Noble Guard
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The Noble Guard (
History
In 1801 an agitation was started in Rome among the aristocracy to form a bodyguard for the pontiff, and an address was sent to Plus VII offering their services gratuitously. In response, the Noble Guard was established on May 11, 1801.[1]
Exclusively a palace guard, the Noble Guard saw no active military service or combat during the several military campaigns that engaged the Papal States between 1801 and 1870. With the unification of Italy and the abolition of the Papal States in 1870, the Noble Guard restricted its activity to the buildings and grounds of the Vatican. Though nominally still a cavalry unit, the unit had little opportunity to deploy on horseback in the limited confines of the Vatican, although two mounted troopers would accompany the papal carriage when the Pope was driven around the Vatican gardens. 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. Recruits were drawn from noble families in Rome, although in the twentieth century requirements were relaxed in practice to allow nobility from other regions of Italy to join the corps. The guardsmen were expected to hold titles dating back at least 100 years.
After 1870, the Noble Guard, now reduced to a force of fewer than 70 men, performed mainly ceremonial duties as an honour guard. Guardsmen most commonly appeared in public when the pope presided over ceremonies in Saint Peter's Basilica. When the pope was carried in the sedia gestatoria, Noble Guards walked alongside the papal chair. During the hours reserved for papal audiences, guardsmen also stood in the antechamber of the papal apartments and, on formal occasions, on either side of the papal throne.[3] During the Second World War, the Noble Guard shared responsibility with the Swiss Guard for the personal security of Pope Pius XII. For the first time since 1870 pistols were issued to duty personnel. Throughout the war, Noble Guards mounted guard outside the papal apartment night and day and guardsmen followed Pius XII when he took his daily walks in the Vatican Gardens.[4]
The Noble Guard was abolished by
Commanders
- Giuseppe Mattei, 4º duke of Giove (1801-1809)
- Giovanni Patrizi Naro Montoro, 8º marquis of Montoro (coadjutor: 1801-1804)
- Luigi Braschi-Onesti, 1º duke of Nemi (1814-1816)
- Paluzzo Altieri, 5º prince of Oriolo (coadiutore: 1801-1814, commander: 1816-1819)
- Francesco Colonna Barberini, 6º prince of Palestrina (coadjutor: 1816-1819, commander: 1819-1853)
- Carlo Colonna Barberini, duke of Castelvecchio (later 7º prince of Palestrina) (coadjutor: 1819-1853, commander: 1853-1878)
- Emilio Altieri, 7º prince of Oriolo (coadjutor: 1853-1878, commander: 1878-1900)
- Paolo Altieri, 8º prince of Oriolo (coadjutor: 1895-1900, commander: 1900-1901)
- Camillo Rospigliosi, prince of Zagarolo (pontificate of Leo XIII, second son of Clemente Rospigliosi, 7º prince Rospigliosi) (1901-1915)
- Giuseppe Aldobrandini, 2º prince of Meldola (1915-1939)
- Francesco Chigi della Rovere (fourth son of Mario Chigi Albani della Rovere, 7th prince of Farnese) (1939-1953)
- Mario del Drago (1957-1970) - Ultimo dei Comandanti
See also
- Corsican Guard
- Palatine Guard
- Papal Zouaves
- Papal nobility
- Black Nobility
- Index of Vatican City-related articles
References
- ^ a b "Historic Army of the Vatican is Reforming", San Jose Mercury-news, Volume LXXXV, Number 98, 6 October 1913
- ^ David Alvarez, The Pope's Soldiers: A Military History of the Modern Vatican (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2011), pp. 263-265.
- ^ a b "Pope Will Appoint 10 to Noble Guard", The New York Times, January 18, 1964
- ^ Alvarez,The Pope's Soldiers, p.337.
- ^ Alvarez,The Pope's Soldiers, p.359.
- ^ Alvarez,The Pope's Soldiers, p.361.