Armed priests

Distinguished from military chaplains, who are non-combatants that provided spiritual guidance to service personnel and associated civilians, these priests took up arms and fought in conflicts as combatants.

[1] In Ancient Rome, the Salii were an order of armed priests who carried sacred shields through the city during the March festivals.

[3] Medieval European canon law said that a priest could not be a soldier, and vice versa.

[4] The Aztecs had a vanguard of warrior priests who carried deity banners and made sacrifices on the battlefield.

[5] In more recent times, the warrior-priest was a common figure in the First Serbian Uprising (1804–13).