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The Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins is the guild of Assassins operating in Spain, who, during the Renaissance and Reconquista, cultivated ties with the royal houses of Castile, Aragon, and the Emirate of Granada.

Much of their operations during the Renaissance revolved around vying for influence with the Christian monarchs against the Templars, resulting in several Assassins such as Raphael Sánchez and Luis de Santángel being appointed as prominent officials. The Templars in turn preyed on the religious zealotry of the Catholic Monarchs through the Spanish Inquisition, and at the peak of that institution, the Assassins across Spain were targeted as heretics. Thanks in part to the intervention of the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore, the Spanish Assassins survived the purge and became instrumental in putting an end to the Granada War and saving as many civilians as they could from the Inquisition.

Around the same time, the Assassins were also pivotal in securing the Genoese navigator Christoffa Corombo the sponsorship of Queen Isabella I of Castile, personally funding half of the expenses and thereby facilitating his explorations of the New World. The exposure of the continent to European powers would spark a frenzy by the Spanish Empire to conquer indigenous American empires such as the Inca and Aztecs, leading the Spanish Assassins to send secret agents with the conquistadors abroad to keep a watchful eye over their activities.

The Spanish Brotherhood was traditionalist in comparison to other branches, and by the 15th century, they still retained archaic practices such as the amputation of the whole ring finger as part of the induction ceremony, a sacrifice which the redesigning done on the Hidden Blade by the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, made redundant.

History[]

Granada War[]

In 1489, the Spanish Assassins came upon a former Knights Hospitalier Horacio de Heredia, whose family was executed by Tomás de Torquemada after they refused to support the Inquisition. Travelling to his former estate in Old Castile, the Assassins assisted Horacio in reclaiming the estate and brought him to their hideout in Sierra de Cazorla after he was heavily wounded.[1]

While the knight recuperated, the Spanish Assassins assisted him in tracking down Bordingas, the Inquisition sergeant who was not present at the estate. Locating him at a slum, they eliminated him and as well as the local slumlord Concha.[2] Along the way, the Assassins learned that the sergeant was taking orders from Fort Alphonso, an Inquisition keep. There, they destroyed supply shipments to prepare their infiltration of the fort.[3] In the same timeframe, they also recovered the Heredia family's riches that had been stolen by the Inquisitors and stashed in a remote abbey awaiting transportation to the Fort.[4]

Having weakened Fort Alphonso's defenses, the Spanish Assassins infiltrated the fort and assassinated the executioner Pedrosa and commandant Duran, who were responsible for executing Horacio's family.[5]

In 1491, Torquemada was fooled by Rodrigo Borgia, the Grand Master of the Italian Templars, into believing that the Assassins were heretics. As a result, the Spanish Inquisitors arrested and burned numerous Spanish Assassins. Luis de Santángel, an Assassin and companion of Corombo, informed the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze of the Inquisition, which caused Ezio to sail for Spain. The spokesman of the Spanish Assassins, Raphael Sánchez, met with Ezio, and assigned him to kill several high-ranking Inquisitors. With help from other Spanish Assassins, Ezio rescued a number of their captured brethren, and killed many Inquisitors. He failed to kill Tomás de Torquemada however, and later spared him, saying that he was not a Templar, just blinded by his faith.[6]

ACfilm Spanish Brotherhood of Assassins

The Spanish Assassins led by Benedicto in 1492

In 1492, the Spanish Brotherhood's Mentor Benedicto led a team of Assassins to a rural village in Andalusia to rescue Ahmed of Granada, the son of Sultan Muhammad XII from the Spanish Templars. The Assassins were initially successful, but then they were overwhelmed by the Templars. Many of the Assassins were killed and Benedicto, Aguilar de Nerha and María were captured. The three Assassins were brought to Seville where they were branded as heretics and to be burned at the stake. Benedicto was burned alive but Aguilar and María managed to escape the village.[7]

Sometime later, the two Assassins made their way to Alhambra to prevent the Sultan from handing the Apple of Eden to Torquemada. María was killed in the process but Aguilar managed to kill Ojeda and retrieved the Apple, escaping in the process. Realizing that the Apple would never be safe in his possession, Aguilar entrusted the Apple to Corombo, an ally of the Assassins who would keep the Apple until his death.[7]

After the fall of Granada, many allies of Muhammad XII joined the Spanish Assassins to fight the Templars, as Jariya al-Zakiyya, Shakir al-Zahid and Muza ben Abel Gazan.[8]

In 1493, Ezio called for assistance from several Assassins Guilds in Europe, having learned that Templars had returned to Florence and reestablished their presence in the city. In response, Aguilar sent a team of Assassins to the city, aiding Ezio and two other Italian Assassins, Corvo Antonelli and Perina di Bastian. They unvelied Bonacolto Contarini as the one responsible and eliminated him.[9]

In 1495, the Spanish Assassins cooperated with a team led by the Mentor of the Ottoman Brotherhood of Assassins Ishak Pasha to retrieve Niccolò Polo's journal in Spain. As the Spanish Inquisition wanted to give the journal to the Byzantine Rite of the Templar Order, the Assassins decided to take it during the exchange. As the Assassins arrived, they discovered it was a trap and escaped from the Templars.[10]

By 1498, the Inquisition had killed most of the Assassins,[6] although they managed to kill Torquemada.[11] By that same year, Santángel had died, leaving the Assassins with no grip on the Spanish royal family and the branch nearly deserted. Ezio, now co-leader of the Italian Assassins along with Niccolò Machiavelli, sent his apprentices to reorganize the branch.[12]

These apprentices searched Santángel's room, found his journal, and realized that he had been slowly poisoning Queen Isabella. They felt at first that it was retaliation for slaughtering his family. However they kept an eye on the Queen, and found that she was threatened by the Borgia to help spread the Inquisition. They decided to finish what Santángel had started, poisoning the Queen. They found the recipe of the poison, and doubled the dose to ensure her death. They found that one of the Queen's servants was a collaborator, and through her, they administered a fatal dose.[12][13]

Age of Discovery[]

By 1511, the Spanish Assassins had regrouped and occasionally received aid from Ottoman Assassins sent from Constantinople by Ezio Auditore. That year, the Spanish Assassins once again faced problems from the Inquisitors, who were now acting on orders of Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros. With help of the Ottoman Assassins, the Spanish Assassins eliminated the threat.[14]

Age of Enlightenment[]

By the mid-18th century, the Spanish Brotherhood had allied themselves with the Spanish Crown anew. In 1748, Gaspar Velasquez, a Spanish shipbuilder, had begun the designs of a brig that would serve as the primary fleet of the Colonial Brotherhood. However, as he and his colleagues' work progressed, the British Templars posed an imminent threat to them. Gaspar decided to send the plans to the French Assassin Council in the hope of completing the Aquila which was, by the following year, fully constructed and sent to the Colonial Brotherhood.[15]

Spanish Civil War[]

By the 20th century, the brotherhood was still active and a cell led by Ignacio Cardona consisting Glaucia Acosta, Miguel Carasso, Dwight Adams were part of the Spanish Civil War, fighting on the side of the Republicans. Facing difficulties, the cell requested aid from the British Brotherhood of Assassins, who sent Norbert Clarke in response.[16]

Members[]

Emirate of Córdoba
Granada War
Age of Discovery
Age of Enlightenment
Spanish Civil War

Allies and puppets[]

Granada War
Age of Enlightenment
Spanish Civil War

Gallery[]

Behind the scenes[]

Despite keeping the Levantine Brotherhood's practice of amputating the ring finger, it is unknown whether or not the Spanish Brotherhood also kept the practice of performing a Leap of Faith as part of their initiation.

Appearances[]

References[]


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