Talk:Swiss Guard
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Does anyone know - Is the swiss guard the only protection the pope has, or is there any additional security? Jfeckstein 02:43, 6 Aug 2003 (UTC)
Removed ceremonial. The Swiss Guard is the pope's main bodyguard and so are not primarily ceremonial.
When visiting Rome in 1955, the priest we visited mentioned a time when 400 Swiss Guards died in battle. When did the limitation to 100 men occur?
JFeckstein: There is also the Vigilanza, or Vigilance Corps, the Vatican cops.
I, personally, am very very dubious on defining the Swiss Guard as a military; They really are at best an honor guard, and have no practical military capability at all. - Penta 20:05, 24 Nov 2003 (UTC)
- Agreed. More like a secret service type organization? Protection of the head of state is not nessecarially military. Nick Catalano (Talk) 12:21, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)
The Vigili Urbana or Corpo di Vigili are disbanded and re-established with alarming frenquency, the Swiss Guard once numbered in the thousands consisting of several regiments drawn from all over Switzerland. The current number is set due to Vatican security being guaranteed by both Italy (thanks to Mussolini) and Switzerland. While the guard is armed with medievel weaponary for its ceremonial duties, it does have access to small arms and other infantry weapons donated to it by other countries. And the troops themselves are trained by the Swiss military. The Italian Carabiniere provide the immediate back up force to the guard and are seen patrolling the more public areas of Vatican City.
Up till the 1930'2, the SG's had several thousand soldiers and other organizations also existed. --68.80.223.233 06:20, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC)
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What happened in 1870?
When the Italian kingdom annexed what was left of the Papal States in 1870, what role, if any, did the Swiss Guard play? Michael Hardy 19:27, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)
Uniforms
Their uniforms are worth of mention I think. They were designed by Michelangelo.--Drozmight 11:30, 8 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Unlikely--Vatican website says (http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/swissguard/divisa_en.htm): "It is commonly thought that the uniform was designed by Michelangelo, but it would seem rather that he had nothing to do with it."
Date uniforms introduced? I changed this from 1915 to 1914 because National Geographic says 1914 (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1118_vaticanswiss.html), and I can't find anything that says 1915.
Ahh... should there be something to debunk the misconception then? I'll add "It is widely believed that Michelangelo designed the uniforms still in use by the Swiss Guard today, however, according to the Vatican, it is likely he had nothing at all to do with it."--Drozmight 15:52, 11 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Weapondry
I did some research on Google, and found that the Swiss Guards are armed with the Sig 75 9mm Pistol specifically. Any objection to adding this to the page where the Sig pistol is mentioned? Matt 10:15, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- Tread lightly. I think expanding on their role in protecting the pope during a very volitile period (in the way of powerful weapons) is important and should be expanded on, but it should not be the focus of the article. Nick Catalano (Talk) 12:20, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- Couldn't tread much lighter than what I did :-) Matt 06:42, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- Ahh. My mistake. You added it to the Sig page. not this page... my apologies... I thought it would be improper on the Swiss Guard page... Nick Catalano (Talk) 05:13, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- No, I added the phrase "P 75" to this page, after the reference to them training with their issue Sig handguns. Just thought it might be useful to know what KIND of handguns were issued. I never thought to add it to the Sig page. Matt 09:00, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- Ahh. My mistake. You added it to the Sig page. not this page... my apologies... I thought it would be improper on the Swiss Guard page... Nick Catalano (Talk) 05:13, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)
- Couldn't tread much lighter than what I did :-) Matt 06:42, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Official language
The page reports that German is the official language of the guard, and presents the oath in German. Besides the fact that it seems to me quite strange a police unit speaking a different language from the official one of its country, the oath is given in the guard language: this means that most of the guards speak in German, some in French, and a few in Italian. Would you please check this matter?--Panairjdde 09:07, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)