With the armies of Victor-Emmanuel advancing across Italy, the population of Perugia in the Papal States revolted against rule from the Vatican. In an action that was to cause controversy throughout Europe, the Pope ordered Swiss mercenary troops to restore order in the city. This they did amid rumors and allegations of "extraordinary cruelty," although the actual casualty figures were ten Swiss killed and twenty-seven Perugians dead. From then on, Swiss mercenary troops across Italy were compromised and the Pope suffered a public relations disaster. (By John Osborne)
Source Citation
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1860 (Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Company, 1860), 390.
Owen Chadwick, A History of the Popes 1830-1914 (Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press, 2003), 143.
Owen Chadwick, A History of the Popes 1830-1914 (Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press, 2003), 143.