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- "Nulla è reale, tutto è lecito."
- ―The Creed of the Italian Assassins.[src]
The Italian Assassins were the Italian branch of Assassins, existing since their formation during the latter half of the 13th century.
Primarily led by the Auditore family, the Italian Assassins were mainly involved with taking down the corrupt Borgia family, the ruling body of the Templar Order during the Renaissance.
History
Foundation
In 1257, the Venetian explorers Niccolò and Maffeo Polo were invited to stay at the Assassins' fortress of Masyaf by Darim Ibn-La'Ahad, the son of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. After training the two to become Assassins themselves, the elderly Altaïr entrusted them with creating some Assassins Guilds and guarding his autobiographical Codex. When the Mongols eventually attacked, the Polo brothers left Masyaf[1] towards their home in Constantinople, where they were successful in creating a guild[1] before journeying back to Italy.[2]
Formation of the Auditore
During the Polo brothers' escape, a Mongol raiding party took possession of the Codex.[3] Years later, the Codex was passed back into the possession of the Polo's when Niccolò's son, Marco, retrieved it from the court of Kublai Khan. Marco in turn handed it to the Assassin Dante Alighieri, who passed it into the safe-keeping of his apprentice, Domenico Auditore.[4]
After Dante's death in 1321, Domenico set sail to Spain with his family. Midway through the voyage, due to an incoming storm, they stopped at Otranto Harbor, where the ship was invaded by drunken Templar-hired pirates in the dead of night. Hiding with his family in the hold while the pirates scoured the ship, Domenico broke the Codex into pages, placed them into various boxes and containers, and shortly after was thrown overboard by the pirates, along with his son and the corpse of his dead wife. [4]
Returning to Italy, Domenico settled in Firenze with his son. Studying classics, music and architecture, Domenico adopted the name "Auditore" to impersonate as a Fiorentine noble while training his son in the Assassin's Creed. He subsequently purchased and renovated what would become the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, which served as the stronghold of the Italian Assassins until 1500.[4]
Hiding the Shroud
Sometime in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, the Auditore wanted to hide The Shroud from the Templars. The Assassins payed several bribes to create a duplicate, replace the original, and stole the original from Geoffroy de Charny. The Auditore dug out the city well, and hid the Shroud in a chamber, setting many traps for any vistors.
Then the Assassins then burnt Church records, and their allies began to point out the flaws in the Shroud which they had replicated, to make the people feel that the Shroud was nothing more than a myth.[5]
Under Mario Auditore
Mario Auditore and his brother Giovanni were born in the early 14th century. Both were raised from their birth to be Assassins and were trained from a very young age. At some point they seperated, Giovanni became a banker, while Mario remained the ruler of Monteriggioni.[4]
Siege of Monteriggioni
Mario worked to renovate the city and improve it's defences. At one point he found that a Florenti
Mario duelling Luciano
ne spy, Luciano Pezzati, was operating within the town. He captured the spy, who told of an impending Florentine attack, led by Federico da Montefeltro.
Recovering the Shroud
Mario successfully beat back the attack. On further questioning Luciano, Mario realised that Federico was not there to take Monteriggioni, but an artifact beneath her. This artifact was the Shroud which had been forgotten by the Assassins over the years.
With the aid of his architects and historians, he tracked the Shroud to the town well. He ex
Mario's scarred eye
cavated the site and lost many men to the traps set by his ancestor, himself losing an eye.
Mario and his troops were now wounded and exhausted. When they reached the Shroud, it offered to heal their wounds. Since Mario told them not to use it, as he was suspicious of the artifact, his men attacked him. He was forced to kill them, carried out the Shroud and sent it to his brother in Florence. Giovanni in turn, sent it to Agnadello.[6]
Giovanni's Travels
The Assassin, Giovanni Auditore worked as a banker in Florence under the Medici. He had revealed his alliegance to Lorenzo de'Medici, an ally of the Assassins, and worked with him to unravel a Templar conspiracy against Milan. One night Giovanni intercepted Rodrigo Borgia, in a Florentine alley. He killed two of his henchmen and captured one, though Rodrigo escaped.
Giovanni, Lorenzo, and the Gonfaloniere of Florence, Uberto Alberti, together tortued the captured Templar, who revealed a plan to kill the Duke of Milan. Giovanni failed to save the Duke but managed to kill a few of the murderers. Two escaped, and were later hanged, while one more was killed by the Duke's bodyguard. The contents of the dead murderer's pockets, led Giovanni to Venice, where he saw Marco Barbarigo sending a letter through a courier. Giovanni killed the courier, and took the encrypted letter to Uberto. However Uberto and Father Maffei had turned traitor, and falsely claimed that they couldn't decipher it.
Giovanni was forced to deliver the letter himself, and followed as it exchanged hands, ultimately reaching Rodrigo Borgia, who took it to Pope Sixtus IV. There he heard the Pope give his blessing and military support to an operation to kill Lorenzo.
He tailed Rodrigo, but was led to an ambush. He overpowered the attackers, but was badly wounded by a knife thrown by Rodrigo. He came home, where his wife took care of his wounds, when Father Maffei came with guards to arrest him. He told his eldest son Federico, to distract the guards, and he escaped.[7].
Giovanni defending himself from the ambush.
Betrayal and Execution
When Lorenzo was out of town, Uberto made his move. He arrested Giovanni, Federico, and the youngest son, Petruccio. Ezio, Giovanni's second son, was away running errands, and escaped. He met his father in prison and was told to recover his father's Assassin robes, weapons and documents. He was to deliver the documents to Uberto. However Uberto, had secretly allied himself with Rodrigo, and the next day he executed the three Auditore.[4]
Exacting Revenge
First Blood
The Auditore maid, Annetta, took Ezio's sister and mother to a brothel run by Paola, who was an Assassin. She taught him how to blend with the crowd. She sent him to Leonardo da Vinci to get his father's Hidden Blade, repaired, then told him that he would find Uberto at an art display in the Santa Croce.
Ezio used his skills to infiltrate the exhibition. He ran up to Uberto and furiously stabbed him in the chest before escaping.
Escape
Ezio made plans to go with his sister and mother to his uncle's villa in Monteriggioni. Paola told him to tear down posters bearing his name, bribe heralds not to speak of him, and kill officials who falsely claimed to have seen Ezio kill innocents. All this he did, and was anonymous among the people.
On the road to Monteriggioni, Ezio's arch rival, Vieri de'Pazzi, attacked him and his family. Ezio's uncle came to the rescue, disarming Vieri, and giving his sword to Ezio. Together with Mario's mercaenaries, they killed most of the attackers, though Vieri escaped.
The Pazzi
Vieri
His uncle, Mario, took him to the Villa and began training him to be an Assassin. He revealed to Ezio of the Assassins and Templars, of the Codex, written by Altaïr. Yet at the end of his training Ezio chose not to be an Assassin, and to go to Spain with his family. An enraged Mario left to San Gimignano.
Ezio, feeling guilty as he had led Vieri to Monteriggioni, followed and helped Mario in the assault. Though Ezio's task was initially to distract the guards and allow Mario to kill Vieri, Mario was caught up in the midst of a large battle. He tasked Ezio with finding and eliminating Vieri. Ezio overheard Vieri, his father Francesco, and Rodrigo Borgia talk about their plans for Florence. He climbed the walls and killed Vieri. Ezio, overcome by anger began to disrespect Vieri's corpse, but Mario told him to stop, teaching him that they seek peace, and giving last rites to Vieri. He then recovered a codex page and a letter from Vieri's pockets, and left.[4]
References
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