Soldiers of the Cross Keys - The Swiss Guard Quiz

Answer: Louis XI

Known as 'The Swiss Hundred', these mercenary soldiers fulfilled the role of bodyguard to the kings of France until the French Revolution. Their final action in this role took place when the Royal Palace was stormed in 1792 in which six hundred of the king's Swiss bodyguard fought to the death.

As well as providing this service to the French king, Swiss soldiers acted as bodyguards for many royal houses across Europe; they were also employed by the rulers of Prussia, the Netherlands, Austria and the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea.

Answer: Julius II

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the Swiss earned an enviable reputation as fearless, loyal and efficient soldiers, often emerging victorious over armies many times larger than their own. This reputation attracted the attention of Pope Julius II who invited a small number of Swiss soldiers to form the nucleus of an army for the Papal State and as a bodyguard for the person of the pontiff himself.

This contingent of one hundred and fifty soldiers arrived in the Vatican on January 22, 1506 entering the city through the Porta del Popolo where shortly afterwards they received a blessing from Pope Julius.

This date is officially recognised as the date upon which the Pontifical Swiss Guard was founded.

Answer: The War of the League of Cognac

The Sack of Rome, which began on the 6th of May 1527 and which lasted for eight days, was the culmination of the war that occurred between the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and the League of Cognac of which the Papal State was a belligerent member. Troops in service of the Emperor, having not been paid, advanced on Rome and looted the ancient city. During the assault on Saint Paul's Basilica by Spanish mercenaries, the Swiss Guard sacrificed themselves, almost to a man, granting the pontiff enough time to escape through secret passages to the Castel Sant'Angelo. During this fighting approximately one hundred and fifty of one hundred and eighty-nine members of the Swiss Guard fell in the defence of Clement VII.

Their sacrifice has never been forgotten; new members of the Swiss Guard are sworn in on the 6th of May each year in recognition of their heroism.

After the Sack of Rome the Pontifical Swiss Guard was disbanded and replaced by four companies of German and Spanish mercenaries. This state of affairs remained until 1548 when the Swiss Guard was reformed under Pope Paul III.

In 1870 when the Papal State ceased to exist the Swiss Guard was no longer required in the role of a standing army and so they became what they remain today; purely a personal bodyguard to the Pontiff.

Answer: Oak

Pope Julius II, the founder of the Swiss Guard, was born Giuliano Della Rovere on the 5th of December 1443, a citizen of the Republic of Genoa. The symbol of the Della Rovere family was the oak tree and this symbol continues to appear on the sides of the helmets worn by the Pontifical Swiss Guard.

Answer: Medici

Initially the Swiss Guard uniform bore the colours of the Della Rovere family which were blue and golden yellow. In 1513, after the election to the papacy of Giovanni di Lorenzo de'Medici, the Swiss Guard adopted red into their uniforms, the three colours representing the Medici family.

The present ceremonial dress, often referred to as the Gala uniform, remains little changed from that which was worn during the Renaissance period. For more practical day-to-day usage the Swiss Guard wear what is known as the Exerzieruniform, entirely blue in colour and highlighted by a white collar and cuffs. During bad weather and during the winter months a black woollen cloak is also worn.

Answer: The Sack of Rome

The swearing-in of new members to the Pontifical Swiss Guard takes place at the Square of San Damaso within the Vatican on this most auspicious date in the history of the Swiss Guard. This ceremony is attended by senior church officials, senior members of the Swiss armed services, family members of those new recruits and former members of the guard; in the past the ceremony has also been attended by the Pope himself.

The criteria for becoming a member of the guard are few but straightforward and rigidly applied. All applicants must be Swiss and must be devout Roman Catholics.

They must be single males under the age of thirty, at least five feet and eight inches in height and in good health, both physically and mentally. They must have served with merit in the Swiss armed forces and be in possession of an educational diploma.

The minimum term of service is for a period of two years but this may be extended. Members of the guard are permitted to marry but only after attaining the rank of corporal.

Answer: To weave the material for their uniforms

The material for the Gala uniform which consists of 154 separate, tailor-made pieces, is made of fine wool. Between 1667 and 1669 the exclusive right to provide the beautifully coloured woollen material was granted to the Conservatory for Beggar Girls, a charitable institution that had been founded to provide a place of safety and employment exclusively for female orphans.

The gustatory needs of the modern guard are catered for by the order of nuns known as the Albertine Sisters, Servants of God.

It is as impossible to believe that the Vatican would have ever countenanced the provision of any form of 'personal' service to members of its guard as it is to believe that these men of irreproachable character would have ever considered using them!

Answer: Landsknechte

The Landsknechte are more famous today for their flamboyant styles of dress but this should not detract from their ability on the battlefield. Although highly respected initially, the Landsknechte were to eventually become roundly despised, often even by their paymasters! Landsknechte were highly skilled soldiers, thoroughly trained in the use of the halberd, a two handed long pole weapon, the zweihänder and the kreigsmesser which were both styles of distinctively large swords and a smaller sword known as the katzbalger. During the period between 1527 and 1548 when the Swiss Guard had been effectively disbanded, those Swiss survivors of the Sack of Rome were offered the opportunity to join with those Landsknechte that had taken over their role within the Vatican; all but twelve of the Swiss refused to join and serve with the hated German mercenaries.

Answer: Comb Morion

The Comb Morion is a dome shaped helmet with a rim that extends sharply upwards at the front and rear; it is the style of helmet most commonly associated with the Spanish conquistador. The morions worn by the Swiss Guard on ceremonial occasions are decorated with ostrich feathers, the colour of which denotes the rank of its wearer.

The Halberdiers of the rank and file wear red feathers, the Lieutenants wear purple and the Commander and Sergeant Major wear white. When not in full ceremonial dress members of the Swiss Guard wear a soft black woollen beret known as a Basque Cap upon which their badges of rank are displayed. During Easter, Christmas and at the swearing-in ceremony of new recruits, members of the guard wear 17th century steel body armours in addition to their gala uniforms. Those soldiers employed as drummers within the Swiss Guard wear a distinctive black morion adorned with yellow and black feathers.

Answer: Raphael

The Swiss Guard uniform is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable anywhere in the world today and it is a commonly held misconception that their attire was designed by the artist Michelangelo. The design of the modern uniform can be credited to Jules Repond, the commander of the guard from 1910 until 1921.

However, much of Repond's research involved an examination of the surviving frescoes by the great Renaissance artist Raphael in which the early forms of the guard's uniform could be seen and which he used as reference for his work on the design of their modern form of attire.