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The Swiss Guard is considered an elite military unit and highly selective in its recruitment: candidates must be unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 19 and 30 years of age, and at least 5 feet 8.5 inches (1.74 meters), who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces and hold a professional diploma or high school degree.
The earliest Swiss Guard unit to be established on a permanent basis was the Hundred Swiss (Cent-Suisses), which served at the French court from 1490 to 1817. This small force was complemented in 1616 by a Swiss Guards regiment. In the 18th and early 19th centuries several other Swiss Guard units existed for periods in various European courts.
Swiss Guard: Pope Julius II Papal States Vatican City: Although the Swiss Guard was founded in 1506 and is one of the oldest active military units presently in existence, they were disbanded and reorganized multiple times. The most recent iteration of the Swiss Guard began in 1814, after being disbanded in 1809. [61] [62] 1842 Engineer Regiment
The military history of Switzerland comprises centuries of armed actions, and the role of the Swiss military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. Despite maintaining neutrality since its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499, [1] Switzerland has been involved in military operations dating back to the hiring of Swiss mercenaries by foreign nations, including the Papal States.
In the event known as the Stand of the Swiss Guard, the Swiss, alongside the garrison's remaining soldiers, made their last stand in the Teutonic Cemetery within the Vatican. Their captain, Kaspar Röist, was wounded and later sought refuge in his house, where Spanish soldiers killed him in front of his wife. [7]
Since the early twentieth century the Guard has returned to its original practice of recruiting only Swiss nationals. As of 2005, the Guard had 134 members. All recruits complete basic military training with the Swiss Army before transferring to the Vatican, [9] and must be Catholics and at least 174 cm (5 ft 8.5 in) in height. [10]
The standing mercenary army of the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, known as the "Black Army" (1458–1490), also contained Swiss pikemen units, who were held in high regard by the king. [2] The native German term Reisläufer literally means "one who goes to war" and is derived from the Middle High German Reise, meaning "military campaign".
Thomas Süssli, chief of the Swiss Armed Forces since 2020 Structure of the Swiss Army, 2018 (click to enlarge) In peacetime, the Swiss Armed Forces are led by the Chief of the Armed Forces (Chef der Armee), who reports to the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport and to the Swiss Federal Council as a whole.