Five hundred years of fortitude. A modern corps
The long papacy and the 2005 conclave
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
Julius calls on the Swiss
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
Siege, dissolution, rebirth. A Renaissance fortress and palace
The atmosphere during the siege
The spectacle of Benvenuto Cellini
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
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
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 Swiss under the concordat
The German occupation of Rome
A Swiss Guard's firsthand account
The final assault and the liberation of Rome
Modern times. Contemporary threats
