v31_1725 - Soldo 1808 Milan M.297

ITALY - KINGDOM OF ITALY - NAPOLEON I

(1805-1814)

Napoleon I accepted the crown of Italy on March 17, 1805. After a triumphal entry into Milan on May 8, 1805, Joséphine and he were crowned on May 26 by Cardinal Caprara. As in Paris a few months earlier, Napoleon crowned himself by exclaiming: "God gave it to me, beware whoever touches it". This exclamation will become the motto of the Order of the Iron Crown (cf. TOKENS IV, pp.III-V). The Emperor appointed his son-in-law, Prince Eugène de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy and left Milan on June 10, 1805. He returned to Paris on August 1 to join the Boulogne camp. The fate of Italy is now linked to that of France for nine years. At the beginning of January 1814, the defection of Murat, and his alliance with the Austrians then with the English in order to keep his kingdom of Naples, caused Italy to lose. Prince Eugene, despite a heroic defense, cannot prevent the collapse of the kingdom after Mantua falls. On April 6, 1814, Napoleon abdicated..