Reprint of a lavishly illustrated work published in Rome in 1922 by order of Pio XI under the patronage of Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, Secretary of State. The volume deals with the institution of the Guardia Nobile Pontificia and its history, with a particular slant to its organization, its military degrees and attires, and includes short biographies of its commanders, all born into the highest aristocracy of the Papacy (Mattei, Braschi Onesti, Altieri, Barberini, Rospigliosi, Aldobrandini).