With the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the world witnessed the pomp and honor of the Swiss Guard, the "Pope’s Army." Now best-selling author and Crisis columnist Robert Royal takes us through the colorful 500-year history of the military guard that has witnessed every major Vatican event for half a millennium. Topics include: origins; five hundred years of fortitude; the Medici Popes; the sack of Rome; siege, dissolution, rebirth and the Napoleonic war; the unification of Italy; the Pope’s imprisonment; two World Wars; the Nazi occupation of Rome.

Five hundred years of fortitude. A modern corps -- The long papacy and the 2005 conclave -- The modernized conclave -- Becoming a Swiss Guard -- Legal status in the Vatican -- Die Vereidigung (swearing-in ceremony) -- "Defenders of the church's liberty" : Pope Julius II and the origins of the Guard. A weakened papacy -- Swiss independence and papal independence -- The rise of mercenaries -- Julius calls on the Swiss -- The first recruits -- The Swiss and papal politics -- Consolidation and trial : the Medici Popes, the Guard, and the sack of Rome. Years of turmoil -- Changes in Swiss policies at home and abroad -- Renewed Swiss commitment to the Pope -- Kaspar Röist's reform of the Guard -- Leo X's death and its consequences -- Pope Adrian VI and early Reformation politics -- Clement VII and the first threats to Rome -- Charles V's moves in Italy -- The Colonna and the first sack of Rome -- Zurich's recall of the Swiss -- The 1527 sack of Rome -- Siege, dissolution, rebirth. A Renaissance fortress and palace -- The atmosphere during the siege -- The spectacle of Benvenuto Cellini -- Imperial fury unleashed -- Damage to Charles V's reputation -- The disbanding of the Swiss Guard -- Silence about the sack in Switzerland -- Renewed spirit in Switzerland -- Commandant Jost von Meggen -- Two reforming popes -- Von Meggen as diplomat -- Years of peace, and Napoleonic war -- Kaspar Leo von Silenen's command -- The talented Jost Segesser -- The Swiss and the Battle of Lepanto -- A long, uneventful period -- Years of peace and the Altishofen dynasty -- The popes, the Swiss Guard, and the French Revolution -- Another restoration -- The Guard during the unification of Italy and the Pope's imprisonment in the Vatican. The Pope's escape to Gaeta -- Meyer and the Guard prior to 1849 -- Commandant Martin Pfyffer -- Meyer's appointment to command -- The end of the papal states -- The Swiss and the "prisoner of the Vatican" -- The close of the nineteenth century -- The Guard during the two world wars and the German occupation of Rome. World War I and two Swiss anniversaries -- The new legal situation -- The Swiss under the concordat -- The German occupation of Rome -- A Swiss Guard's firsthand account -- Kidnapping the pope? -- The final assault and the liberation of Rome -- Modern times. Contemporary threats -- An unfortunate interlude -- New directions.