Dawn Graham, age 13, of Dodge City, Kan., for her question:

WHEN WAS THE SWISS GUARD STARTED?

Ever since the late 1400s, a group of Swiss soldiers have been used as guards for the Pope. Today the group is called the Papal Swiss Guard.

In the early 1500s, Pope Julius II secured the position of the Swiss Guards by a treaty with the Swiss cantons of Zurich and Lucerne. According to the terms of the agreement, the cantons supplied 250 men to serve as a bodyguard for the Pope from that time on.

Since then, the Pope has always had a body of Swiss Guards around him at the Vatican. The number of guards has been reduced and their type of service changed through the years.

Another body of Swiss soldiers, also called the Swiss Guards, was organized in 1616 to protect King Louis XIII of France. These soldiers served France for 175 years. Most were killed while defending the royal palace in Paris from attack by an angry French Revolution mob.