VATICAN
300
VATICAN
The religious privileges of the guards are very exten-
sive. In all public processions the Swiss Guards take
their place immediately behind the Noble Guard.
As guards they are subject to the prefect of the
Apcstolic Palaces and were not in earher times sub-
ject, like the regular troops, to the Ministry of War.
When the po])e occupies the sedia gestatoria, he is
s\irrounded by six of the Swiss Guards, who carry
the large swords known as "double-handed". The
commander (colonel) of the Guards is an ex-officio
privy chamberlain, and has the entree into the Anti-
camera Segreta; the lieutenant (major) and the sub-
lieutenant (captain of the first class) are ex officio
honorary chamberlains, and have the entree only to
the Throne Room, which lies before the Anticamera
Segreta. The Swiss Guards are fully armed, and have
to submit to a strict course of exercises and gymnas-
tics. Football is zealously cultivated by them in the
Cortile del Belvedere, and their trumpet corps is
splendidly organized. On solemn occasions, such
as special functions in the German Cemetery near St.
Peter's (Campo Santo Teutonico), which is also the
burial-place for the Guards, the trumpet corps appears
in public.
Even in the fifteenth century the popes possessed a body-guard of the Catholic Swiss. In 1.50.5, at the instance of the Swiss Cardinal Schinner, a treaty was made by Julius II with the two cantons of Zurich and Lucerne, in accordance with which these cantons had to supply constantly 250 men as a body-guard to the pope. Since this date there has always been about the pope a corps of Swiss Guards (cf. Baum- garten, "Kathohsche Kirehe unserer Zeit", I, 297 sqq.; "KirchUche Handlexikon", s. v. "Schweizer- garde"). At present the Guards possess a strength of exactly 100 men (including the six officers), who suffice" not alone for the complete discharge of the various duties of the corps, but also for the main- tenance of a watch (formerly essentially more strict and extensive) over the pope during the night. Their olfl picturesque uniform of black, red, and yellow, in sixteenth-century style, is still retained. A black hat with red strings has recently replaced the very ugly helmet. While exercising, on night watch, or in barracks, the men wear a steel-blue undress uniform, consisting of wider tunic, knee-breeches, dark-blue stockings, and laced boots, but while on guard duty they wear dark-yeUow stockings and buckled shoes. On especially solemn occasions both men and oflicers appear in military uniform with weapons and helmets. The barracks of the Guards lies at the foot of the Palace of Sixtus V. A portion of the building waa erected in 1492 during the reign of Alexander VI. The canteen of the Guards furnishes them with their board. The religious privileges of the Guards are very extensive and their regulation pertains to their chaplain who consults the Holy Father in this regard. The care of their other privileges appertains to their commander.
B. The Papal Gendarmen. — The corps of Gen- ■ darmes of the ApostoUc Palaces consists of Itahans, who must measure at least five feet nine inches, have completed an entirely iniobjectionable period of service in the Italian army, and have secured good certificates of character from both the secular and religious authorities. Upon them devolves the policing of the palace and the gardens, and they are also employed in the honorary service of the Anti- camera. They have a barracks in the gardens (see above, section IV) and another near the quarters of the Swiss Guards. Like the Swiss Guards, they also have a music corps, which gives a concert on feasts in the Cortile di S. Damaso. The gendarmes are subject to the Prefect of the Apostolic Palaces; their com- mander lias the court rank of lionorary chamberlain and bears the official title of " Delegato per i servizi di Sicurezza e Polizia". The corps musters G2 men.
C. The Guardia d'Onore. — The Palatine Guard, as
it exists to-day, extends back to Pius IX. In the
Regolamento of 14 December, 1850, he decreed that
the two bodies of militia, the civici scelti and the
capotori, should be united into one body under the
new name of the Guardia Palatina d'Onore. In 1860
this guard was increased and placed on the footing of
a regiment of 748 men with 2 battalions and 8 com-
panies. Before 1870 the services of this regiment
were not confined to the palace, watch-duties in the
city and military operations in war being assigned
them. After 1870 the regimental band of 63 men was
disbanded, and the corps greatly diminished. The
lieutenant-colonel in command has the rank of colonel.
As distinguished from the Swiss Guards, who are
appointed for the guarding of the pope's person, the
Palatine Guard perform such duties in the papal
service as are detailed in the directions of the major-
domo and the maestro di camera. All the members
of the corps are Roman citizens; they perform their
few duties gratis, but receive 80 lire annually for their
uniforms. During the conclave a company of the
Palatine Guard is stationed in the Cortile del Mar-
esciallo under the command of the hereditary Marshal
of the Conclave, Prince Chigi.
D. The Guardia Kohile.- — This most distinguished cor])s of the papal military ser\ice has an interesting history. The mounted guard of the popes was for- merly formed of the corps of caialleggieri (light cavalry). By Motu Proprio of 1744 Benedict XIV gave these mounted guards a new organization, nxing their number at 90. After the disbanding of tliese troops during the confusion of the French Revolution, Pius VII formed a new body-guard compo-sed of the remainder of the cavalleggieri and the old cavaliere delle lancie spezzate. A Decree of 11 May, 1801, ordered the institution of the Xoble Guard (guardie nobili di corpo), the Sjianisli noble guards being taken as the model. The political revo- lutions under Napoleon I prevented the proper for- mation of the new corps, so that the reorganization effected by warrant of the Cardinal-Secretary of State, Ercole Consalvi, of 8 November, 1815, was found necessary. The petition of Count Giovanni Mastai Ferretti (afterwards Pius IX) for admission into the Guards (26 June, 1814), which was rejected on account of his weak health, is still preserved in the archives of the Noble Guard. Leo XIII amal- gamated the existing two companies, and in accord- ance with the changed conditions of the time, gave them new regulations, and declared that the corps should consist of 1 captain, 1 heutenant, 1 sub- lieutenant, 8 lance-corporals, 1 lance-corporal as corps adjutant, 8 cadets, 1 cadet as adjutant, 48 guards, 1 quarter-master, 1 equerrj', 1 armourer, 1 master of ordnance, and 4 trumpeters. The whole corps thus numbered 77 men. The captain ranks as a lieu- tenant-general of regulars, and the other grades accordingly. One-third of the simple members of the corps enjoy the rank of captain, one-third that of lieutenant, and the remaining third that of sub- lieutenant.
In place of the earUer cabinet couriers, the Noble Guards have the exclusive right of conveying the tid- ings of their elevation to the "crown cardinals" in Catholic lands, as well as to nuncios of the first class when i-aisc(l to the cardinalate, and also of bringing to their residences the red hat. Conditions for reception into the corps are a,s follows: age. 21-25; testimonial as to good character from the parish-priest, bi.shop, or other ecclesiastical authorities; 60 years line of a nobility recognized in the Papal States, with the same tests as in the Order of Malta; heiglit, at least five feet and seven inches; and perfect bodily health. The post of commander lies at the free disiiosal of the pope, and is always entrusted to a Roman prince. Other- wise promotion is regulated exclusively l)y length of
