard are elite troops, as befits the Papal Guard.
ReplyDeleteI had to delete this the first time, as spell check changed Swiss to Swill. I am very glad I caught it.
Yeah, the Swill Guard, totally different outfit. I believe they guard bad restaurants.
Delete😃
DeleteHeh.
Delete(Don McCollor) "Swill Guards" a day later, it could be nicely applied to the KP detail in an Army mess hall.
DeleteGood point!
DeleteThe Lion of Lucerne. Every time I see this I cannot stop from crying. The hurt in the face of the lion, it just gets me every time.
ReplyDeleteHeltau
Same here. A most poignant memorial.
Delete