May 6th, 1527: the Sack of Rome
A hard battle. A terrible day. Hundreds of victims.
The memory of the Sack of Rome of 1527 still hurts.
The Emperor vs. The Pope
The Sack of Rome took place during the conflicts between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Francis I of France.
As head of house Habsburg, Charles V controlled a huge part of Europe: Germany, Spain (Castile and Aragon) and the South of Italy. After the Emperor conquered the North of Italy, Pope Clemens VII feared his next target was the Papal State.
Taking advantage of Francis’s dissatisfaction for his defeats, the Pope founded an alliance – the League of Cognac – together with the French Kingdom.
After several failed diplomatic negotiations and some smart political moves, Charles V gave order to attack the Pope. On Nov 12th, 1526, the Imperial army left from Trento, counting on:
14000 Landsknechts;
6000 Spaniards;
Italian infantry of Fabrizio Maramaldo, Cardinal Pompeo Colonna and Luigi Gonzaga;
Italian mercenaries and mutinous of the League of Cognac.
Clemens VII, on the other hand, had only on 5000 militiamen and 189 Swiss Guard.
The Sack
May 6th, 1527.
The Imperial army attacked the walls between the Vatican and the Janiculum. While the Landsknechts focused on the walls, a group of Spaniards found a hidden window of a cellar. In few minutes and without any resistance, the soldiers took control of the city.
In the meantime, the Swiss Guards stood to save the Pope: he sought refuge at Castel Sant’Angelo with the Cardinals. Only 42 Swiss Guards survived.
Tired, underpaid and without their commander, the Landsknechts went wild. The Sack of Rome had begun.
They desecrated churches, raped women and killed men. On June 5th, 1527, Clemens VII paid the ransom hoping for the departure of the troops: instead, he was kept as prisoner and they continued the sack.
They left only eight months later, in February 1528.
Counting victims and damages
The population in Rome went from 55000 to 10000. Masses of unburied corpses in the street caused the city to be extremely unhealthy, and Romans hadn’t to wait long before plague appeared.
All the properties were damaged and pillaged: for example, in Villa Farnesina some Landsknechts left a graffiti on the precious frescoes, making fun of the Pope.
With the Sack of Rome ends officially the Italian Renaissance.
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