Item number: M38

Year: AD 1860s

Material: Gold and Enamel

Size: order 62.3 x 29.07 / ribbon 51.29 x 42.64 mm

Weight: 19.23 g

Provenance: Liverpool Medals 2022

The Order of the Iron Crown (Kaiserlicher Orden der Eisernen Krone) was one of the highest merit orders in Austria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire before AD 1918. Established in 1815 by Emperor Francis I of Austria to honor civil and military merits, the order comprised three classes, each with specific rules for wearing and granted hereditary ennoblement.

Appointment to the third or second class of the Order of the Iron Crown became one of the main routes to ennoblement for Austrian bourgeois families and for civil servants and military officers.

The order had strict regulations, limiting the total number of members for each class, the first class is restricted to no more than 20 individuals, the second class to 30 members, and the third class to 50 individuals, with the total numbers of order’s members restricted to 100, excluding Austrian princes or foreigners.

This order featured a golden double-headed eagle symbolizing the royal family, with a small gold crown suspended above and a distinctive Lombard Iron Crown as its base. The central blue enamelled medallion displayed the letter ‘F,’ representing the founder, Francis I, while the reverse side indicated the year of the establishment of the order.

The Lombard Iron Crown is considered one of the oldest symbols of royalty in the Christian world. It comprises six jewel-encrusted and enameled gold plates connected through hinges. The inner circle is stabilized by a 0.5-inch-wide iron band, reflecting Byzantine craftsmanship. Early records make no mention of the iron band, leading scholars to posit its addition around the 12th century. It was not until approximately 1585 or later that the iron band began to be described as crafted from nails believed to be from the crucifixion of Christ. This evolution in the description of the iron band highlights the evolving historical interpretations surrounding the Lombard Iron Crown.

Legend has it that Queen Theodelinda of the Lombards, in the 6th century, melted a holy nail from the cross of Jesus and combined it with gold plates to create the Iron Crown. Charlemagne, after conquering the Lombard region in AD 774, used the Iron Crown for his coronation, initiating a tradition adopted by subsequent Holy Roman Emperors and even Napoleon I in AD 1805.

Napoleon I once uttered the famous quote while putting the iron crown atop his head in AD 1805: God has given it to me; beware he who touches it!(Dio me l’ha data, guai a chi la tocca!)

Initially established by Napoleon I in AD 1805, the Order of the Iron Crown underwent reestablishment by Emperor Francis I of Austria in AD 1815, after the collapse of Napoleon’s empire. With the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in AD 1918, all knightly orders except the Order of the Golden Fleece were officially abolished. The order’s ribbon design incorporated the symbolic colors of the Austrian Empire, with gold as the base and thin blue edges.

The order’s ribbon, following the colors of the Austrian Empire, was gold with blue edges. The ribbon’s width for the shown medal above is 42.64 mm, and excluding the medal’s body, the length of the ribbon is 51.29 mm.

The decoration of the Iron Crown Order varied depending on circumstances, including a war decoration featuring an oak leaf wreath extending above the crown or crossed swords below the crown. During world war I, a sword decoration, distinct from the former, was awarded, with crossed swords pinned to the ribbon. This specific medal shown above is an undecorated civilian version.

物件編號: M38

年代: 公元 1860 年代

材料: 黃金, 琺瑯

尺寸: 勳章 62.3 x 29.07 / 勳帶 51.29 x 42.64 mm

重量: 19.23 g

來源: 利物浦獎章 2022

鐵王冠帝國勳章( Kaiserlicher Orden der Eisernen Krone)是公元1918年之前奧地利和奧匈帝國的最高功績勳章之一，於公元1815年由奧地利皇帝弗朗茨一世設立，以獎勵民事和軍事功績 。

鐵王冠勳章分為三個等級，勳章分別有不同的佩戴方式，並且皆會授予世襲爵位，詳細規範與待遇如下方表格: 

由於獲頒勳章後爵位的授予，三級或二級鐵王冠勳章成為奧地利資產階級家庭、公務員和軍官晉升貴族的主要途徑之一。 

該騎士團的規章十分嚴謹，只允許一定數量的成員加入，第一級不得多於20人，第二級30人，第三級50人，不論何時，騎士團的總數限制為100人。 (不包括奧地利王子或外國人) 

鐵王冠勳章的外觀主體為一隻象徵皇室的金色雙頭鷹，老鷹的上方為小型的金皇冠，下方連接著一個別致的倫巴底鐵王冠作為底座。正面中央的藍色琺瑯處刻有象徵勳章創立者弗朗茨一世的字母F，背面為創立此騎士團和勳章的年份。 

倫巴底鐵王冠被認為是基督教世界中最古老的皇室象徵之一，由六塊飾有珠寶和琺瑯的金板組成，透過鉸鏈連接，內圈則由0.5英寸寬的鐵環穩定，體現了拜占庭工藝。 早期的紀錄中並沒有提到鐵環的存在，學者們認為可能是在12世紀時添加的，且直到公元1585 年左右或之後鐵環才開始被形容為是由基督受難釘所做成的。 

傳說中在6世紀時，倫巴底王后特奧黛琳達Theodelinda(570-627)獲得了耶穌受難的十字架上的聖釘，並將其熔了製成一個鐵環，加上金板後便成為現今大眾所知的「鐵王冠」的由來。公元774年法蘭克國王查里曼征服倫巴底地區後，以鐵王冠加冕自己，此後，使用鐵王冠加冕成為義大利地區的一項傳統，後來的神聖羅馬帝國皇帝也效仿了這一傳統，拿破崙一世加冕時也不例外。西元1805年，拿破崙一世將鐵王冠戴在頭上時曾說過一句名言： 
天主賜給我的，得罪者必受懲罰！ 
(Dio me l’ha data，guai a chi la tocca!) 

最初鐵王冠勳章為公元1805年拿破崙一世所創立，在拿破崙第一帝國滅亡後，奧地利帝國重新掌握了對倫巴底的控制，形成倫巴底-威尼斯王國，而後奧地利皇帝弗朗西斯一世於 1815 年重建勳章，稱為奧地利帝國鐵王冠勳章。公元1918 年，隨著奧匈帝國的崩潰，其君主制騎士團中除金羊毛勳章外的所有騎士團都被正式廢除。 

此勳章的勳帶設計以奧地利帝國的象徵色金色為底，左右兩側為藍色細邊，此枚勳章的勳帶寬度為42.64 mm，除去勳章章體，勳帶的長度則為51.29 mm。

鐵王冠勳章依據不同情況會有不同的裝飾，戰爭裝飾可分為兩種:在王冠上方出延伸的橡葉環，或是皇冠下方有兩把相交的劍，第一次世界大戰期間，為了獎勵士兵的英勇，也會頒發佩劍勳章，與前者不同的是，佩劍勳章是將相交的劍別在勳帶上。此枚上圖所示的勳章則為無裝飾的民事版。