The Order of the Iron Crown () was an

order of merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

that was established on 5 June 1805 in the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

under his title of Napoleon I,

King of Italy King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...

. The order took its name from the ancient

Iron Crown of Lombardy The Iron Crown (in Italian, Latin, and Lombard: ''Corona Ferrea''; ) is a reliquary votive crown, traditionally considered one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and j ...

, 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 According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

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 ( or OCI) was founded as a national order in 1868 by King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, to commemorate Italian unification, the unification of Italy in 1861. It was awarded in five degrees for ...

, 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 (, ) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hereditary imperial title and office was proclaimed in 1804 by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorr ...

, Francis I, as the Austrian Imperial Order of the Iron Crown.

Significance of the Iron Crown

The

was allegedly made for Roman emperor

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

and crafted from the iron of one of the nails in the

used in the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

. Thus came the term of “Iron Crown”. It was allegedly gifted by

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Ro ...

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 ...

, Queen of the Lombards, who donated it to the Church upon her death in 628. Afterwards, the crown would have been used for the coronation of the Lombard kings and of

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, when he took the throne of

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

in 774. Regardless of origin, the crown is crafted of six hinged plates of gold, set with precious gems, and held together with a circlet structure of white metal underneath. It was most probably a

votive crown A votive crown is a votive offering in the form of a crown, normally in precious metals and often adorned with jewels. Especially in the Early Middle Ages, they are of a special form, designed to be suspended by chains at an altar, shrine or imag ...

and the white metal band within has proven to be crafted of silver rather than iron. From the 14th c. onwards, the crown was seen as the most prominent insignia of the Italian kingship. It was therefore used during the coronation of later Holy Roman Emperors as kings of Italy. It is now kept in the treasury of the

Cathedral of Monza The Duomo of Monza (), often known in English as Monza Cathedral, is the main religious building of Monza, Italy. Unlike most duomo, duomi, it is not in fact a cathedral, as Monza has always been part of the Diocese of Milan, but is in the charge ...

Establishment of the order

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 (; ) was a kingdom in Northern Italy (formerly the Italian Republic) that was a client state of Napoleon's French Empire. It was fully influenced by revolutionary France and ended with Napoleon's defeat and fall. Its gover ...

, the original order ceased to exist. However, the

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

Order of the Iron Crown The Order of the Iron Crown () 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 from the ancient Iron Crown of Lombard ...

Insignia

The ribbon colors of the order were gold and green, with the badge of the order being an

imperial eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

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, along with a six-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 (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, 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, Napoleonic order of the Iron Crown

Iron Crown The Iron Crown (in Italian, Latin, and Lombard: ''Corona Ferrea''; ) is a reliquary votive crown, traditionally considered one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and j ...

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