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Established in 1506 under Pope Julius II, it is among the oldest military units in continuous operation, [5] and is sometimes called "the world's smallest army". [ 4 ] The Swiss Guard is popularly recognised by its Renaissance -era dress uniform , consisting of a tunic striped in red, dark blue, and yellow, high plumed helmet, and traditional ...
The Byzantine Papacy was a period of return to Imperial domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperors for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii (liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Syria, or Sicily.
It saw active service during the token resistance to the occupation of Rome by Italian government troops in 1870, [5] and it survived into the period of the Vatican City State, as a de facto Vatican military unit (including a ceremonial military band) from 1929 to 1970.
When in 1970 Pope Paul VI abolished all the military bodies in Papal service except the Swiss Guards, the Gendarmerie was transformed into a Central Security Office, with the duties of protecting the Pope, defending Vatican City, and providing police and security services within its territory.
In 1904 mounted service was abolished entirely and the last horses were sold off. Originally armed with carbines, pistols and sabers, after 1870 the guardsmen carried only a saber. [2] The corps was always a volunteer one - its members were not paid for their service, although they received an allowance for their uniforms.
Plaque commemorating the popes buried in St. Peter's Basilica (their names in Latin and the year of their burial). This chronological list of popes of the Catholic Church corresponds to that given in the Annuario Pontificio under the heading "I Sommi Pontefici Romani" (The Roman Supreme Pontiffs), excluding those that are explicitly indicated as antipopes.
The Palatine Guard were usually seen either when the Pope was in Saint Peter's Square, or when a head of state or other important visitors were received by the Pope. Members of the corps were part-time volunteers, who were not paid for their service, though they received an allowance for replacement or repair of their uniforms.
The statutes of Roger de Moulins (1187) deal only with the service of the sick; the first mention of military service is in the statutes of the ninth grand master, Fernando Afonso of Portugal (about 1200). In the latter, a marked distinction is made between secular knights, externs to the order, who served only for a time, and the professed ...