The Iron Crown

This celebrated crown is composed of a broad circle of gold, set with large rubies, emeralds and sapphires, on a ground of blue and gold enamel. But the most important part of the crown (from which it derives its name) is a narrow band of iron, about three-eighths of an inch in width and one-tenth of an inch in thickness, attached to the inner circumference of the circlet. This inner band of sacred iron is said to have been made out of one of the nails used at the Crucifixion; it was given by the Empress Helena, the alleged discoverer of the Cross, to her son, the Emperor Constantine, as a miraculous protection from the dangers of the battle field. One of the proofs of its sacred character is that not a speck of rust has appeared upon the iron, though it has been exposed for more than fifteen hundred years. The first knowledge about the crown is that it was used at the coronation of Agilulfus, King of Lombardy, 591 A. D. In 774 Charlemagne was crowned with it. So were thirty-four other German sovereigns in succession. Henry VII. of Germany was crowned with it in 1312; Frederick IV., in 1452, and Charles V., in 1530. On the 23d of May, 1805, when the Emperor Napoleon I. was crowned King of Italy at Milan, he, with his own hands, placed this ancient iron crown of Lombardy on his head, saying, "God has given it to me; let him beware who touches it," thus quoting from the legend running around the inside of the crown. After his coronation, Bonaparte instituted a new order of knighthood for Italy, entitled, "The Knights of the Iron Crown." This sacred relic was deposited till recent years in the sacristy of the cathederal at Monza. It was not shown save by special order of the Governor of Milan, and then by ecclesiastics with candles and full canonicals. A fac-simile was, however, shown in its stead to all the world. It is suspended in the midst of a golden cross at the point where the upright and arms intersect, and is cut off from being touched by glass on each side. In 1866, at the close of the Italo-Prussian war, it was given by the Emperor of Austria to the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel.