Royal Regalia of Italy

The story of the royal regalia of the Kingdom of Italy can be a little confusing. There were, actually, two crowns, the most prominently featured of which was destroyed before the formation of the modern Kingdom of Italy while the other, which did and does still exist, was never used. The crown most people probably think of in relation to the Kingdom of Italy is the crown featured on the royal Italian coat-of-arms and the arms of the House of Savoy. This crown, along with the Savoy knot, was also used as the royal badge of the Kingdom of Italy. This was, however, properly speaking, a crown that existed only on paper and in artistic renderings during the life of the Kingdom of Italy. Usually known as the Savoy Crown, it was made when the House of Savoy first achieved royal status as the official crown of the Kingdom of Sardinia or Piedmont-Sardinia. It was the primary piece of a collection of crown jewels that were, sadly, destroyed during the war with France when Napoleon invaded Piedmont and captured Turin, forcing the House of Savoy to relocate to Sardinia. Since that time the Savoy Crown has never been replaced or replicated and no coronations were held for Savoy monarchs after that. However, the image of Savoy Crown continued to be used throughout the life of the Kingdom of Italy.

The other crown most associated with Italy is the very ancient and very sacred Iron Crown of Lombardy which was used by the medieval Kingdom of Italy. As stated elsewhere, it was used by Napoleon when he conquered northern Italy and later used by the Hapsburg Emperors of Austria as the crown of their Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. When the Austrians were forced out of northern Italy they took the Iron Crown with them to Vienna but, in a subsequent peace treaty after another war, it was turned over to the House of Savoy and placed back in its traditional resting place in Milan. It is noteworthy that all official documents from the Italian royal court refer to there being two crowns, the Crown of Savoy and the Iron Crown which was always referred to as the “crown of Italy”. No King of Italy ever had a coronation though there was some discussion about it. If it had been done, the Iron Crown of Lombardy would have been used. Unfortunately, because of the “Roman Question” the Pope had excommunicated King Victor Emmanuel II (along with everyone else who had anything to do with unification) and neither King Victor Emmanuel II nor King Umberto I wished to make use of the Iron Crown, which is a holy relic, while their status with the Church was in question.

Reproduction of the Iron Crown on the tomb of Umberto I

The excommunication of King Victor Emmanuel II was lifted just before his death and King Umberto I considered making use of the Iron Crown later in his life but never did so before his tragic assassination. The Iron Crown was carried, however, in his funeral procession. Talk about a coronation for King Victor Emmanuel III was quickly stopped. Because of the stand-off with the Church, any cleric who performed such a coronation would be putting his career in jeopardy. King Victor Emmanuel III was also far too disturbed by the terrible and unnatural death of his father to plan such a grand occasion and he was simply the type who was not inclined to grand displays of pomp and ceremony anyway, never being comfortable at large, public events. All of that had changed by the time King Umberto II formally came to the throne. The “Roman Question” had been settled and the Church was furiously backpedaling in the face of the upcoming referendum on a republic, trying to encourage the public to support the monarchy. It would have been perfectly acceptable for King Umberto II to have been crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy but, unfortunately, his reign was cut so short by the fraudulent referendum that made Italy a republic that there was never time to even consider such a ceremony.

The Iron Crown of Lombardy

It may not look like much compared to some others, but the Iron Crown of Lombardy is one of the most significant symbols of monarchy in western Christendom. It is called the “Iron Crown” because of a small, narrow strip of iron that circles the interior of the piece. What is significant about this is that, according to tradition, this circle of iron was beaten out from one of the nails used at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That is where the story of the Iron Crown begins. As with most of the relics association with Christ and the crucifixion the nail was said to have been found by St Helena and given to her son the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (the first Roman Emperor to be a Christian) who, so the story goes, later sent it to the Queen of the Lombards who were converted to Christianity. At some point the nail was incorporated into a crown though no one is sure exactly when. Some say Emperor Charlemagne was crowned King of the Lombards using the Iron Crown while others maintained it was not made until after his time. Kept in the Cathedral of Monza, near Milan, it was the most sacred and well known symbol of the Kingdom of the Lombards which grew up following the fall of Rome.

When the Holy Roman Empire was created the Kings of Germany would go to Rome to be crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by the Pope. On the way they would usually stop in Monza to be crowned “King of Italy” with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. Such famous historical monarchs as Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Emperor Charles V were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. In 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte had himself crowned “King of Italy” with the Iron Crown of Lombardy, a title he placed second in importance only to that of “Emperor of the French”. Later he also founded the Order of the Iron Crown as the premier chivalric order of his new Italian realm. That order would be maintained even by the enemies of Napoleon. In the course of the Napoleonic Wars the area of Lombardy was annexed by the Empire of Austria and Emperor Francis I revived Napoleon’s Order of the Iron Crown as his own. The Emperor also took possession of the actual Iron Crown itself though he made no use of it. The last time it was to be used for a coronation would be in 1838.

Ferdinand I became Emperor of Austria in 1835. Prior to that time he had already been crowned King of Hungary in 1830. In 1838 he had his coronation, using the Iron Crown of Lombardy as King of Lombardy-Venetia, at that time a part of the Austrian Empire. Incidentally, he was also married to Maria Anna of Savoy, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele I of Piedmont-Sardinia, giving him a further Italian connection. Ferdinand would also be the last monarch to be crowned King of Bohemia though his successors on the Hapsburg throne continued to use the title. When Ferdinand abdicated as Emperor of Austria the throne of Lombardy-Venetia along with the rest passed to his nephew Francis Joseph I. There was never another coronation with the Iron Crown and Francis Joseph appointed his brother, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia. He would be the last to hold that position.

The Iron Crown was featured on the Savoy arms

In the Second War of Italian Independence control of Lombardy passed to King Vittorio Emanuele II of Piedmont-Sardinia who, in 1861, became the first King of Italy. Before surrendering Lombardy the Austrians removed the Iron Crown from Milan and took it to Vienna, however, no one was to forget this ancient and sacred symbol of Italian kingship. In 1866 Austria was defeated in the Third Italian War of Independence (a parallel of the Austro-Prussian or Seven Weeks War) in which Venetia was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy. Also included in the peace stipulations was the return of the Iron Crown of Lombardy which was duly handed over to the House of Savoy and returned to its traditional resting place in Milan. The Savoy monarchs never had a coronation but the Iron Crown was used as a symbol, being carried in the funeral cortege of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy, probably to highlight his role in evicting the Austrians from northern Italy and uniting the country. The Iron Crown of Lombardy still rests in the Duomo of Monza in the outskirts of Milan (also known as the Basilica of St John the Baptist) along with a collection of historic Christian art and artifacts. The Crown, however, is by far the most famous of the pieces on display there.