The avenues leading to the Guards' position became so choked with the dead that their living comrades were funneled dangerously into narrow back alleys and side streets, where their superior numbers counted for nothing.
Occasionally a squad of German Landsknechts, fearsome swordsmen known for their inhuman strength and flamboyant outfits, would manage to punch through the Swiss lines, only to be felled by Röist and his corps of officers, screaming murderous invective and thrusting with their rapiers. When their pikes broke, the Swiss drew their swords; when their swords dulled, they fought on with daggers, truncheons, fists, and teeth.
The Swiss Guards were killed to the last man; Röist himself was the last to fall. The Protestants suffered an estimated 15,000 casualties - three quarters of their fighting force. The last stand of the Swiss Guard allowed Pope Clement VII time to escape the Vatican, and it weakened and demoralized the mutineers to such an extent that they could not hold the city. With their backs to Saint Peter, the Swiss had saved the seat of Christendom.
To this day, new guards are sworn-in on May 6, as a potent reminder of the Guards' vow to defend the life of the Pope at any cost.
Photo: http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/05/08/40-new-swiss-guards-sworn-in-at-vatican-ceremony/
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