The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an

order of merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

that was established on 5 June 1805 in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

under his title of Napoleon I,

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

. The order took its name from the ancient

Iron Crown of Lombardy The Iron Crown ( lmo, Corona Ferrea de Lombardia; it, Corona Ferrea; la, Corona Ferrea) is a relic and may be one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Early Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fi ...

, a medieval jewel with what was thought to be an iron ring, later shown to be of silver, forged from what was supposed to be a nail from the

True Cross The True Cross is the cross upon which Jesus was said to have been crucified, particularly as an object of religious veneration. There are no early accounts that the apostles or early Christians preserved the physical cross themselves, althoug ...

as a band on the inside. This crown also gave its name to the

Order of the Crown of Italy The Order of the Crown of Italy ( it, Ordine della Corona d'Italia, italic=no or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for civi ...

, which was established in 1868. After the fall of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1814, the order was re-established in 1815 by the

Emperor of Austria The Emperor of Austria (german: Kaiser von Österreich) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A hereditary imperial title and office proclaimed in 1804 by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, a member of the Hou ...

Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to: * Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407) * Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450 * Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547 * Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...

, as the Austrian

Imperial Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

Significance of the Iron Crown

Koechlin - Ordre de la Couronne de Fer (Codronchi)

The

, made for

Theodelinda Theodelinda also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570–628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when he ...

, Queen of the Lombards, was alleged to be crafted from one of the original nails in the

used in the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consider ...

. Regardless of origin, her crown was crafted of six hinged plates of gold, set with precious gems, and held together with an iron circlet structure underneath. Thus came the term of “Iron Crown”. Upon Theolinda’s death in 628, her crown was donated to the Church at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...

, where it still remains. It was used during the coronation of

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

, as he took the throne of

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

in 774. Later Holy Roman Emperors followed suit in this tradition.

Founding of the Order of the Iron Crown

During his continued expansion of power,

conquered Italy in much the same manner as

. As a symbolic gesture, he had himself crowned as King of Italy using the

for the coronation, which occurred on 26 May 1805. Soon after, Napoleon founded the Order of the Iron Crown on 5 June 1805. The Order was divided into three classes, with an allowance of up to 20 grand cross knights, 100 commander knights, and 500 ordinary knights. With the eventual end of the

Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (1805–1814; it, Regno d'Italia; french: Royaume d'Italie) was a kingdom in Northern Italy (formerly the Italian Republic) in personal union with Napoleon I's French Empire. It was fully influenced by revolutionary France ...

, the French version of this order ceased to exist. However, the

, re-established the order in 1815 as the Austrian Imperial

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown ( it, link=no, Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was an order of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in the Kingdom of Italy by Napoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I, King of Italy. The order took its name ...

Insignia

The ribbon colors of the order were gold and green, with the badge of the order being an imperial eagle set upon a representation of the

. * Knights wore a traditional military style medal on the left chest. * Commanders wore a traditional military style medal on the left chest, with the addition of a rosette in the center of the ribbon to distinguish them from ordinary knights. * Holders of the Grand Cross wore a sash over the right shoulder and a neck badge, with an eight-pointed breast star (that featured the Iron Crown at its center) on the left breast.

Master of the Order

* 1805–1814:

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, Emperor of the French and King of Italy

Sources

* Blom, Philipp. ''To Have and to Hold: An Intimate History of Collectors and Collecting''. Overlook, 2003. pp. 146–147. * Gottschalck, Friedrich. ''Almanach der Ritter-Orden''. Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony: Georg Joachim Goeschen, 1819.

External links

*{{commonscat-inline, Order of the Iron Crown

Iron Crown The Iron Crown ( lmo, Corona Ferrea de Lombardia; it, Corona Ferrea; la, Corona Ferrea) is a relic and may be one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Early Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fit ...

1805 establishments in the Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) 1805 establishments in Italy