Claudia Auditore da Firenze

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Ezio: "My sister knows how to wield a knife."

Claudia: "And I am ready to do it again."

Ezio: "Spoken like a true Auditore."

—Ezio and Claudia after a Borgia attack, 1503.

Claudia Auditore da Firenze (born 1461) was a Florentine noblewoman and, later in life, a member of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins. The third eldest child of Giovanni and Maria Auditore, she was the younger sister of Federico and Ezio and the older sister of Petruccio.

Although born into the Assassin Order, Claudia grew up unaware of her Assassin heritage, being raised as a traditional noblewoman. After her father and two of her brothers were executed on false charges of treason in 1476, Claudia relocated with her mother and Ezio to the town of Monteriggioni, which was under the leadership of her uncle Mario.

While her brother was trained as an Assassin by Mario and embarked on a journey to exact revenge on the Templars responsible for their family's demise, Claudia took up work as the financial accountant of Monteriggioni. Thanks to her organization and the money brought by Ezio from his adventures, the town flourished, as many of its shops and businesses became open once more.

In January 1500, Monteriggioni was besieged and largely destroyed by the Borgia army, under the command of Cesare Borgia, leaving the Auditore homeless. Against her brother's desire for Claudia and their mother to return to their hometown of Florence, Claudia and Maria followed Ezio to Rome, where Claudia became the Madame of the Rosa in Fiore, the city's most popular brothel.

Eventually, after proving herself to be a worthy fighter to her brother, Ezio inducted Claudia into the Assassin Order in 1503. The following year, Claudia was captured by Borgia die-hards, and subsequently saved by Ezio and Niccolò Machiavelli. During this time, she stepped down as the Madame of the Rosa in Fiore, and stayed in Florence with her friend Paola, in order to recover until 1507.

Three years later, in 1510, Claudia was given temporary control of the Italian Brotherhood when her brother left on a journey to the Middle East to find the library of the legendary Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, which was said to be in Masyaf. She held this position until her brother returned in late 1512, after which Ezio resigned from the Order and assigned a successor.

Biography

Early life

"Ezio! Where have you been?! They wouldn't let us leave. And mother... Uch! She hasn't spoken a single word since we left the house. Father will need to sort things out..."

―Claudia to Ezio, when he returned from the execution, 1476.

Claudia Auditore was born on 2 January 1461 in the city of Florence, as the daughter of the Florentine banker Giovanni Auditore and his wife Maria. She had two elder brothers, Federico and Ezio, and a younger brother named Petruccio.

As of 1476, Claudia was betrothed to Duccio de Luca, a member of another noble family in Florence. Eventually, Claudia heard rumors of Duccio's adulterous actions, and her brother Ezio noticed her emotional distress. On Claudia's behalf, Ezio went to see Duccio, confirming the rumors and beating him up in a fight. After this, the relationship between Claudia and Duccio ended.

Ezio asking Annetta to look after Claudia and Maria

A few days later, their home – the Palazzo Auditore – was attacked by Pazzi guards. The guards arrested Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio, and left Maria in shock. Claudia and the Auditore housemaid Annetta took Maria and hid themselves in the Palazzo, until Ezio arrived to find their home ransacked. Following this, on Ezio's request, Annetta took Claudia and Maria to her sister Paola's home, while Ezio went to the Palazzo della Signoria to find their father and brothers.

Despite Ezio's efforts, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were executed on false accusations of treason by the Florentine Gonfaloniere Uberto Alberti, working for Rodrigo Borgia, Grand Master of the Italian Templars. Claudia and Maria resided safely in Paola's home, which turned out to be a brothel, while Ezio exacted revenge on Uberto. This act would later become the stepping stone to Ezio's eventual induction into the Assassin Order, of which their father was secretly a member.

Living in Monteriggioni

"Since SOMEONE decided we're going to stay here, Zio Mario suggested we try and find the money to repair the villa."

―Claudia, about Mario making her run Monteriggioni's finances.

After Ezio was successful in his objective, he took Claudia and Maria to travel with him to Monteriggioni, where their uncle Mario Auditore owned a villa.

Claudia telling Ezio about her dislike of Monteriggioni

Successfully fleeing Florence, they traveled through the Tuscan countryside, until they were ambushed by Ezio's rival, Vieri de' Pazzi, near Monteriggioni. Ezio, trying to fend off Vieri's men, was eventually joined by Mario and his mercenaries, who rescued them and led them into the town. While Mario showed them around the city, Ezio made it clear to his uncle that they were only staying there temporarily, as he planned to travel with Claudia and Maria further west to Spain.

Ezio was eventually persuaded by Mario to finish his father's work in the Assassin Order, and he decided to stay in the Villa Auditore, much to Claudia's displeasure. Some time later, Mario told Claudia to keep track of Monteriggioni's finances in a record book, which infuriated Claudia, who was used to a luxurious lifestyle. Over time, Claudia got used to her new job, but missed Ezio while he was journeying around Italy to take down the Templars.

During Ezio's journey, he occasionally returned to Monteriggioni with finances for rebuilding the town, and with Claudia's organization skills, the town sprung back to life again and became more populated. Claudia also married Mario's captain, and by 1488, she was pregnant with his child.

Around 1491, when Ezio travelled to Spain to help the Spanish Brotherhood, Claudia joined him and helped to consolidate the finances of the local Assassins.

Mission to Naples

"To take a life is no small burden, but if our journey to vengeance must be painted in blood, so be it. This isn't the end of our troubles with the Guardato family, but perhaps a small respite. Now let us move. There is still work to be done."

―Claudia to the Assassins in Naples, after killing Armilia Guardato, 1499.

In 1499, the Assassins in Italy, including Ezio and Mario, prepared to journey to Rome to eliminate Rodrigo Borgia, who had become Pope Alexander VI. Before the Assassins' mission, Claudia volunteered to lead a team of Assassins to Naples to acquire a stockpile of weapons hidden by Giovanni, which may prove useful during the mission. Upon arrival, however, the group found the Auditore storehouse raided by mercenaries and all of the munitions inside stolen.

Claudia in Naples

Meeting with Piero, a member of the Thieves' Guild, Claudia and the Assassins learned that Armilia Guardato, a longtime rival of the Auditore family, had taken the weapons to her hideout in the hills beneath Mount Vesuvius. The team subsequently infiltrated the stronghold, and witnessed an argument between Armilia and her henchman, Il Bruto, before the former departed with the stolen weapons.

After defeating Il Bruto, he informed the Assassins that Armilia had made a deal with the Templars, who promised her control of Naples in exchange for keeping the munitions out of the Brotherhood's hands. Sparing Il Bruto's life, the team returned to Naples and found Armilia's secret warehouse based on Il Bruto's directions. There, the Assassins eliminated Armilia's men while Claudia personally killed Armilia. With the weapons recovered, Claudia and the Assassins delivered them to Bartolomeo d'Alviano and his men, allowing them to stage a distraction in Rome while Ezio dealt with Rodrigo Borgia.

Siege of Monteriggioni

Claudia: "Is it finished, then? Is the Spaniard truly dead?"

Ezio: "Gather the others in Mario's study tonight. I'll explain everything there."

—Claudia and her brother during their reunion in Monteriggioni, 1500.

Claudia about to welcome her brother after his journey

On 1 January 1500, when Ezio and Mario returned from their journey to Rome, Claudia greeted her brother outside the Villa Auditore and asked if Rodrigo Borgia was finally dead, though he declined to answer straight away. With Claudia's birthday the following day, she wished to keep the party a secret from Ezio, but her brother would soon learn about it as the entire town was already preparing to celebrate it.

Later that evening, Claudia joined Ezio, Maria, Mario, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Caterina Sforza in Mario's study, where Ezio told them about his choice to spare Rodrigo's life and his discovery in the Vault underneath the Vatican – a projection of Minerva, a member of the First Civilization.

The following morning, on Claudia's birthday, Monteriggioni was besieged by the Borgia, under the command of Rodrigo's son Cesare, Captain General of the Papal army. Claudia secured her mother and several other villagers in the sanctuary underneath the Villa Auditore, but was found and attacked by Borgia soldiers upon leaving the villa.

She was saved by her heavily-wounded brother, who led the survivors through a secret passage underneath Monteriggioni. Upon arriving outside safely, Ezio informed Claudia and Maria that Cesare had killed Mario, and told them to go to Florence for their own safety. However, they both wished to aid Ezio, so they secretly followed him to Rome, the heart of Borgia and Templar power.

Leading the Roman courtesans

Ezio: "You do this, Claudia, and you are on your own."

Claudia: "I've been on my own for twenty years."

—Ezio and Claudia, about her offer to lead the Roman courtesans, 1500.

Claudia, Maria and Ezio in the Rosa in Fiore

Claudia and Maria made their way to the Assassin headquarters on Tiber Island in Rome, where they met with Niccolò Machiavelli. Niccolò suspected Ezio to be visiting the courtesans at the Rosa in Fiore, and redirected the women to the brothel.

Conversing with the courtesans, Claudia and Maria were joined by Ezio, who had just came back from a failed attempt to save the brothel's owner, Madonna Solari, from slave traders. Without anyone to lead the courtesans, Claudia offered to take over the ownership of the brothel, much to Ezio's dissatisfaction.

On Maria's request, Ezio agreed, and Claudia and her courtesans started retrieving intelligence for the Assassin Order from the Borgia. Their first task was to learn the whereabouts of Caterina Sforza, who had been captured by the Borgia during the siege of Monteriggioni. After procuring the necessary information, Claudia met with Ezio and the other guild leaders at the Assassin hideout, where they decided their next step was to assassinate Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia.

Claudia at the Assassin meeting

Claudia continued to lead the courtesans for the coming years, and in 1503, she joined the Assassins at the hideout again, where she revealed that a senator named Egidio Troche was closely related with Cesare's "Banker". Claudia pointed Ezio in the senator's direction, and set her courtesans to follow Ezio when he went to assassinate the Banker, taking his money with them to the Rosa in Fiore.

However, these courtesans were followed by Borgia guards, who infiltrated the brothel. Determined to protect her girls, Claudia armed herself with a knife, single-handedly taking out all the guards, right before Ezio entered the brothel in the hopes of saving her. Ezio was amazed by Claudia's efforts, and in August 1503, he called Claudia to the hideout again.

Entering the ceremony hall, Ezio inducted Claudia into the Assassin Order in the presence of the other Assassins, while Ezio himself was promoted to Mentor and leader of the Italian Assassins. Claudia proceeded to perform a Leap of Faith into the Tiber from the top of the hideout.

Claudia being initiated into the Assassin Order

Ezio infiltrated the Castel Sant'Angelo soon afterwards, aiming to kill Rodrigo and Cesare. To his astonishment, however, Ezio witnessed Cesare kill Rodrigo with a poisoned apple, and without his father's power in the Church, Cesare saw his control over Rome weakening immensely.

Shortly after, Claudia informed Ezio that a French cardinal, Georges d'Amboise, revealed that he was to meet with Cesare soon, and Ezio left to interrupt the meeting. Subsequently, Claudia joined Ezio, Niccolò, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, and La Volpe in defeating the last of Cesare's supporters, and witnessed his arrest at the hands of Fabio Orsini and the Papal Guard.

The next year, Maria grew weak and started talking of Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio again, and some time later, she died due to illness. With this, Claudia was left in sole control of the courtesans, but not long after, she was captured by a group of Borgia remnants, led by a Templar spy named Bruno.

Bruno pretended to work for Niccolò, and directed both him and Ezio to where Claudia was being held captive, saying it was a secret Templar hideout. Claudia, held by ropes, saw her clothes get ripped off by one of the Templars, until Ezio and Niccolò approached. Niccolò and Ezio were able to overcome the Borgia fanatics and rescue Claudia, but she eventually chose to resign as the Madame of the Rosa in Fiore. Claudia left for Florence, where she stayed with Paola to recover from the ferocious Templar attack. In response, La Volpe arranged for Rosa, a Venetian thief, to take on her role as Madame.

Serving the Assassins

"It's true. This job wears one out. The Blessed Mother knows, I've only been doing it in your stead for two short years, but I have come to realize what you have been carrying on your shoulders for so long."

―Claudia about the hardship of leading the Assassins, 1512.

Ezio continued to chase after Cesare, and eventually managed to kill the Templar Grand Master during the Siege of Viana in 1507. Returning to Rome from Spain, Ezio asked Niccolò to send Claudia back to Rome as soon as he would reach Florence. Claudia returned to Rome some time later, having grown to love the city more than her hometown of Florence.

Claudia continued to serve the Assassins, acting as an advisor to Ezio. By 1509, she had returned to Monteriggioni to oversee renovations to the Villa Auditore, but the workers she hired spent more time idling around the town and so little progress was made. When Ezio joined her a few weeks later, Claudia told him about a music box hidden in the villa's attic and sent him on a small treasure hunt to discover the secret it held. Ezio soon managed to solve the puzzle and found a small painting of him, Claudia and Maria made by Leonardo da Vinci.

However, during Ezio's treasure hunt, Claudia's newly-hired assistant Seraphina, who was secretly a member of the Cult of Hermes, led bandits to attack Monteriggioni and eliminate the Auditore. Both Claudia and her brother survived the respective attempts on their lives, and Ezio chased the perpetrators through the city's underground tunnels, but they ultimately managed to escape with stolen Auditore relics. While Ezio set out to recover the artifacts, Claudia remained in Monteriggioni to again oversee renovations following the devastating attack.

In 1510, Ezio discovered a letter from Giovanni, which detailed the location of the library of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the Mentor of the Levantine Brotherhood and one of the most legendary Assassins of the Order. Though not showing the letter to Claudia, Ezio revealed that he aimed to travel to Masyaf in hopes of finding the library. Wishing Ezio luck on his journey and asking him to write to her occasionally, Claudia was temporarily left in control of the Italian Assassin Brotherhood.

Ezio writing one of his letters to Claudia

Occasionally, Claudia received letters from her brother detailing the progress of his journey, which eventually led him to Constantinople. He also revealed to her the feelings he was starting to have for a Venetion woman named Sofia Sartor.

In Ezio's absence, Claudia faced the problem of Pope Julius II's declining health, which troubled the Assassins due to Julius having been their protector for numerous years. Additionally, she received a letter from Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch scholar and the leader of the North European Brotherhood.

In late 1512, Ezio returned to Rome with Sofia, who had become his wife after their marriage in Venice. Claudia revealed to him the good news of Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, son of Ezio's late friend and ally Lorenzo de' Medici, being close to the Papacy, and showed him Erasmus' letter.

Additionally, Claudia congratulated Ezio on his marriage, approving of his wife, "even if she [was] a Venetian." Ezio, having decided to resign from the Order, revealed that he had chosen Lodovico Ariosto as his successor as Mentor. Claudia, pointing out Ariosto's relationship to Alfonso d'Este and his wife Lucrezia Borgia, heavily protested against this, and was even more infuriated upon hearing of Ezio's desire to build his own vineyard and to start writing.

Later life

Claudia eventually married again, and stayed with her new husband in Rome. Despite being angry at Ezio at first, Claudia came to enjoy her visits to Ezio and Sofia's villa in the Tuscan countryside, and grew to love her new niece and nephew, Flavia and Marcello.

Despite being 15 years older than Sofia, Claudia did not take up a motherly role to her sister-in-law and they became very close, with Sofia occasionally taking her children to visit Claudia in Rome, with one such visit taking place in 1524, shortly before Ezio's death.

Personality and traits

"He's making me work! If father was here, I'd never be stuck behind a desk like this."

―Claudia to Ezio, upon being given a job by Mario.

Claudia with Ezio behind the Rosa in Fiore

In her younger years, it was evident that Claudia had been too spoiled by Giovanni, and was unafraid to be violent when a girl "looked at her boyfriend". Because of her temper, Giovanni was forced to raise her dowry by 1,000 florins, since she scared off all of her suitors. She was also seen to be immature, complaining petulantly after Mario assigned her to manage Monteriggioni's finances.

Regardless, Claudia was quite capable of handling and keeping track of the town's bankroll, as well as her brother's purchases and earnings. By the time she relocated to Rome, Claudia had matured into an affable, humble, and hard-working woman, in contrast to her previous spoiled brat persona. This was likely due to the many years she spent alone in Mario's villa, taking care of Ezio's finances.

Claudia's capability in business management again became useful when she volunteered – despite Ezio's initial protest – to take over the brothel in Rome. Under her leadership, the Rosa in Fiore became the most popular brothel in the city, as well as an effective intelligence-gathering arm for the Assassins.

Claudia standing over the bodies of several guards she killed

Claudia was also kind with her family, being especially emotional over her father and brothers' execution, her mother's emotional trauma, and leaving her home and her friends in Florence. Claudia was Ezio's only sister, and unlike her brothers, who were executed on the orders of Rodrigo Borgia to prove a point to the Assassins, she was spared, likely because of her gender. She was also very close to Ezio, especially in their later years.

When she was in charge of the Rosa in Fiore, Claudia demonstrated a fondness for the girls in her employ and a willingness to defend them. When the Borgia attacked the brothel, Claudia defended it and single-handedly slew all of the attackers armed with only a dagger, an act that impressed Ezio considerably.

Behind the scenes

Claudia Auditore is a character in the games Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and the film Assassin's Creed: Lineage. She is voiced in both games by Angela Galuppo, and portrayed in Lineage by the actor Devery Jacobs.

Trivia

Assassin's Creed II

• Claudia, as with most characters, did not appear to age over the course of the game, and remained at the same desk in the Villa Auditore for 23 years. After she complained about being put to work, her only interaction with Ezio was asking if he was there to look at the book of finances.
• When Ezio began to earn income from Monteriggioni, Claudia stated that she would keep any money past the chest's maximum capacity, with no explanation of what she intended to do with all the money.
• Although she was always sitting in the Villa Auditore through most of the game, Claudia appeared in a "vision" Ezio had at his home during the Bonfire of the Vanities.
• There was a glitch where, if Ezio managed to bump into Claudia and knock her down, she would be given the voice of one of the guards, since knocking her down was not normally supposed to be possible.
• According to Mario in Assassin's Creed: Renaissance, Maria and Claudia lived in a convent after the execution of the Auditore until the late 1480s, when they moved to Monteriggioni.
  • Around that time, Claudia married Mario's senior captain and bore him child(ren). Their names were never mentioned, though.
• The name Claudia is generally thought to be derived from Latin claudus, 'lame, crippled', but can also be argued to come from claudo, 'to close; to enclose, encompass, surround, imprison, hide, confine'.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

• Claudia still appeared quite young, despite her being 38 years old at the beginning of the game. Her skin appeared to be paler than it was before as well.
• When Claudia was inducted into the Assassin Order, her outfit was similar to that of Maria Thorpe in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed II.
• Like her brother, Claudia wielded a knife with an icepick grip, as shown in the memory "Paper Trail".

Gallery

• 
  Claudia's face models
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  3D model of Claudia's dress
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  Claudia's database picture
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  Claudia telling Ezio about her trouble with Duccio
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  Claudia devastated over the deaths of her father and brothers
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  Claudia at her desk in the Villa Auditore
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  Claudia embracing Ezio upon his return to Monteriggioni
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  Claudia arguing with Ezio
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  Claudia during her induction ceremony
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  Claudia as she appears in Rebellion
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  Claudia as she appears in Rebellion
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  Claudia's avatar in Rebellion's character menu

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Lineage (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
  • The Da Vinci Disappearance
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations novel
• Assassin's Creed: Recollection
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (mentioned in Database entry only) (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
  • Naples, 1499 CE
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice – Roma
• Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR