Napoleon crowned himself King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Milan

Featured Event 1805 Event

Iron Crown Placed: Napoleon Claims Italian Throne

Napoleon crowned himself King of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Milan Cathedral on May 26, 1805. The crown, a gold band set with jewels and supposedly containing a nail from the True Cross, had been used to crown Lombard kings since the 6th century. Napoleon reportedly placed it on his own head and declared "Dio me la diede, guai a chi la tocca" (God gives it to me, woe to him who touches it). The coronation established the Kingdom of Italy as a French satellite state, with Napoleon's stepson Eugene de Beauharnais serving as viceroy. The kingdom lasted until 1814 and introduced the Napoleonic Code, metric system, and modern administrative structures to northern Italy, reforms that influenced Italian unification half a century later.

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May 26, 1805

221 years ago

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Iron Crown Placed: Napoleon Claims Italian Throne

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