Sack of Rome (1527)

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Sack of Rome
Part of the War of the League of Cognac
The sack of Rome in 1527, by Johannes Lingelbach, 17th century (private collection)
Date 6 May 1527; 497 years ago Location Rome, Papal States
Belligerents
Papal States France	Mutinous troops of Charles V: Holy Roman Empire Spain County of Guastalla
Commanders and leaders
Pope Clement VII (POW) Caspar Röist † Renzo da Ceri Michele Antonio of Saluzzo	Charles de Bourbon † Philibert of Châlon (WIA) Ferrante Gonzaga
Strength
5,000 militiamen 500 Swiss Guards [1]	20,000+ (mutinous) 14,000 German Landsknechte 6,000 Spanish soldiers Unclear number of Italian mercenaries
Casualties and losses
1,000 militiamen killed 458 Swiss Guards killed[1]	Unknown
45,000 civilians dead, wounded, or exiled[2]

The Sack of Rome, then part of the Papal States, followed the capture of Rome on 6 May 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, during the War of the League of Cognac. Charles V only intended to threaten military action to make Pope Clement VII come to his terms. However, most of the Imperial army (14,000 Germans, including Lutherans, 6,000 Spaniards and some Italians) were largely unpaid. Despite being ordered not to storm the city, they broke into the scarcely defended city and began looting, killing, and holding citizens for ransom without any restraint.^[3] Clement VII took refuge in Castel Sant'Angelo after the Swiss Guard were annihilated in a delaying rear guard action; he remained there until a ransom was paid to the pillagers.

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.