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Topic: Swiss Mercenaries

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	Wikinfo \| Mercenary
		Swiss mercenaries were sought after during the latter half of the 15th century as being an effective fighting force, until their somewhat rigid battle formations became vulnerable to arquebuses and artillery being developed at about that period.
		It was then that the European landsknechts, colorful mercenaries with a redoubtable reputation, took over the Swiss forces' legacy and became the most formidable force of the late 15th and throughout the 16th century, being hired by all the powers in Europe and often fighting at opposite sides.
		Mercenaries are often considered illegal combatants according to the laws of war, as they are not under the command of a commissioned officer of a national government.
	www.wikinfo.org /wiki.php?title=Mercenary (852 words)

	f. The Swiss Confederation. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History
		The Legacy of the Thirty Years' War: Despite the involvement of Swiss mercenaries, Swiss neutrality during the Thirty Years' War made Switzerland a center for refugees who, along with soldiers, brought the bubonic plague and other diseases into the country.
		Swiss neutrality also demanded a strong Swiss army, which the Swiss paid for partly through the Defensionale of Wyl (1647).
		Renewal of the alliance with France, enabling Louis XIV to draw mercenaries from the cantons despite opposition from Zürich and some of the Protestant cantons.
	www.bartleby.com /67/748.html (727 words)

	Swiss Guard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Swiss Guards are Swiss mercenary soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards and palace guards at foreign European courts from the late 15th century until the present day (in the form of the Papal Swiss Guard).
		While the uniforms of the Swiss Guard bearing Pope Julius II on a litter (painted by Raphael) is often cited as inspiration for the Swiss Guard uniform, the actual uniforms worn by those soldiers are of the style which appears by today's standards as a large skirt, a common style in uniforms during the Renaissance.
		From 1696 to 1713, a Swiss Guard served at the court of Frederick I of Prussia.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Swiss_Guard (3203 words)

	Civilization III: Conquests
		Mercenaries first came to prominence in Europe in the 14th century, when soldiers from the Hundred Years' War preferred to continue fighting for a living rather than learn peacetime trades.
		Swiss soldiers in particular enjoyed an especially high reputation for loyalty and professionalism, and several European nations incorporated Swiss mercenary regiments into their armies.
		The most famous assignment of Swiss mercenaries is the personal safety of the Pope; a special unit of Swiss soldiers, the Swiss Guard, has pledged to protect the Pope and the Vatican for the last 500 years.
	www.civ3.com /conq_prof_dutch.cfm (988 words)

	Swiss Guards - HighBeam Encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		These mercenaries, who were not volunteers, were put at the disposal of foreign powers by treaties (called capitulations) between the Swiss diet, the separate cantons, and the foreign power concerned, in return for money payments.
		Francis I used some 120,000 Swiss levies in his wars, and in the battle of Pavia (1525) his personal guard, the Hundred Swiss, was slain before Francis was captured by the Spanish.
		Swiss troops were used in the Bourbon restoration, and many of them were massacred in the July Revolution of 1830, after which they were permanently abolished.
	www.encyclopedia.com /doc/1E1-swissgua.html (556 words)

	History of Switzerland
		Swiss mercenaries continued for centuries to serve in other armies; the Swiss Guard of the Pope is a vestige of this tradition.
		The traffic in mercenaries as well as the alienation between the predominantly Protestant Swiss and their Catholic neighbors kept the Swiss Confederation out of the wars of the European powers, which formally recognized Swiss neutrality in the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
		The Swiss remained neutral during the War of the First Coalition against revolutionary France, but Napoleon, nonetheless, invaded and annexed much of the country in 1797-98, replacing the loose confederation with a centrally governed unitary state.
	www.historyofnations.net /europe/switzerland.html (1200 words)

	Swiss mercenaries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Swiss mercenaries were soldiers notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment.
		Swiss mercenaries (Reisläufer) were valued throughout Late Medieval Europe for the power of their determined mass attack in deep columns with the pike and halberd.
		The Swiss Guard, loyal to the last, was massacred in the French Revolution on August 10, 1792, their muskets unloaded according to orders, dying to protect Louis XVI from the mob although, ironically, the king had already fled the Tuileries Palace.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Swiss_Mercenaries (2225 words)

	Switzerland
		While Swiss independence and democracy traditionally dates from 1291, people are often surprised to learn that the national flag in its current form dates only from 1889.
		By the Peace of Basel in 1499 ending the Swabian War, the Swiss threw off the last vestiges of imperial obligations, and their full independence was recognised in 1648 by the Treaty of Westphalia ending the Thirty Years' War (a war in which the Swiss actually had no part).
		While the cantons of the Swiss Confederation went to war flying their individual banners, they soon recognised the need for a common recognition sign, and as early as 1339 at the battle of Laupen, troops wore a long-armed narrow white linen cross stitched on their breasts, sleeves and thighs.
	www.crwflags.com /fotw/flags/ch.html (2547 words)

	Swiss mercenary flags
		The Swiss Guards Regiment in France (which was massacred in the August 1792 assault on the Tuilleries, an event commemorated by the Lion monument in Lucerne) had a rainbow design of fl, blue, yellow and red rays.
		It consist of the Swiss white cross extended to the edges, the arms of Colonel Pfyffer d'Altishofen in the 1st quarter, the arms of Pius XII (1939-1958) in the 4th, and horizontal rays in the colors of the Guard uniform
		The units flew their own Swiss flags, were officered only by Swiss, the men were subject to Swiss law, and Switzerland reserved the right forbid mercenary regiments from participating in campaigns which might bring them into battle with other Swiss units.
	www.fotw.net /flags/ch-merce.html (708 words)

	Swiss guards in the Vatican, Rome
		The Swiss Guards give a touch of color to St. Peter's Square: in their Renaissance costumes, with puffed sleeves and knicker-bockers striped red, blue and yellow, they stand on either side of the basilica, guarding the gates into Vatican City.
		As well as their everyday costumes, the Swiss Guards have suits of armor, with swords weighing thirty kilos, but these are used only for escorting the Pope during special ceremonies in St. Peter's.
		During the Sack of Rome in 1527, when Charles V of Spain devastated the city with his army of "lanzichelecchi", it was only the quick reaction of the Swiss Guards which enabled Pope Clement VII to take refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo; 147 Swiss soldiers died in the fighting.
	www.inforoma.it /feature.php?lookup=swiss (394 words)

	ANCIENT TACTICS TESTED Swiss pike and ancient phalanx
		The Swiss were fiercely brave and highly disciplined, often marching in cadence to the sound of fifes and drums – the first army to parade in step since the Romans.
		Swiss pikemen were in high demand throughout Europe, so companies of “Alpine cowherds” hired themselves out as mercenaries.
		The rest of the Swiss – perhaps as many as 20,000 troops – refused to budge, their resolve strengthened by Cardinal Matthaus Schinner, a poisonous prelate who called for the spilling of French blood in the most graphic terms.
	www.niderost.com /pages/Battle_of_Marignano.htm (4119 words)

	Highbeam Encyclopedia - Search Results for Mercenaries
		He and his troops were mercenaries in the service of Rome, but in 476 the Heruli revolted and proclaimed Odoacer their king.
		Mercenaries often a presence in terrorist attacks, Special Rapporteur tells Third Committee as it begins discussions on self-determination; Committee Chairman proposes postponement of racism, racial discrimination issues.
		Mercenaries and the law: Ron Smith criticises plans to criminalise mercenary activity and to enable New Zealand to ratify the Anti-Mercenary Convention.
	www.encyclopedia.com /SearchResults.aspx?Q=Mercenaries (612 words)

	The Swiss Guard - History
		Already in the 13th and 14th centuries, after the Swiss Cantons had become independent, many of their men were fighting in Germany and Italy and as the Cantons were unable to prevent this type of emigration, they sought at least to organize it.
		When, at the end of the 15th century, with Charles VIII the Italian Wars began, the Swiss were described by the Italian historian, Guicciardini, as "the nerve and the hope of an army".
		The Swiss Guard, standing firm at the foot of the obelisk (now in St. Peter's Square, but then near the German cemetery within the Vatican close to the Basilica), together with the few remnants of the Roman troops, resisted desperately.
	www.vatican.va /roman_curia/swiss_guard/swissguard/storia_en.htm (1513 words)

	Are Swiss Bankers Still Worth their Salt (update 13.06.05)
		Built on the unique appreciation and goodwill the French kings had developed over centuries for the lives and treasures of Swiss mercenaries, Hans-Konrad Hottinger of Zurich started in Paris in 1786 what, seven generations later, is still a family-owned, discreet wealth-management enterprise in the service of sophisticated clients.
		The gratitude of the Swiss people and government is written in stone at his statue in front of the City Hall of Geneva (in 1814/5 he negotiated Geneva’s accession to Switzerland, obtained universal recognition for Switzerland’s permanent armed neutrality, and contributed to the foundation of Europe’s industrialization).
		The gratitude of the Swiss people and government is written in stone at his statute in front of the City Hall of Geneva (in 1814/5 he negociated Geneva’s accession to Switzerland, obtained universal recognition for Switzerland’s permanent armed neutrality, and contributed to the foundation of Europe's industrialization).
	www.solami.com /salt.htm (1781 words)

	History (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		This new mobile infantry, the Landsknechte, pikemen in the tradition of the dreaded Swiss mercenaries, were trained in large numbers, and fast became the main body of mercenary armies throughout Europe.
		The supremacy of the Swiss mercenaries in foot combat finally came to an end at the battle of Bicocca in 1522.
		The Swiss mercenaries hired by Francis I broke and ran from the field.
	www.landsknecht.com /html/body_history.html (1261 words)

	All Empires History Forum: The best mercenaries
		Swiss Guards in the employ of French Monarchy and died in the defence of Tuileries Palace in 1792.
		Sometimes mercenaries are hired to attack, sometimes they are hired to defend, what is fundamental is that they put their lives at risk - nothing inherently cowardly about that.
		Turkish mercenaries were the best ever,They were born to fight in first they served Abbasid and later Saladin they defeated Byzantine,Crusader and retake Jerousalem they formed their state in Egypt,Syria and Hijaz(Saudi province now)They defeated mongols at Ain Jalut 1260 A.D. They were appreciated in Hungary too.
	www.allempires.com /forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1615 (1120 words)

	RTE News - Swiss Guards celebrate 500 years
		In the 15th and 16th centuries, thousands of young Swiss mercenaries enrolled in the armies of the fiefdoms, kingdoms and city states that were constantly at war in France, Italy and Germany during the early Renaissance.
		Francis I of France used some 120,000 Swiss levies in his wars, and in the battle of Pavia in 1525 his personal guard, the Hundred Swiss, were slain before Francis was captured by the Spanish.
		The Swiss Guards were brigaded with the Regiment of French Guards and were in peace time stationed in barracks on the outskirts of Paris.
	www.rte.ie /news/2006/0122/swissguard.html?rss (1024 words)

	REGIMENT DES GARDES SUISSES (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		During the Burgundian Wars of 1474-1477 (1) mercenaries of the Swiss Cantons were organized as regimental units which were sub-divided.
		Although German mercenaries were the first to adopt the fife, it was also used by Swiss mercenaries in France.
		The Swiss Guard marched past to the sound of rolls ‘a la Suisse’ and then to La Marche de Colin-Tampon, whose slow rhythm corresponded to that slow tempo for a march past which endured for many years but is now used only by the French Foreign Legion.
	www.worldmilitarybands.com /Suisses.htm (1921 words)

	EIPS - Blood in the Vatican: A Fresh look at the Swiss Guard Murders
		It was not until the evening of the 5th of May that it became clear that it was not the pope who had been murdered. Nevertheless, “the worst blood bath in more than a century” had occurred in the heart of Vatican City on the previous day.
		The Swiss Guard’s greatest defeat was during the Sack of Rome in 1527 when Clement VII escaped down his passata to the Castel St Angela leaving the guard to face terrible slaughter as St Peter’s was turned into a livery stables.
		Gone are the days when the commander was usually from one of the great Swiss aristocratic families. Estermann, the 32nd commander, was from an ordinary background.
	www.ianpaisley.org /article.asp?ArtKey=swissguard (485 words)

	ABC News: Pope Honors Swiss Guards During Mass
		The ceremony is held each May 6, to commemorate the day in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Pope Clement VII during the Sack of Rome.
		The ceremony is held May 6, commemorating the day in 1527 when 147 Swiss Guards died protecting Pope Clement VII during the Sack of Rome.
		Pope Julius II summoned the first group of 150 Swiss mercenaries in 1506 to protect him and the Vatican.
	abcnews.go.com /International/wireStory?id=1931549 (452 words)

	Vatican marks 500 years of Swiss Guards - Europe - MSNBC.com
		VATICAN CITY - Five hundreds years ago, mercenaries marched from Switzerland to Rome to aid Pope Julius II, and the Vatican is readying concerts, exhibits and celebrations to mark the half millennium of the Swiss Guards, who still protect the pontiff.
		The Swiss Guard commander, Col. Elmar Maeder, said this week that the work of the guards had changed over the past half-millennium, although their core mission to protect the pope remains.
		Each recruit must have completed mandatory Swiss military service, be a Catholic between the ages of 19 and 30, have an impeccable reputation and agree to sign up for at least two years.
	www.msnbc.msn.com /id/10971994 (624 words)

	Switzerland: History (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		In 1977 a constitution was accepted, and in 1979 it officially became the twenty-third canton of the Swiss Confederation.
		In 1971, after a referendum was passed by male voters, women were given the right to vote and be elected at the federal level; subsequently, Elisabeth Kopp of the Radical Democratic party became the first woman government minister (1984–88).
		Despite the turn to the right, in Mar., 2002, Swiss voters approved joining the United Nations, becoming the one of the last nations to seek membership in that organization (only Vatican City is not a member).
	www.factmonster.com /ce6/world/A0861401.html (990 words)

	By W. Thomas Smith Jr. (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-08)
		They are members of the Swiss Guard – often referred to as Papal guards or Swiss mercenaries – an elite company-sized military force that has defended a succession of Popes for over five centuries, and not always without bloodshed.
		As such, the Guards are a favorite subject of photographers and tourists, and their quiet presence is an impressive show of force much like U.S. Marines at the White House and the various British Army regiments that guard Buckingham Palace.
		Instantly, a "plainclothes" Swiss Guard officer rushed to the wounded Pontiff's aid and shielded him with his own body as the vehicle raced to the hospital.
	www.nymarines.org /read.htm (848 words)

	The mercenaries who converted the Vatican (eng, NZZ Online)
		The first 150 Swiss mercenaries entered the Eternal City on January, 22, 1506, now regarded as the founding date of the Pontifical Guard.
		The recent history of the Swiss guard has been tarnished by the murder of one of its commanders, Commandant Alois Estermann, and his wife.
		The number of applicants for the Swiss guards started to decline some five years ago, prompting the Vatican to improve training to better prepare the guards for a career outside.
	www.nzz.ch /2006/01/21/eng/article6390573.html (539 words)

	Tranquility Lost: This Guard's Got Holes
		Those are the Pope's first (and only) line of defense, his body guards, and his mery band of mercenaries: the Swiss Guards.
		They are a highly trained group of warriors from the land of Swatches and anonymous bank accounts who stand proudly at the gates of the Vatican, swearing their lives to the protection of the Pope.
		And so to test the Swiss waters, 150 guards were brought in to fight off the Cossacks.
	blogs.setonhill.edu /MikeRubino/009113.html (833 words)

	Swiss watchers \| Special reports \| Guardian Unlimited
		They are members of the Swiss Guard - often referred to as the papal guards or Swiss mercenaries - an elite, company-sized military force that has defended a succession of popes for more than five centuries and not always without bloodshed.
		The guards are a favorite subject of photographers and tourists, and their quiet presence is an impressive show of force much like the US marines at the White House and the various regiments that guard Buckingham Palace.
		The Swiss Guard officially assumed Papal defence duties on January 22 1506.
	www.guardian.co.uk /pope/story/0,12272,1452750,00.html (812 words)

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