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Grand Master of the Templar Order

2012-04-08T04:27:59Z

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{{Era|AC1|ACBL|AC2|ACB|ACR|TSC|Renaissance|Bbook|Rbook|Templars}}
{{WP-REAL|Grand Masters of the Knights Templar}}
{{youmay|the highest rank of the Templar Order|[[Mentor]]}}
[[File:Knights.png|right|200px]]
The title of '''Grand Master''' was the highest rank attainable within the [[Templars|Templar Order]] and granted the bearer full control over its members and their operations.

Having previously born a more public face, more Grand Masters of the Templar Order were better known than their [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Mentor|counterparts]]. As the Templars slipped into the shadows, the identities of the leaders eventually fell from the public consciousness. While it is commonly assumed that all Templar leaders were drawn from the stock of Western nobility, due to the prominence of the Knights Templar front organization during the Middle Ages, the truth is that as the Order developed, diversified and relocated, many different people, of various racial backgrounds and cultural heritages, have assumed the mantle of Grand Master throughout the Templars' longevity.

==History==
===Middle Ages===
After two years without a Grand Master, [[Robert de Sable]] entered the order of the Knights Templar and reigned as their Grand Master during 1191. During his reign, he sought the [[Pieces of Eden]], particularly the [[Second Apple|Apple of Eden]]. After having lost the apple, he launched an attack to [[Masyaf]], the stronghold of the Assassins. During the [[Battle of Arsuf]], he was killed by his rival, [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad|Altaïr]].<ref name="AC">''[[Assassin's Creed]]''</ref>

After the death of Robert, [[Armand Bouchart]] took the title of Grand Master. He and the Templars retreated to [[Cyprus]] after Robert's death. However, Altaïr pursued him and in the [[Templar Archive]], they fought each other. Altaïr won the fight, and the Templars lost another leader.<ref name="ACBL">''[[Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines]]''</ref>

During the early 14th century, the [[France|French]] King [[Philip le Bel]] was unknowingly influenced by the [[Assassins]], and conspired against the Templars. The Templars were branded heretics and hundreds of them were arrested, and the last official Grand Master, [[Jacques de Molay]], understood that the Order would not survive as a public organization. He allowed himself to be burned at the stake, saving the lives of his brethren and making his enemies believe that the Templars were finished, though in reality the Order continued to exist - underground. Before his death, Molay sent nine of his most trusted men out into the world to continue his work.<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref>

===Renaissance===
By 1476, the Templars in Europe were eventually led by [[Rodrigo Borgia]], a cardinal under [[Pope Sixtus IV]]. Operating from [[Rome]], Rodrigo's primary objective was to unite Italy under the Templar banner;<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref> however, the Italian Templars strayed far from the main Templar ideology, using the Order as a way to achieve and sustain power for themselves.<ref name="Encyclopedia"/> Despite facing complications from the Assassins, mainly [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], Rodrigo managed to bribe the other cardinals, and was named Pope in 1492, taking on the name Alexander VI.<ref name="AC2"/>

Rodrigo secured the power of the Church for the Templars, and from [[Vaticano District|the Vatican]] he oversaw the progress of the other Templars in Europe, including [[England]] and [[Spain]]. however, by 1500, Rodrigo's resolve had weakened, and control over the order fell to his son [[Cesare Borgia]], who acted as the ''de facto'' Grand Master.<ref name="ACBH">''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]''</ref>

After he killed his own father in August 1503, Cesare became the official Grand Master of the Order,<ref name="ACBH novel">[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (novel)|''Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood'' novel]]</ref> though without his father's power in the Church, Cesare could not maintain the same influence in Europe that his father had. Cesare was imprisoned, and upon escaping, fled to his brother-in-law [[John III of Navarre]] in Navarre, Spain. He was ultimately killed during the [[Siege of Viana]] in 1507 by Ezio Auditore,<ref name="ACBH"/> destabilizing the Templars in Europe and causing them to temporarily withdraw.<ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>

===Modern times===
By the 20th century, the "Founders" created [[Abstergo Industries]] in 1937, which from that point on served as the front for the Templar Order. Though its [[Inner Sanctum of the Templar Order|highest-ranking employees]] all held some form of leadership in the Templar Order,<ref name="Abstergo Files">''Assassin's Creed: Revelations'' - [[Abstergo Files]]</ref> there was still a Grand Master serving as the head of the company.<ref name="Rifts">''Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood'' - [[Rifts]]</ref>

==Known Grand Masters==

=ACR Ahmet v.png=

=Char cesare.png=

== and references==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Templar Order]]

Byzantine Empire

2012-04-07T22:23:47Z

121.219.224.140:

{{Era|Revelations|Rbook}}
{{WP-REAL}}
{{Faction infobox
|name = Byzantines
|image = 500px-Palaiologos_Dynasty_emblem.svg.png
|imgdesc =
|hideo =
|founder = {{Wiki|Constantine the Great|Constantine I}}
|leader = Emperor
|headquarters = [[Constantinople]]
|locations =
|related = {{Wiki|Roman Empire|Romans}}<br/>[[Templars]]<br/>[[Assassins]]
|religion = {{Wiki|Religion in ancient Rome|Roman paganism}} until 391, {{Wiki|Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christianity}} tolerated after the {{Wiki|Edict of Milan}} in 313, and {{Wiki|State church of the Roman Empire|state religion}} after 380.
|hideh =
|formed = 330
|reorganised =
|collapsed = 1453
|hidea =
|notable = [[Manuel Palaiologos]]<br>[[Leandros]]<ref name="Revelations">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]''</ref>
}}
The '''Byzantines''' were the predominantly Greek-speaking citizens and supporters of the {{Wiki|Byzantine Empire}}.

==History==
===Templar infiltration===
During the early 16th century after the [[Templars]] were driven from [[Italy]] by the [[Assassins]], the members of the Templar Order were able to seize control of the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. Now in command, the Templars set up their primary headquarters at [[Cappadocia]]. The Byzantines' ultimate aim was to uproot the [[Ottoman Empire]] and take control of [[Constantinople]]. For a some time, however, they remained relatively quiet.<ref name="Revelations"/>

===Masyaf===
By 1509, the Templars became aware of the five [[Seals of Altaïr|seals]] of [[Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad]]. In 1509, after the earthquake in Constantinople, the Templars discovered one of the seals under [[Topkapı Palace]], as the entrance to the seal's chamber had been opened by the earthquake. Following this discovery, the Byzantine Templars became more active and militant in their desire to retake Constantinople and find the remaining four seals. Shortly afterwards, this seal passed into the possession of the de facto Byzantine Emperor, the Templar in charge of the hunt for the seals, [[Manuel Palaiologos]]. By the beginning of 1511, a Byzantine Templar captain named [[Leandros]] had occupied the region surrounding Masyaf, where the [[Altaïr's library|library]] which the seals opened was located, though by May 1511, the region had been cleansed of Templars by the [[Mentor]] of the [[Italian Assassins]], [[Ezio Auditore da Firenze]], who had had a major role in the fall of the Italian Templars, and was visiting Masyaf to learn more of the Assassin Order. By May 1511, the Templars were searching the [[Forum of the Ox]] and the [[Yerebatan Cistern]] in Constantinople for seals, though they were beaten to both of these seals by Ezio, who had also begun hunting the seals.<ref name="Revelations"/>
===Constantinople===
As the Templars plotted to overthrow the Ottomans, many Byzantine soldiers were present in Constantinople by mid-1511. These soldiers rivaled the [[Constantinople Assassins Guild]], and by May, had seized all of the [[Assassin Dens]] for themselves, except two, one in [[Galata district|Galata]], and one in the [[Imperial District]], near the [[Grand Bazaar]]. Shortly after Ezio's arrival in the city in May 1511, the Templars launched an attack on both of the remaining dens, though they were routed at Galata, they managed to take the den at the Grand Bazaar, though this was a temporary victory, as the Assassins retook the den not much later.

Over the 11 months after his arrival in the city, Ezio retook the dens, one by one, and severely weakened the Templars, until, in March 1512, Ezio left for Cappadocia, in search of Palaiologos, who possessed the last seal. Ezio killed Manuel and claimed the seal for himself. As he was about to leave, he noticed Ahmet on a ship with Byzantines and he revealed that he was the true mastermind behind the Masyaf expedition.

===Cappadocia===
During the early 16th century, the Templars set up their headquarters in Cappadocia, after being driven from their previous base in [[Rome]] by the Assassins. There, the Templars set up prisons and instated themselves as the rulers of the city, filling the streets with Byzantine Templars.

Palaiologos resided in Cappadocia for some time after his family lost their hold on the Byzantine throne. He, along with his bodyguard and fellow Templar, Shahkulu, governed much of the city and held power within its walls until Ezio's arrival.

==Trivia==
* On the [[Animus]] interface radar, Byzantine soldiers appear as red dots.
* After game's completion, Byzantines are hardly ever found in Constantinople and only largely found in Cappadocia. However, those who remain in Constantinople are usually trying to demolish [[ziplines]], often in four-men cells and usually in the [[Constantine District|Constantine district]].

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="180" position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center" captiontextcolor="#ffffff">
Leandrosrenderhd.png| Leandros.
ACR Soldier Art HD.png|Artwork.
Byzantines.png|An example of a 16th century Byzantine soldier.
Manuel Palaiologos.png|Heir to the Byzantine throne, Manuel Palaiologos
Guard-byzantine-ACR.png|Byzantine Militia
Guard-varangian-ACR.png|Byzantine Varangian
Guard-almogavar-ACR.png|Byzantine Almogavar
Byzantine Gunman Artwork.jpg|Byzantine Gunman.
Byzantine Leader Artwork.jpg|Byzantine Leader.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{ACR}}
[[Category:Factions]]