Armor like a knight on horseback. A helmet with bright-colored plumes sticking out. Wide blue and gold-striped pants that can seem almost clown-like. The Swiss Guard, the pope’s iconic bodyguards, ...

VATICAN CITY, — They’re some of the most recognizable figures in Vatican City, dressed in bright stripes and carrying ancient weapons. But behind the pageantry, the Swiss Guard is a modern security ...

The Sack of Rome in 1527 was one of the most traumatic events in the ancient city’s history, marking a brutal collapse of Renaissance stability and shattering the prestige of the Vatican. The sack by ...

When Cosimo il Vecchio was a young man, he was given a slave girl. Despite his marriage he continued to live with her, away from his family. Their bastard son, Carlo, sought his fortune in Spain and ...