Sack of Rome (1527) 1527
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1527 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Italy | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the League of Cognac | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Alfonso d'Avalos, Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Duchy of Ferrara, Ferrante Gonzaga, Georg von Frundsberg, Holy Roman Empire, Kaspar Röist, Papal States, Philibert of Chalon, Pontifical Swiss Guard | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 41.8333, 12.5000 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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 accept his terms. However, the Imperial army (14,000 Germans, including Lutherans, 6,000 Spaniards and some Italians) were largely unpaid and mutinied. Despite being ordered not to storm Rome, they broke into the scarcely defended city and began looting, killing, and holding citizens for ransom without any restraint. 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 Marshal of France Odet de Foix forced the army to withdraw towards Naples. 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.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Sack of Rome (1527) (revision 1372345219), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the War of the League of Cognac
- Battle of Capo d'Orso 1528
- Siege of Naples (1528) 1528
- Battle of Landriano 1529
- Siege of Florence (1529–1530) 1529
- Battle of Gavinana 1530
All 6 battles of the War of the League of Cognac →
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