Coronation with the Iron Crown
- When
- 26 May 1805
- Where
- Milan Cathedral
Napoleon crowned himself King of Italy at Milan Cathedral on 26 May 1805, using the Iron Crown and a specific liturgical formula.
Napoleon crowned himself King of Italy at Milan Cathedral, reviving the medieval gesture of crowning oneself with the Iron Crown. He declared in Italian: "God gave it to me, woe to him who touches it." Milanese coronation rites generally involved investiture with regalia such as the sword, sceptre, and orb, and sometimes anointing with holy oil, though these details are not confirmed specifically for the 1805 ceremony.
Sources
- Iron Crown Wikipedia
- Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.