Swiss Papal Guard

Joint Issue Vatican City and Switzerland

Many Renaissance rulers hired mercenary troops from time to time and paid them out of the proceeds of conquered territory, ransoms, confiscation of property and looting. Alongside mercenary troops as such, many rulers also surrounded themselves with guards for their personal protection.

Swiss Papal Guard celebrates its 500th anniversary

The model for the Swiss Papal Guard was the "Compagnie des Cent Gardes du corps du roi Suisses" (Company of the King's Hundred Swiss Bodyguards, also known as "the Hundred Swiss") established in 1496/97 by King Charles VIII of France. The unit consisted of 106 men under the command of a French Capitaine-colonel. Pope Julius II decided to set up a guard for his own protection.

Protection of the Apostolic Palace

On 21 June 1505, he wrote a letter asking them to provide 200 infantrymen, whom he wished to use for the protection of the Apostolic Palace and hence for the safety of his own person. The actual words in the papal letter read: "We trust that your loyalty and experience with weapons will meet our requirements". Loyalty and experience with weapons made the guards highly desirable to the Pope. And the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries saw the apogee of the Swiss "Art of War".

Request

To persuade the Swiss authorities to accede to his request, the Pope concluded his letter with the words: "It will bring fame to your entire nation that your men were preferred over all others to guard the Apostolic Palace". However, his words appear to have been of little avail. The authorities had long realized the pernicious effect of foreign military service and had promulgated a letter in July 1503 requiring authorization for the hiring of mercenaries.

Stamps in detail

Stamp Issue: Switzerland, 22 November 2005
Printing: offset by Austrian State Printing Office
Stamp size: 40 x 32,5 mm
Design: Rudolf Mirer, Obersaxen

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