Order of the Iron Crown (Italy 1805)
The Order of the Iron Crown was an award of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy from 1805 to 1814 .
Foundation, endowment
The order was founded on June 5, 1805 by Napoleon Bonaparte after his coronation as King of Italy under the name Ordre de la Couronne de Fer or Ordine della Corona di Ferro .
Order classes
The order consisted of three classes and the number of members was limited.
-
Dignitare (20) -
Commanders (100) -
Knight (500)
Of these, five grand crosses, fifty commander's crosses and two hundred knight's crosses were reserved for French officers and soldiers . Grandmaster was the respective king of Italy. On December 19, 1807, Napoleon expanded the order to include fifteen grand crosses, fifty committees and three hundred knights.
Signs of the order and way of wearing
The medal shows a French eagle with a lightning bolt and the Iron Crown of Lombardy in its claws, around which is a ribbon with the motto DIEU ME L'A DONNÉ, GARE À QUI Y TOUCHERA (God gave it to me, woe to him she touches) winds.
The award was carried on an orange ribbon with green stripes. The Grand Cross was carried from the left shoulder to the right hip with a golden breast star showing the profile of Napoléon in the medallion and a sash . The motto in Italian can be seen on the star DIO ME L'HA DATA, QUAI A CHI LA TOCCHERÀ . Commander and Knight wore the award on their left chest. At last the religious character is instead of gold in silver manufactured.
After the fall of Napoleon
After the fall of Napoleon, Lombardy was awarded to the Austrian imperial family in the negotiations of the Congress of Vienna . Emperor Franz I had the wearing of the medal forbidden and on April 7, 1815 founded an Austrian " Order of the Iron Crown " as a military and civilian merit. Subsequently, holders of the Napoleonic order received a permit to carry the Austrian version of the order class awarded to them.
In 1868 the Order of the Crown of Italy was named after the Iron Crown , which was founded by King Victor Emmanuel II as an Order of Merit in memory of the unification of Italy .
See also
literature
- The orders, coats of arms and flags of all regents and states (appendix), Moritz Ruhl Verlag, Leipzig 1884
- Ernst Mayerhofer: Handbook for the political administration service. V, Vienna 1901, p. 175 f.
- Václav Měřička : Orders and decorations of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Vienna and Munich 1974
- Roman Freiherr von Procházka : Austrian Order Handbook. I-IV., Munich 1974, pp. 39-40
- Johann Stolzer and Christian Steeb: Austria's Order from the Middle Ages to the Present. Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt Graz, ISBN 3-201-01649-7 , pp. 146–162
