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62-442: The Iron Crown is so called because it contains a one-centimetre-wide band within it that is said to have been beaten out of a nail used at the crucifixion of Jesus . The outer circlet of the crown is made of six segments of beaten gold, partly enameled, joined together by hinges. It is set with 22 gemstones that stand out in relief, in the form of crosses and flowers. Its small size and hinged construction have suggested to some that it

124-615: A Scottish kingdom in September 1196, Richard, as duke of Aquitaine, enfeoffed Otto with the county of Poitou . There is some disagreement over whether Otto received Poitou in exchange for or in addition to the earldom of York. Otto was in Poitou from September 1196 until mid-1197, when he joined Richard in Normandy to confer over the appointment of bishops to the vacant sees of Poitiers , Limoges and Périgueux . He then participated in

186-421: A contemporary construction of the main part of the crown, while the fillets external to the enamel plates and the hinge pins were made of 90–91% gold and 9–10% silver, suggesting subsequent reworking. Three of the 24 vitreous enamel plates are visually different from the others in colour and construction, and were traditionally considered to be later restorations. The XRF analysis confirmed that they were made with

248-464: A different technique, with their glass being made of potassium salt, while the others are made of sodium salt (sodium is not directly detectable by the XRF analysis). Radiocarbon dating of fragments of beeswax used to fix the enamel plates to the gold foils of the crown showed that the wax under the "strange" plates was from around 500 AD, while the ones under the "normal" plates came from around 800 AD. This

310-503: A quest to find the cross and nails used to crucify Jesus . A Jew called Judas (in later retellings further called Judas Cyriacus) led her to the place where they were buried. Several miracles were claimed to prove the authenticity of these items, and Helena returned with a piece of the cross and the nails. Socrates wrote that one nail was used to make a bridle and one was used to make the Helmet of Constantine . Two relics exist that have

372-582: A throne, he was invested with the usual insignia of royalty by the Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan and, ascending the altar, he took the iron crown, placed it on his head, and exclaimed, being part of the ceremony used at the enthronement of the Lombard kings, " Dio me l'ha data, guai a chi la tocca. " ('God gives it to me, beware whoever touches it'). On the occasion, Napoleon founded the Order of

434-550: A votive ornament. Twining also notes that the Imperial Museum at St. Petersburg includes in its collection two medieval crowns found at Kazan in 1730 made in the same style and of the same size as the Iron Crown. Twining notes that while these crowns and the Iron Crown are too small to be worn around an adult human head, they could be worn on the top of the head if they were affixed to a veil, and this would account for

496-497: Is consistent with the tradition of a more antique crown, further decorated during the reign of Theoderic (with the addition of the enamels), and then extensively restored during the reign of Charlemagne. The "iron nail" was found to be 99% silver, meaning the crown contains no iron. A note from the Roman Ceremonial of 1159 provides that the Iron Crown is so called " quod laminam quondam habet in summitate ", stating that

558-622: Is devoted to Captain Ahab's soliloquy. Among his delusions of persecution and of grandeur, he imagines himself crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The Italian film La corona di ferro (1941), directed by Alessandro Blasetti , tells a story about the arrival of the crown in Italy. In the Father Brown TV series, the crown figures in episode 70 (The Two Deaths of Hercule Flambeau). Nail (relic) Relics that are claimed to be

620-572: Is doubtful. The Catholic Encyclopedia wrote: Very little reliance can be placed upon the authenticity of the thirty or more holy nails which are still venerated, or which have been venerated until recent times, in such treasuries as that of Santa Croce in Rome, or those of Venice, Aachen, the Escurial, Nuremberg, Prague, etc. Probably the majority began by professing to be facsimiles which had touched or contained filings from some other nail whose claim

682-454: Is not a speck of rust on the essential inner iron ring. Lipinsky, in his examination of the Iron Crown in 1985, noted that the inner ring does not attract a magnet. Analysis of the inner ring in 1993 revealed that the ring is made of silver. Thirty-four supposed coronations with the Iron Crown were counted by the historian Bartolomeo Zucchi from the 9th to the 17th century (beginning with Charlemagne). The Encyclopædia Britannica states that

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744-665: The Concordat of Worms and to recognise the imperial crown's right to make nominations to all vacant benefices. Such actions infuriated Innocent, who promptly excommunicated Otto on 18 November 1210. Subsequently, he tried to conquer Sicily , which was held by the Staufen king Frederick , under the guardianship of Innocent III. Parallel to this, the German nobility grew increasingly frustrated with Otto. They felt that instead of wasting his time in Italy and playing power politics with

806-639: The Hohenstaufen dynasty decided, on the initiative of Richard of England, to elect instead a member of the House of Welf . Otto's elder brother, Henry , was participating in the Crusade of 1197 at the time, and so the choice fell to Otto. Otto, soon recognized throughout the northwest and the lower Rhine region, was elected king by his partisans in Cologne on 9 June 1198. Otto took control of Aachen ,

868-844: The Holy Nails with which Jesus was crucified are objects of veneration among some Christians , particularly Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox . In Christian symbolism and art , they figure among the Arma Christi or Instruments of the Passion, the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus . Like the other Instruments, the Holy Nails have become an object of veneration among many Christians and have been pictured in paintings. The authenticity of these relics

930-565: The Kingdom of Sicily with the Empire, breaking with Innocent, who excommunicated him. He allied with England against France and participated in the alliance's defeat at Bouvines in 1214. He was abandoned by most of his supporters in 1215 and lived the rest of his life in retirement on his estates near Brunswick . He was the only German king of the Welf dynasty . Otto was the third son of Henry

992-457: The scepter , verge , and orb and cross . In 1993, the crown was subjected to extensive scientific analysis performed by the University of Milan using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis and radiocarbon dating . The XRF analysis on the crown metal revealed that all the foils, rosettes and bezels were made with the same alloy, made of 84–85% gold, 5–7% silver, and 8–10% copper, suggesting

1054-717: The Austrians had to withdraw from Lombardy in 1859, the Iron Crown was moved to Vienna , where it remained until 1866, when it was given back to Italy after the Third Italian War of Independence . From the 9th to the 18th century, the Kings of Italy were also the Holy Roman Emperors , so many of them were crowned at Pavia , the official capital of the Kingdom. The earliest definitively documented use of

1116-519: The French king, Philip II , while Otto was supported at first by Richard I, and after he died in 1199 by his brother John . The papacy meanwhile, under Innocent III , determined to prevent the continued unification of Sicily and the Holy Roman Empire under one monarch seized the opportunity to extend its influence. Therefore, Innocent III favoured Otto, whose family had always opposed

1178-629: The Great passed this crown to Theodelinda , princess of the Lombards, as a diplomatic gift, although he made no mention of it among his recorded donations. Theodelinda donated the crown to the church at Monza in 628. According to another tradition reported by the historian Valeriana Maspero, the helm and the bit of Constantine were brought to Milan by the emperor Theodosius I , who resided there, and were exposed at his funeral, as described by Ambrose in his funeral oration De obitu Theosdosii . Then, as

1240-642: The Imperial Army, with Otto at its head, assembled in the Low Countries . On 27 July 1214, the opposing armies suddenly discovered they were close to each other, on the banks of the little river Marque (a tributary of the river Deûle), near the Bridge of Bouvines. Philip's army numbered some 15,000, while the allied forces possessed around 25,000 troops; the armies clashed at the Battle of Bouvines . It

1302-529: The Iron Crown , on 15 June 1805. After Napoleon's fall and the annexation of Lombardy to Austria, the order was reinstituted by Emperor Francis I of Austria , on 1 January 1816. The last to be crowned with the Iron Crown was Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria , in his role as King of Lombardy and Venetia . This occurred in Milan, on 6 September 1838. After the Second Italian War of Independence , when

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1364-533: The Iron Crown in a coronation was at that of Henry VII at Milan in 1311 or 1312, a ceremony with French and Roman influences that was the most elaborate example of the Milanese coronation rite. It was given to the King with the words " Accipe coronam regni " ('Receive this royal crown') and the prayer " Deus perpetuitatis " ('God of continuity'). This followed the King's receiving the sword of state and preceded

1426-546: The Iron Crown. Finally, Twining cites a study by Ludovico Antonio Muratori which documents the various degrees of the ecclesiastical authorities alternately authorizing and suppressing the veneration of the Iron Crown until, in 1688, the matter was subjected to be studied by the Congregation of Rites in Rome, which in 1715 diplomatically concluded its official examination by permitting the Iron Crown to be exposed for public veneration and carried in processions, but leaving

1488-537: The Iron Crown. The traditional site of the coronation was Pavia , the old Lombard capital, in the Basilica San Michele Maggiore . Starting with Conrad II in 1026, coronations were also performed at Milan . In 1530, Charles V received the Iron Crown simultaneously with his Imperial coronation at Bologna . On 26 May 1805 Napoleon Bonaparte had himself crowned King of Italy at Milan , with suitable splendour and magnificence. Seated upon

1550-456: The Lion of Scotland. Lothian , as Margaret's dowry, would be handed over to Richard for safekeeping and the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland (Carlisle) would be granted to Otto and turned over to the king of Scotland. The negotiations dragged on until August 1198, when the birth of a son and heir to William rendered them unnecessary. Having failed to secure Otto an English earldom or

1612-619: The Lion , Duke of Bavaria and Duke of Saxony , by his wife Matilda of England . His exact birthplace is not given by any original source. He grew up in England in the care of his maternal grandfather, King Henry II of England . Otto was fluent in French as well as German. He became the foster son of his maternal uncle King Richard I of England . In 1190, after he left England to join the Third Crusade , Richard appointed Otto as Earl of York . This grant's authenticity (or authority)

1674-416: The Lombards in 774. The crown was certainly in use for the coronation of the kings of Italy by the 14th century, and supposedly since at least the 11th. Old research dates the crown to the 8th or early 9th century. However, according to a more recent study, the crown in its current state is the result of two different works made between the 4–5th and the 9th century. This seems to validate the legends about

1736-748: The Papal States all territory that it had possessed under Louis the Pious , including the March of Ancona , the Duchy of Spoleto , the former Exarchate of Ravenna , and the Pentapolis . Travelling down via Verona , Modena , and Bologna , he eventually arrived at Milan , where he received the Iron Crown of Lombardy and the title of King of Italy in 1208. He was met at Viterbo by Pope Innocent and

1798-449: The accomplishment of her desire, gave orders that a portion of the nails should be inserted in the royal helmet, in order that the head of her son might be preserved from the darts of his enemies. The other portion of the nails she ordered to be formed into the bridle of his horse, not only to ensure the safety of the emperor, but also to fulfil an ancient prophecy; for long before Zechariah, the prophet, had predicted that 'There shall be upon

1860-436: The apparent winner in the conflict. Otto was forced to retire to his possessions near Brunswick , leaving Philip virtually uncontested as German king. Innocent III forced the two warring parties into negotiations at Cologne , and in exchange for renouncing his claim to the throne, Philip promised Otto the hand of his daughter Beatrix in marriage, together with the Duchy of Swabia and an enormous dowry. Otto refused, and as

1922-400: The archbishop of Cologne . In the following years, Otto's situation worsened because, after England's defeat by France, he lost England's financial support. Many of his allies changed sides to Philip, including his brother Henry. Otto was defeated and wounded in battle by Philip on 27 July 1206, near Wassenberg , and as a consequence, he also lost the support of the pope, who began to favour

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1984-403: The bit remained in Milan (where it is currently preserved in the cathedral ), the helm with the diadem was transferred to Constantinople , until Theoderic the Great , who had previously threatened Constantinople itself, claimed it as part of his right as the king of Italy . The Byzantines then sent him the diadem, holding the helmet (which was exposed in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia ) until it

2046-531: The bridles of the horses Holiness unto the Lord Almighty. The fifth-century Church historian Socrates of Constantinople wrote in his Ecclesiastical History , which was finished shortly after 439, that after Constantine was proclaimed Caesar and then Emperor, he ordered that all honor be paid to his mother Helena, to make up for the neglect paid her by her former husband, Constantius Chlorus . After her conversion to Christianity, Constantine sent her on

2108-414: The church all income from any vacant sees that had been flowing into the imperial treasury. After abandoning Rome, Otto marched north, reaching Pisa by 20 November. Here, probably advised by Peter of Celano and Dipold, Count of Acerra , he was convinced to abandon his earlier promises. Otto immediately worked to restore imperial power in Italy. After his consecration by the pope, he promised to restore

2170-639: The civil war was again about to recommence, Philip was murdered on 21 June 1208. After Philip's death, Otto made amends with the Staufen party and became engaged to Philip's daughter Beatrix. In the 1208 imperial election in Frankfurt on 11 November 1208, he gained the support of all the electoral princes, as he promised he would not make hereditary claims to the imperial crown on behalf of any children he might father. Now fully reconciled with Innocent, Otto made preparations to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor . To secure Innocent's support, he promised to restore to

2232-640: The daughter of the Emperor Louis the Pious who married Duke Eberhard of Friuli , may have originally possessed the crown and left it to her son Berengar I of Italy on her death in 874. Berengar was the only major benefactor of the church at Monza at this time, and also gave the Cathedral of St. John in Monza a cross made in the same style as the Iron Crown, which is still preserved in the church's treasury. The crown and cross may therefore have been made as

2294-553: The essential point of whether the iron ring came from one of the nails of Christ's crucifixion undecided. However, subsequently Archbishop Visconti of Milan gave his own decision that "the iron ring in the Monza crown should be considered as one of the Nails of the Holy Cross and as an original relic." Twining notes that the clergy of Monza assert that despite the centuries that the Iron Crown has been exposed to public veneration, there

2356-532: The first reliable record of the use of the Iron Crown in the coronation of a King of Italy is that of the coronation of Henry VII in 1312. Later coronations in which the crown was used include: Since the 10th century, the Roman-Germanic Kings would travel to Rome to be crowned Holy Roman Emperors . Enroute they traditionally stopped in Lombardy to be crowned as Kings of Italy , supposedly with

2418-540: The form of a bridle and are claimed to be the bridle of Constantine: one in the apse of the Cathedral of Milan , and the other in the cathedral treasury of Carpentras Cathedral . The Iron Crown of Lombardy has been said to contain one of the nails; however, scientific analysis has shown that the crown contains no iron. The band that was supposed to have been formed from a nail is actually 99% silver. Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV (1175 – 19 May 1218)

2480-535: The hinge, which is too damaged, but are held only by the inner silver ring.) In 1352, for the first time, a document (the inventory of the treasury of the Cathedral of Monza) describes the crown as being small . The gems in the crown are seven red garnets , seven blue corundums (sapphires), four violet amethysts , and four gems made of glass. A surprising image of the Iron Crown figures in Chapter 37 "Sunset" of Herman Melville 's Moby-Dick . The brief chapter

2542-644: The house of Hohenstaufen. Otto also seemed willing to grant any demands that Innocent would make. The confusion in the empire allowed Innocent to drive out the imperial feudal lords from Ancona , Spoleto , and Perugia , who had been installed by Emperor Henry VI. At the same time, Innocent encouraged the cities in Tuscany to form a league, called the League of San Genesio , against imperial interests in Italy. The cities placed themselves under Innocent's protection. In 1201, Innocent announced that he recognized Otto as

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2604-750: The instigation of King Philip II of France and with the consent of the pope, elected Frederick King of the Romans at the Diet of Nuremberg in 1211. Otto's ambassadors from Milan appeared before the Fourth Lateran Council , pleading the case for his excommunication to be lifted. Although he claimed he had repented for his offences and declared his willingness to be obedient to the Pope in all things, Innocent III had already recognised Frederick as emperor-elect. Otto returned to Germany to deal with

2666-570: The invasion, and in February 1214, as John advanced from the Loire , Otto, together with the Count of Flanders, was supposed to make a simultaneous attack from Flanders. Unfortunately, the three armies could not coordinate their efforts effectively. It was not until John, who had been disappointed in his hope for an easy victory after being driven from Roche-au-Moine , had retreated to his transports that

2728-409: The iron was once laid over the crown (probably as an arch, as in other crowns of the era), not into it. Speculations have been made that the silver circle was added by the goldsmith Antellotto Bracciforte, who restored the crown in 1345 to reinforce it given that the (presumed) theft of two plates had weakened the hinges. (Currently, in one of the crown's junctions, two of the plates are not joined by

2790-517: The lands bequeathed to the church by the countess Matilda of Tuscany nearly a century before and not to move against Frederick , King of Sicily . He quickly broke all his promises. He threw out the papal troops from Ancona and Spoleto, reclaiming the territory as imperial fiefs. He then demanded that Frederick of Sicily do homage for the duchies of Calabria and Apulia , and when Frederick refused to appear, Otto declared those fiefs forfeited. Otto then marched on Rome. He commanded Innocent to annul

2852-688: The mother of Constantine the Great, discovered the True Cross in Jerusalem in the fourth century AD, the Holy Nails were recovered too. Helena left all but a few fragments of the cross in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, but returned with the nails to Constantinople . As Theodoret tells it in his Ecclesiastical History , chapter xvii: The mother of the emperor, on learning

2914-452: The only legitimate king. In return, Otto promised to support the pope's interests in Italy. Otto also had the support of Ottokar I of Bohemia , who, although at first siding with Philip of Swabia, eventually threw in his lot with Otto. Otto's cause was further strengthened by the support of Valdemar II of Denmark . Philip achieved a great deal of success in the civil war that followed, allowing him in 1204 to be again crowned king, this time by

2976-456: The origin of the crown, that date it back to the Lombard era. In reality, the Lombard royalty ignored the coronation ceremonies. As for other Germanic populations, the ritual of accession was an acclamation by the armed people in the royal palace of Pavia , during which the sovereign received a lance as symbol of his power. Lord Twining cites a hypothesis by Reinhold N. Elze that Gisela ,

3038-510: The place of coronation, and was crowned by Archbishop Adolf of Cologne on 12 July 1198. This was of great symbolic importance, since the archbishop of Cologne alone could crown the king of the Romans . The coronation was done with fake imperial regalia , because the actual materials were in the hands of the Hohenstaufen. Otto's election pulled the empire into the conflict between England and France . Philip had allied himself with

3100-405: The pope, it was his first duty to defend the northern provinces of the empire against Valdemar II of Denmark , who had taken advantage of Otto's distractions by invading the northern provinces of the empire and possessing the whole Baltic coast from Holstein to Livonia . So while Otto was in southern Italy, several princes of the empire, including the archbishops of Mainz and Magdeburg , at

3162-742: The situation, hopeful of salvaging something from the looming disaster. He found most of the German princes and bishops had turned against him and that Frederick, who had made his way up the Italian peninsula, had avoided Otto's men who were guarding the passes through the Alps and had arrived at Constance . Otto soon discovered that after Beatrix died in the summer of 1212 and Frederick arrived in Germany with his army in September 1212, most of his former Staufen supporters deserted him for Frederick, forcing Otto to withdraw to Cologne. On 5 December 1212, Frederick

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3224-408: The small holes on the rim of the Iron Crown. Twining also mentions a relief plaque in the cathedral which appears to represent the coronation of Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor at Milan in 1209 as it was described by Morigias in 1345 and stresses the point that although four votive crowns are shown hanging above the altar, the crown which the archbishop is placing on the king's head bears no resemblance to

3286-559: The war against Philip II of France on the side of Richard. In October, he returned to Poitou. The German historian Jens Ahlers, considering Otto's life before 1198, believes that he might have been the first foreign king of Germany. After the death of Emperor Henry VI , the majority of the princes of the Empire, situated in the south, elected Henry's brother Philip king in March 1198, after receiving money and promises from Philip in exchange for their support. But those princes opposed to

3348-490: Was a tight battle, but it was lost when Otto was carried off the field by his wounded and terrified horse, causing his forces to abandon the field. It is said that Philip II had sent to Frederick the Imperial Eagle , which Otto had left lying on the battlefield. Because Otto was forced again to withdraw to his private possessions around Brunswick, this defeat allowed Frederick to take Aachen and Cologne, and so Otto

3410-489: Was deposed in 1215. His cause of death is disputed, with some claims that he died of disease at Harzburg castle on 19 May 1218, requesting that he be mortally expiated in the atonement of his sins. However, Historian Kantorowicz described the death as gruesome : "deposed, dethroned, he was flung full length on the ground by the Abbot, confessing his sins, while the reluctant priests beat him bloodily to death with rods. Such

3472-474: Was doubted by the vassals of Yorkshire, who prevented Otto from taking possession of his earldom. Still, he probably visited Yorkshire in 1191, and he continued to claim the revenues of the earldom after becoming king of Germany, although he never secured them. Neither did he succeed in getting the 25,000 silver marks willed to him by his uncle in 1199. In 1195, Richard began negotiations to marry Otto to Margaret , daughter and heir presumptive of King William

3534-541: Was elected king for a second time by a majority of the princes. The support that Philip II of France gave to Frederick forced King John of England to throw his weight behind his nephew, Otto. The destruction of the French fleet in 1213 by the English saw John begin preparations for an invasion of France; in this, Otto saw a way of both destroying Frederick's French support and bolstering his prestige. He agreed to join John in

3596-597: Was looted and lost following the sack of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. King Theoderic then adopted the diadem gemmis insignitum, quas pretiosior ferro innexa(s)crucis redemptoris divinae gemma connecteretas (Ambrose De obitu Theosdosii ) as his crown. This is the Iron Crown, passed by the Goths to the Lombards when they invaded Italy. The crown was used in Charlemagne 's coronation as King of

3658-409: Was more ancient. Without conscious fraud on the part of anyone, it is very easy for imitations in this way to come in a very brief space of time to be reputed originals. It is not clear whether Jesus was crucified with three or with four nails, and the question has been long debated. The belief that three nails were used is called Triclavianism . Sozomen and Theodoret reported that when Helena ,

3720-487: Was originally a large armlet or, most probably, a votive crown . According to early modern scholars such as Bartolomeo Zucchi and Ludovico Antonio Muratori , the small size is due to a readjustment after the loss of two segments. According to tradition, St. Helena , mother of Constantine the Great , had the crown forged for her son around a beaten nail from the True Cross, which she had discovered. Pope Gregory

3782-464: Was taken to St. Peter's Basilica , where he was crowned emperor by Pope Innocent on 4 October 1209, before rioting broke out in Rome, forcing Otto to abandon the city. Not content with his successes so far, Innocent also obtained from Otto further written concessions to the Papal See, including allowing all elections of German bishops to be conducted according to Church ordinances and not to prevent any appeals to Rome. He also promised to hand over to

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3844-549: Was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1209 until his death in 1218. Otto spent most of his early life in England and France. He was a follower of his uncle Richard the Lionheart , who made him Count of Poitou in 1196. With Richard's support, he was elected King of Germany by one faction in a disputed election in 1198, sparking ten years of civil war . The death of his rival, Philip of Swabia , in 1208 left him sole king of Germany. In 1209, Otto marched to Italy to be crowned emperor by Pope Innocent III . In 1210, he sought to unite

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