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The Sack of Rome
An epic account of the moment when Renaissance Rome was torn apart and mercilessly destroyed by mutinous Christian soldiers.
An ideal book for those who have enjoyed the works of Barbara W. Tuchman, G. J. Meyer and John Julius Norwich.
In the early morning of 6 May, 1527, the 20,000 starving, unpaid troops of Emperor Charles V began their assault on the great walls of Rome. After only a few hours they had overcome the barricades; the city into which they streamed was now in their grip. This uncontrollable force of German landsknechts, Spanish soldiers and Italian mercenaries showed no mercy as they plundered, raped and slayed their way through the holy city.
Why was this monumental army camped outside the walls of Rome? Did the Protestant beliefs of many landsknechts cause them to act more mercilessly towards the Pope’s subjects? And how were some of the most powerful men in history powerless to stop this atrocious event?
E. R. Chamberlin’s masterful study traces the origins of this tragic events and uncovers the personalities who had unwittingly led to it, from Charles de Bourbon, the leader of the army who was killed at the moment of assault, to King François I of France and Emperor Charles V whose rivalry had laid waste Italian lands, and of course, Pope Clement VII, who had retreated to the safety of Castel Sant’ Angelo while his Swiss Guard were slaughtered behind him.
Drawing upon numerous contemporary sources, Chamberlin has created a fascinatingly readable account, contrasting the glory of Renaissance Rome before the Imperial army arrived with the squalor that was left in its wake as starvation and plague killed off the few remaining inhabitants that had not chosen to flee.
An ideal book for those who have enjoyed the works of Barbara W. Tuchman, G. J. Meyer and John Julius Norwich.
In the early morning of 6 May, 1527, the 20,000 starving, unpaid troops of Emperor Charles V began their assault on the great walls of Rome. After only a few hours they had overcome the barricades; the city into which they streamed was now in their grip. This uncontrollable force of German landsknechts, Spanish soldiers and Italian mercenaries showed no mercy as they plundered, raped and slayed their way through the holy city.
Why was this monumental army camped outside the walls of Rome? Did the Protestant beliefs of many landsknechts cause them to act more mercilessly towards the Pope’s subjects? And how were some of the most powerful men in history powerless to stop this atrocious event?
E. R. Chamberlin’s masterful study traces the origins of this tragic events and uncovers the personalities who had unwittingly led to it, from Charles de Bourbon, the leader of the army who was killed at the moment of assault, to King François I of France and Emperor Charles V whose rivalry had laid waste Italian lands, and of course, Pope Clement VII, who had retreated to the safety of Castel Sant’ Angelo while his Swiss Guard were slaughtered behind him.
Drawing upon numerous contemporary sources, Chamberlin has created a fascinatingly readable account, contrasting the glory of Renaissance Rome before the Imperial army arrived with the squalor that was left in its wake as starvation and plague killed off the few remaining inhabitants that had not chosen to flee.
- GenresHistoryItalyNonfiction
349 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1979
94 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
E.R. Chamberlin
43 books29 followersEric Russell Chamberlin (1926-2006)
Historian and author. Chamberlin was the author of numerous popular history books ranging from ancient Rome to twentieth-century Britain. Although he was born in Jamaica, he returned to England with his father during the Great Depression. Chamberlin dropped out of school when he was fourteen and became an apprentice leather dresser.
When he was old enough, he eagerly left this work behind to enlist in the Royal Navy in 1944. He served in the military until 1947 and then found work at the Norwich Public Library. It was here that his real education began, and Chamberlin took advantage of his vocation by reading history texts avidly. He later also worked at the Holborn Public Library and then for the book division at Readers’ Digest.
His first book, The Count of Virtue: Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, was released in 1965. This would be followed by thirty more books over the next three decades. Among these are The Bad Popes (1969), The Sack of Rome (1979), The Nineteenth Century (1983), The Emperor, Charlemagne (1986), and The Tower of London: An Illustrated History (1989). Also active in historical preservation projects, Chamberlin helped rescue the Guildford Institute building from destruction in 1982 and had a monument to Admiral Horatio Nelson constructed on Mt. Etna in Italy.
For the former endeavor, Chamberlin was recognized with an honorary degree from the University of Surrey in 1982.
Historian and author. Chamberlin was the author of numerous popular history books ranging from ancient Rome to twentieth-century Britain. Although he was born in Jamaica, he returned to England with his father during the Great Depression. Chamberlin dropped out of school when he was fourteen and became an apprentice leather dresser.
When he was old enough, he eagerly left this work behind to enlist in the Royal Navy in 1944. He served in the military until 1947 and then found work at the Norwich Public Library. It was here that his real education began, and Chamberlin took advantage of his vocation by reading history texts avidly. He later also worked at the Holborn Public Library and then for the book division at Readers’ Digest.
His first book, The Count of Virtue: Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, was released in 1965. This would be followed by thirty more books over the next three decades. Among these are The Bad Popes (1969), The Sack of Rome (1979), The Nineteenth Century (1983), The Emperor, Charlemagne (1986), and The Tower of London: An Illustrated History (1989). Also active in historical preservation projects, Chamberlin helped rescue the Guildford Institute building from destruction in 1982 and had a monument to Admiral Horatio Nelson constructed on Mt. Etna in Italy.
For the former endeavor, Chamberlin was recognized with an honorary degree from the University of Surrey in 1982.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 23, 2023
When his French advisers displayed horror at the sweeping terms of his capitulation, he smiled, assured them that he had not the slightest intention of keeping such a promise and promptly obliged them to swear to keep his intentions secret, blithely ignoring the fact that he had himself substantially contributed to the devaluation of sworn oaths.
I found this book quite delightful, and it put me in the mind of C V Wedgwood - painting individuals in technicolour while giving them quite plausible motivations for their actions.
The Sack of Rome occured during the Italian Wars of the 15th-16th centuries, and while there were perhaps religious/strategic/commerical factors, it's hard to escape the role that dynastic considerations played, which forms a large part of the build up to the Sack.
Primary texts are superbly weaved into the narrative of compelling characters, using their own words to explain their motivations, or their guesses at the motivations of the others.
That, perhaps, was Pope Clement’s greatest disadvantage: he was a good man and a humble Christian, but he was also a man of his time, a dynast. The two halves of his nature conflicted endlessly with each other and, because he was a weak man, the immediate problems of the dynast only too often took precedence over the distant problems of the priest.
Pope Clement comes off poorly as a flitterer between sides, while the tragedy of the Duke of Bourbon gets surprisingly deep development for someone who dies almost immediately during the attack on Rome (before the actual siege even).
They should march now: they should march fast and strike hard. Such was the unequivocal advice given by the officers of the army of the Holy League. And at last Francesco della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Holy League made up his mind: they would retreat.
Like Wedgwood, it's a gloomy tale, failed Italian nationalism substituting for failed Germanic stirrings, but it's the best (and most comprehensible) book I have read on the Italian Wars. Even if it is considered archaic from a historigrapical viewpoint (I don't know, but I have my suspicions), it gives you the necessary grounding to understand any later cricitisms.
I found this book quite delightful, and it put me in the mind of C V Wedgwood - painting individuals in technicolour while giving them quite plausible motivations for their actions.
The Sack of Rome occured during the Italian Wars of the 15th-16th centuries, and while there were perhaps religious/strategic/commerical factors, it's hard to escape the role that dynastic considerations played, which forms a large part of the build up to the Sack.
Primary texts are superbly weaved into the narrative of compelling characters, using their own words to explain their motivations, or their guesses at the motivations of the others.
That, perhaps, was Pope Clement’s greatest disadvantage: he was a good man and a humble Christian, but he was also a man of his time, a dynast. The two halves of his nature conflicted endlessly with each other and, because he was a weak man, the immediate problems of the dynast only too often took precedence over the distant problems of the priest.
Pope Clement comes off poorly as a flitterer between sides, while the tragedy of the Duke of Bourbon gets surprisingly deep development for someone who dies almost immediately during the attack on Rome (before the actual siege even).
They should march now: they should march fast and strike hard. Such was the unequivocal advice given by the officers of the army of the Holy League. And at last Francesco della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and Commander-in-Chief of the army of the Holy League made up his mind: they would retreat.
Like Wedgwood, it's a gloomy tale, failed Italian nationalism substituting for failed Germanic stirrings, but it's the best (and most comprehensible) book I have read on the Italian Wars. Even if it is considered archaic from a historigrapical viewpoint (I don't know, but I have my suspicions), it gives you the necessary grounding to understand any later cricitisms.
June 29, 2025
Covers the lead-up to the 1527 Sack of Rome through political moves, military campaigns, and shifting alliances. The narrative includes firsthand accounts, with many different voices brought in briefly to report what they saw. This gives a good sense of scale but makes it harder to keep track of who the key players are over time. The biographies of the main figures are interesting but they fade before the sack itself, which makes them feel irrelevant in the end.
The writing is clear and efficient. The worst of the violence is described plainly, without overdoing it. One line where the author says he can’t bring himself to describe some of the torture stands out more than any graphic detail would.
There’s not much on what everyday Rome was like before the sack. The focus stays on the higher-level decisions until everything suddenly falls apart. The book ends quickly after the sack with little on what followed after
The writing is clear and efficient. The worst of the violence is described plainly, without overdoing it. One line where the author says he can’t bring himself to describe some of the torture stands out more than any graphic detail would.
There’s not much on what everyday Rome was like before the sack. The focus stays on the higher-level decisions until everything suddenly falls apart. The book ends quickly after the sack with little on what followed after
October 12, 2022
Chamberlin is one of the most fascinating historians I’ve read. It’s difficult to put his books down. In this case he’s taken an event that is usually no more than a blip in a history book, the sixteenth century Sack of Rome, teased it out into a full-fledged tragedy, well researched and described in heart-breaking detail. This story needs to be read not just because it is fascinating and well written, but for the hope that somehow it is still possible to learn from the mistakes of the past.
October 18, 2023
Details of the horrendous sack of Rome by Spanish, French and German troops don't begin until two-thirds of the way through the book. The first two-thirds are devoted with clarity and perspective to the complex reasons and personalities that led up to the weeks-long sacking.
Told with an historian's devotion to original sources and with a novelist's vivid imagery, this book brilliantly captures the whole picture.
Told with an historian's devotion to original sources and with a novelist's vivid imagery, this book brilliantly captures the whole picture.
October 10, 2022
A masterly description of a tragic event.
This was by far the most masterly description of the tragedy that was the Sack of Rome I have read. The complexities of the personalities, politics and events of the time were defined in agonising clarity and kept me enthralled by every paragraph.
A must read for all those with an interest in this period of Italian history.
This was by far the most masterly description of the tragedy that was the Sack of Rome I have read. The complexities of the personalities, politics and events of the time were defined in agonising clarity and kept me enthralled by every paragraph.
A must read for all those with an interest in this period of Italian history.
January 6, 2026
I liked it. It's a good summary of the events as well as the players leading up to it. I was a bit disappointed that the Last Stand of the 189 was a sentence, which why I was interested in this book.
October 25, 2022
Chamberlin paints a vivid picture of Rome's darkest day. Richly illustrated with a wealth of primary sources and more than a sprinkling of of nationalism you'd expect from a book of this age.
March 6, 2023
Complex to review - it’s detailed and very readable, but the gratuitous detail and misogynistic perspectives on rape are very difficult.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews