The Iron Crown of Lombardy

The Iron Crown is a circlet of six hinged gold plates set with enamels and precious stones. Its name comes from a narrow metal band inside it, which, according to tradition, was hammered out of one of the nails of Christ’s Crucifixion. The story says that Saint Helena found the nails with the True Cross and sent one to her son Constantine. The crown was later associated with Queen Theodelinda of the Lombards, who founded the cathedral of Monza around the year 600.

For a thousand years it was used to crown the kings of Italy. The Emperor Charles V received it in 1530. Napoleon crowned himself with it in Milan in 1805, saying, “God has given it to me; woe to him who touches it.” Because of the relic it contains, the crown is kept not in a museum but above an altar, and it has been venerated and carried in procession.

A scientific study in 1993 found that the inner band is in fact made of silver, not iron. The goldsmith’s work of the crown dates from about the fifth to ninth centuries. The relic’s history, like that of many relics of the Passion, rests on tradition. The crown remains a remarkable witness to how the peoples of Europe placed their kingship beneath the Cross of Christ.

Where

Chapel of Theodelinda, Monza Cathedral, Monza, Italy

When to see it

Kept above the altar of the Chapel of Theodelinda in the cathedral.

Map

Find it on OpenStreetMap