Noble Guard

In 1801 an agitation was started in Rome among the aristocracy to form a bodyguard for the Pope, and an address was sent to Pius VII offering their services gratuitously.

With the unification of Italy and the abolition of the Papal States in 1870, the Noble Guard restricted its activity to the buildings and grounds of the Vatican.

Recruits were drawn from noble families in Rome, although in the twentieth century requirements were relaxed in practice to allow nobility from other regions of Italy to join the corps.

When the pope was carried in the sedia gestatoria, Noble Guards walked alongside the papal chair.

[4] The Noble Guard was abolished by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as part of the reforms of the Church following the Second Vatican Council.

[5] A planned farewell audience for the guardsmen with the Pope did not take place and the property of the unit was requisitioned at short notice by the Papal Secretariat of State.