| Order of the Iron Crown Ordine della Corona Ferrea | |
|---|---|
_-_Tallinn_Museum_of_Orders.jpg){kind=icon} Badge of the order | |
| Awarded by theKing of Italy | |
| Type | Order of merit |
| Established | 5 June 1805 |
| Country |  Kingdom of Italy French Empire |
| Status | Extinct |
| Precedence | |
| Next (higher) | Order of the Reunion |
 Ribbon of the order | |
TheOrder of the Iron Crown (Italian:Ordine della Corona Ferrea) was anorder of merit that was established on 5 June 1805 in theKingdom of Italy byNapoleon Bonaparte under his title of Napoleon I,King of Italy.
The order took its name from the ancientIron Crown of Lombardy, a medieval jewel with what was thought to be an iron ring, later shown to be of silver, forged from what was supposed to bea nail from theTrue Cross as a band on the inside. This crown also gave its name to theOrder of the Crown of Italy, which was established in 1868.
After the fall of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1814, the order was re-established in 1815 by theEmperor of Austria,Francis I, as the AustrianImperial Order of the Iron Crown.
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TheIron Crown of Lombardy was allegedly made forRoman emperorConstantine and crafted from the iron of one of the nails in theTrue Cross used in theCrucifixion of Jesus. Thus came the term of “Iron Crown”. It was allegedly gifted byPope Gregory I toTheodelinda, 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 ofHoly Roman EmperorCharlemagne, when he took the throne ofLombardy 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 avotive crown 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 theCathedral of Monza.
During his continued expansion of power,Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Italy in much the same manner asCharlemagne. As a symbolic gesture, he had himself crowned as King of Italy using theIron Crown of Lombardy 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 theNapoleonic Kingdom of Italy, the original order ceased to exist. However, theEmperor of Austria,Francis I, re-established the order in 1815 as the Austrian ImperialOrder of the Iron Crown.
The ribbon colors of the order were gold and green, with the badge of the order being animperial eagle set upon a representation of theIron Crown of Lombardy.
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Media related toNapoleonic order of the Iron Crown at Wikimedia Commons