page_title: History of Rome
section_title: Sack of Rome (1527)
hierarchical_section_title: History of Rome / Early modern history / Sack of Rome (1527)
caption_attribution_description: Sack of Rome of 1527
context_page_description: The history of Rome includes the history of the city of Rome as well as the civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman law has influenced many modern legal systems. Roman history can be divided into the following periods:
  Pre-historical and early Rome, covering Rome's earliest inhabitants and the legend of its founding by Romulus.
  The period of Etruscan dominance and the Regal Period, in which according to tradition, Romulus was the first of seven kings.
  The Roman Republic, which commenced in 509 BC when kings were replaced with rule by elected senators. The period was marked by vast expansion of Roman territory. During the 5th century BC, Rome gained regional dominance in Latium. With the Punic Wars from 264 to 146 BC, Ancient Rome gained dominance over the Western Mediterranean, displacing Carthage as the dominant regional power.
  The Roman Empire - with the rise of Julius Caesar, the Republic waned, and by all measures concluded after a period of civil war and the victory of Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar in 27 BC over Mark Antony.
context_section_description: In 1527 the ambiguous policy followed by the second Medici Pope, Pope Clement VII, resulted in the dramatic sack of the city by the unruly Imperial troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. After the execution of some 1,000 defenders, the pillage began. The city was devastated for several days, many of the citizens were killed or took shelter outside the walls. Of 189 Swiss Guards on duty only 42 survived. The Pope himself was imprisoned for months in Castel Sant'Angelo. The sack marked the end of one of the most splendid eras of modern Rome.
  The 1525's Jubilee resulted in a farce, as Martin Luther's claims had spread criticism and even despise against the Pope's greed of money throughout Europe. The prestige of Rome was then challenged by the defections of the churches of Germany and England. Pope Paul III (1534–1549) tried to recover the situation by summoning the Council of Trento, although being, at the same time, the most nepotist Pope of all. He even separated Parma and Piacenza from the Papal States to create an independent duchy for his son Pier Luigi. He continued the patronage of art supporting the Michelangelo's Last Judgment, asking him to renovate the Campidoglio and the ongoing construction of St. Peter's. After the shock of the sack, he also called the brilliant architect Giuliano da Sangallo the Younger to strengthen the walls of the Leonine City.
  The need for renovation in the religious customs became evident in the vacancy period after Paulus' death, when the streets of Rome became seat of masked carousels which satirised the Cardinals attending the conclave. His two immediate successors were feeble figures who did nothing to escape the actual Spanish suzerainty over Rome.
caption: The sack of Rome in 1527, by Johannes Lingelbach, 17th century.
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