Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-202) and index.

Five hundred years of fortitude -- A modern corps -- The long papacy and the 2005 conclave -- The modernized conclave -- Becoming a Swiss Guard -- 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 -- The rise of mercenaries -- Julius calls on the Swiss -- The first recruits -- The Swiss and papal politics -- Consolidation and trial : the Medici Popes, the guards, and the sack of Rome -- Years of turmoil -- Changes in Swiss policies at home and abroad -- Renewed Swiss commitment to the Pope -- Kaspar Roist and the 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 -- The 1527 sack of Rome -- A renaissance fortress and palace -- The atmosphere during the siege -- The spectacle of Benvenuto Cellini -- Imperial fury unleashed -- 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 -- Two reforming popes -- Von Meggen as diplomat -- 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 Altishoffen dynasty -- The popes, the Swiss guard, and the French Revolution -- Another restoration -- The guards during the unification of Italy and the Pope's imprisonment in the Vatican -- The Pope's escape to Gaeta -- Meyer and the guards 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 guards during the two world wars, and the German Occupation of Rome -- World War I and two Swiss anniversaries -- The new legal situation -- The Swiss under the concordat -- The German Occupation of Rome -- A Swiss guard's first-hand account -- Kidnaping the pope? -- The final assault and the liberation of Rome -- Modern times -- Contemporary threats -- An unfortunate interlude -- New directions.