Sack of Rome (1527)
Habsburg siege and subsequent sack of Papal Rome / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of the city on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, during his war with the League of Cognac, known as the War of the League of Cognac. Despite being ordered not to storm the city, with Charles V intending to only use the threat of military action to make Pope Clement VII come to his terms, a largely unpaid Imperial army formed by 14,000 Germans, many of them Lutheran, 6,000 Spaniards and some Italian contingents occupied the scarcely defended Rome and began looting, slaying and holding citizens for ransom in excess without any restraint.[4] Clement VII took refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo after the Swiss Guard were annihilated in a delaying rearguard action; he remained there until a ransom was paid to the pillagers.
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Sack of Rome | |||||
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Part of the War of the League of Cognac | |||||
The sack of Rome in 1527, by Johannes Lingelbach, 17th century (private collection) | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||
Strength | |||||
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20,000+ (mutinous)
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Casualties and losses | |||||
1,000 militiamen killed 458 Swiss Guards killed[1] | Unknown | ||||
45,000 civilians dead, wounded, or exiled[2][3] |
Benvenuto Cellini, eyewitness to the events, described the sack in his works. It was not until February 1528 that the spread of a plague and the approach of the League forces under Odet de Foix forced the army to withdraw towards Naples from the city. Rome's population had dropped from 55,000 to 10,000 due to the atrocities, famine, an outbreak of plague and flight from the city. The subsequent loss of the League army during the Siege of Naples secured a victory in the War of the League of Cognac for Charles V. The Emperor denied responsibility for the sack and came to terms again with Clement VII. On the other hand, the Sack of Rome further exacerbated religious hatred and antagonism between Catholics and Lutherans.