The Sack of Rome 1527 - As it Happened

foreign Rome May 5th 1527 the city is under siege from the  north encamped in the fields of the Monte Mario   a mutinous Spanish Army marching under Emperor  Charles V of Spain's Banner has set its sights   on Roman treasure they have yet to be paid having  fought for Charles in Northern Italy against the   French armies of Francis the first at the Battle  of Pavia in 1525 and their avarice has only grown   since then Charles de bourbon the rebellious  French Duke has led this Army southwards   preventing them from sacking other cities notably  Milan hoping that funds from the emperor would   materialize however they have not and the Loyalty  of these troops has only been narrowly secured   by extorting Milan's aristocracy out of 40 000  ducats Ferrara's Banks out of fifteen thousand   ransoming important figures and dipping into  the personal funds of the Army's generals   interestingly the army of bourbon is in breach  of a truce negotiated between Pope Clements VII   and Brewer born's Superior the Viceroy of  Naples Charles de Lannoy which should have   signaled the cessation of hostilities between  the papacy and Charles's Empire the need for   a final sack to satisfy the troops seems to  have overridden these diplomatic realities   the situation for Rome is dire facing an army  of more than twenty thousand men with only   a total of eight thousand in defense they are  vastly outnumbered Rome has managed to muster 4   000 regular infantry composed of Roman volunteers  and forming the backbone of the Pope's defenses   two thousand Swiss guards and 2 000 black band  soldiers loyal to the Medici family they are   under equipped as the city's financial situation  has been in Decline over the past few months with   many black band soldiers in particular resorting  to pawning off their armor to support themselves   The Defenders are also poorly trained with  regular infantry being composed primarily   of citizens priests and monks the atmosphere  on the city's streets is tense with the night   preceding the assault of the bourbon Army  being fraught with anxieties sleeplessness   and the constant raging of the Guard there  are also worries that subjects of Imperial   Spain that are living in Rome may turn treasonous  and Aid the Imperial Army and entering the city May 6 1527. the city's residence emerge from  a restless night happy to find the city had   not yet been assaulted however their relief is  short-lived as the early hours of the morning   bring the Imperial Army's first and final assault  4am The Assault on the city begins the gargantuan   walls surrounding Rome were built by the Roman  Emperor aurelian and they remain a formidable   defensive instrument but they are quickly beset  by the ladders of the Invaders at five locations   the most important three being the Belvedere  Square Puerto pertussa and between the Puerto   trione and the Porta sanspirito all located near  the leonine city however the prior to assaults are   merely distractions for remain forced to overwhelm  a weak point in the wall at the latter location   the initial attempts to break through the papal  defenses are met with Fierce resistance with the   Imperial Army suffering heavy losses but their  numbers allow for such losses and they merely   regroup and reinforce Additionally the thick  fog that has made the battlefield its home   is preventing Rome from using her powerful  artillery against the enemy regardless one   of the next assaults sees the Army's General  Duke Charles de Baldwin leading from the front   his stark white cloak billowing around him as he  AIDS in positioning ladders on the city's walls   but his chosen attire makes him an obvious  Target for the city's archibuses amongst   the black and gray blur of the rest of his army  and he's singled out quickly he is to die here   the recipient of an archivist shot his death  while momentarily threatening to set his   army into a panicked route is instead used by  quick-witted subordinate commanders to enrage   the soldiers and direct their wrath against  the city's faltering defenses for the next few   hours the walls are subjected to repeated  assault with pressure never being reduced   the attackers cycle out tired Fighters for  fresh ones while the soldiers Manning the   city walls become increasingly exhausted their  sheer numerical superiority means that they are   essentially tearing the walls of the city down by  hand Brick by Brick inevitably as around 6 AM they   breached the city walls flooding into the streets  of Rome as the Defenders break into a panic   with commanders Renzo datieri and oracio  baglione unable to quell the route   meanwhile Pope Clements is praying in the Vatican  ostensibly for the victory of his ragtag band of   Defenders not yet realizing that the defense has  crumbled and the enemies swarm the city's streets   some of Rome's more disciplined Defenders  composed of a retinue of swissgard and some   Roman militiamen tried to assemble a rear guard  for the fleeing Defenders but they are hopelessly   outnumbered and after brief but ferocious fighting  they are cut down Elsewhere on the river Tiber   roughly 200 wealth men attempt to secure the Ponte  Sisto with fire support from the Castel San Angelo   but they are overwhelmed by Imperial forces and  forced to retreat into the fort as Imperial troops   marched to the city they bring with them despair  setting fire to the Orsini Palazzo Taverna raiding   stores raping civilians slaughtering Romans in  the hospital of San spirito putting the Orphans of   pieta to the sword and generally committing what  we in the Modern Age would consider war crimes   some of those present at the sacking exclaimed  that the Goths Turks and vandals have been outdone   a reference to previous sacks of Rome that in  the eyes of these contemporary observers pale   in comparison to the barbarism they are paid  witness as they come in spitting distance of   the Vatican what is left of the Swiss guard blocks  their Advance they have been reduced to just 189   men the others either dead captured or occupied in  the defense of the city elsewhere this Detachment   ostensibly reserved to act as the Pope's personal  guard is led by Casper royst the captain of the   Swiss guard they have hold themselves up by the  Campo santor tutonico in an attempt to slow the   advance of the Imperial Marauders it is however a  hopeless task they fight valiantly but are faced   with an overwhelming enemy and they are nearly  decimated with only 42 survivors escaping the   stalker with their lives the captain royst  is heavily wounded in The Fray and makes his   way bloodied and ailing to his home where he is  killed in front of his wife by Imperial soldiers   the dregs of dregs that remain the Swiss guard  Retreat further up into the Vatican defending the   pope as he escapes to the Castile San Angelo  through the passetto DI borjo the pope is   accompanied in his flight by numerous Cardinals  commanders and foreign dignitaries roughly 3   000 Roman citizens also find refuge in the cast of  San Angelo making their way from the city proper   but the majority are unable to reach this Safe  Haven in time before the drawbridge is raised and   the portcullis dropped in their desperation Romans  are described to have leaped into the river Tiber   to escape the bloodthirsty Imperial landsnest but  many end up drowning May 7th to June 7th 1527. in this total ruin and destruction of Rome the  Caesarean Army forced its way into the City   yesterday I am writing this to his Excellency  Federico Gonzaga to make him understand how   extremely terrible it was to witness such  Calamity the Looting was so intense and   extensive that anyone seeing it would be deeply  touched kindling the deepest feeling of compassion   into those attending such a cruel scene insofar  that even Stone would be moved to compassion   ambassador of the Marquis of Mantua Francesco  Gonzaga over the next few weeks the city   would be ransacked with the Imperial Army  gradually reigning in its control of the city   with the insatiable Lust For loot women and blood  being only tempered by the possibility that Rome   may be enforced by her allies in the league of  cognac but they are never to arrive a-league   Army led by Francesco Maria de la rovere of urbino  would consider a rescue operation on the 22nd of   May but ultimately against the protests of many  papal loyalists de la rovere elected not to help   Rome was alone the city's defense had  all but collapsed with the only hold out   being the casteiros and Angelo which over the  coming weeks would be starved into submission   during the sack the Imperial Army would  raid numerous palaces in many cases After   ignoring the bribes they had been paid not to  raid them one example is that of the Palazzo   piccolomini which was raided after the owner  Cardinal piccolomini paid 35 000 dockets for   its protection this sort of thing would happen  to Nobles and Wealthy individuals all over the   city even those whose Allegiance was towards the  Imperial cause even the imperialist Cardinals such   as bonzetti and Vale were extorted and if they  resisted beaten within an inch of their life   fonzetti for example died of wounds given to him  by Imperial Marauders the German landsconnect   mercenaries were particularly brutal as their  Lutheranism meant they had fewer moral qualms   when dealing with Catholics while the Spaniards  made it their main business to extort money   from the clergy the landsnet declared that  they had promised God to murder all priests with this in mind many monks priests and Bishops  were in fact put to the sword including one   eight-year-old Bishop of Potenza who upon failing  to pay his own Ransom was murdered brutally   other victims perhaps more or less fortunately  were only subjected to mutilations of the body   like removal of ears or noses the nuns of the  city were also treated terribly with many raped   paraded through the streets naked and quote  sold in the markets for two decades unquote   No Quarter was given additionally a large  quantity of archival material manuscripts   and literature was destroyed during this  period with the libraries of Santo Sabina   and various other private collections  being incinerated or simply misplaced   the Vatican Library also sustained severe  damage only to be saved by filibertive orang   as he had elected to set up his headquarters  there by June the 7th when the pope and the   Imperial Army had negotiated a surrender  the city was but a shadow of his former self in Rome the chief city of Christendom nobel's  ring no churches are open no masses are said   Sundays and feast days have ceased the rich  shops of the merchants are turned into Stables   the most Splendid palaces are stripped  bare many houses are burnt to the ground   in others the doors and windows are  broken and carried away the streets   are changed into dunghills the stench of  dead bodies is terrible men and beasts   have a common grave and in the churches I  have seen corpses that dogs have known upon   in the public places tables are set close  together at which piles of ducats are gambled for   the air rings with blasphemies fit to make good  men if such there be wish that they were deaf   I know nothing wherewith I can compare it  except it be the destruction of Jerusalem   I do not believe that if I lived for  200 years I should see the like again foreign

Channel: IMPERIAL

Views: 382,217

Keywords: Sack of Rome, Roma, 1527, roman empire, Renaissance, League of Cognac, Charles V, Holy Roman Empire, Papal States, Pope, Papacy, Sabaton, the last stand sabaton, Swiss Guard Sabaton, Swiss Guard, Last Stand

Id: KIVB-4ffePA

Length: 16min 0sec (960 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 15 2022