ABSTRACT
The historiography of the High Renaissance frames the Sack of Rome in 1527 because of the Habsburg-Valois rivalry. According to the religious view, the violence was due largely to the Lutherans and their anti-popery. The Peasant's War of 1525, the first large-scale manifestation of the ferocious antagonism which separated both confessions, could perhaps be considered a direct forerunner of the events of 1527. The Catholic Church and the Reformation world of 1527 were quite familiar with the violence which was linked to the papal interregnum. The Roman populace was making demands, attempting to renegotiate its political position. Roman Empire, were headed by Imperial knights and were largely employed in foreign wars. Their distinctive organization made them the first group of mercenaries to command respect and honour not only from civil society but also from the European political leadership. The parallel between the Sack and interregnum behaviour is the carnivalesque turn of events which was often found in a sede vacante.
