Domenico Auditore

This article is about the founder of the Auditore family. For other uses, see Domenico.

Domenico Auditore was a member of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins and the founder of the Auditore family. He was responsible for establishing the Villa Auditore in the Tuscan town of Monteriggioni, which would become the main headquarters of the Italian Assassins during the Renaissance. He also built the Sanctuary underneath the villa to store the unbreakable set of armor created by the legendary Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and scattered the pages of Altaïr's Codex around Italy to keep them out of Templar hands.

He was the father of the Assassin Renato Auditore, the great-grandfather of Giovanni and Mario Auditore, and the great-great-grandfather of Giovanni's son, Ezio.

Biography

Early life

Born on the nearby mainland, Domenico was raised in Venice, Italy, subsequently becoming an apprentice sailor for an Adriatic-based vessel when he was "barely old enough to walk". He later carried cargo for his father's patron, Marco Polo. One day, while looking for work in the harbor, he fell in love with a young woman called Isabetta, with whom he would maintain a relationship as he continued to work as a sailor. Eventually, the two married and bore a son, Renato.

Training as an Assassin

One summer's afternoon, Domenico's patron called upon him. He arrived to see both his father and an older man dressed in a "strange hooded cape" also there. Domenico's father revealed that he was an Assassin, and as such Domenico himself was destined to follow in his footsteps. The man in the hood, Dante Alighieri, was to become Domenico's mentor and train him in the ways of the Order, in exchange for Domenico giving him passage to Spain.

Preparing for the journey, Domenico met with Dante many times, purchasing supplies and talking about important things such as life, love, honor, and justice. Dante taught him that society was set up by its rulers to control the people, to stop them from thinking and seeing the truth. Dante then showed him the Codex written by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, which Marco Polo had acquired while visiting the court of Kublai Khan.

During his training, Domenico became acquainted with the French Master Assassin Thomas de Carneillon. In October 1307, when the French Assassins prepared to attack the Temple of Paris to eradicate their sworn enemy, the Templar Order, Domenico shared his mentor's view that this would be a great victory for the Brotherhood while Carneillon feared that it would simply allow the Templars to operate in secrecy.

On 14 September 1321, upon returning to Ravenna to pick up his belongings, Domenico discovered that Dante had died. He went to announce the news to his father and patron, but before he could say a word, the two revealed that Dante had been murdered by the Templars, who were still active. The Templars had been watching Dante and sought the Codex, which Dante had planned to take to Spain. Domenico's father ordered him to leave immediately for Spain, telling him to take the Codex and his family with him. Marco Polo handed Domenico a small sheet of paper, bearing Polo's own bank account number upon it so that Domenico might draw upon it when necessary.

Journey to Spain

Domenico set sail that night, with a ship filled with cargo to be sold in Barcelona. On 25 September 1321, in order to avoid a coming storm, they were forced to take shelter in the harbor of Otranto. There, pirates under the employ of the Templars snuck aboard the vessel. Domenico did not see them until it was already too late. He hid with his family in the hold, broke the spine of the Codex, and placed its pages into various boxes and containers.

Finding Domenico and his family, the pirates demanded the Codex. Domenico could tell that they were drunk and told them that he had thrown it overboard. Two of them held him down, while the rest sexually assaulted Isabetta, before killing and throwing her overboard. They eventually threw both Domenico and his son overboard as well, before stealing the vessel's cargo and sinking the ship. Domenico and his son reached the shore and happened upon the corpse of Isabetta the next day, which had washed up onto the beach.

Founding the House of Auditore

Domenico and his son traveled by land and made their way to Florence. Using Polo's account, which he had memorized, Domenico rented a small room for his son, before journeying in disguise to Venice to meet with his father and patron. However, he quickly discovered that they had both already been killed, and returned to Florence the next day.

Domenico took to studying the classics, taking vocal lessons and collecting treatises on architecture. Impersonating a noble at the Florentine court, he took the name Auditore and was accepted as a part of the city's nobility.

Domenico subsequently purchased and renovated what would become the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni. He trained his son to become an Assassin, just as he was. Soon, Domenico became a Templar hunter, determined to eliminate the Order's presence in Italy to honor his late wife and father.

Before his death, Domenico constructed the Auditore Family Crypt within the city, leaving his memoirs engraved on stone plaques throughout its walls. He also built a Sanctuary where he locked the Armor of Altaïr. He hid the six seals in Assassin Tombs through Italy.

Skills

Domenico was regarded by his descendants as a great architect and warrior, having knowledge on architecture and renovation so as to secure treatises, and possessing common fighting skills among the Assassins' ranks. Domenico was also a great engineer, as several hidden compartments and rooms with mechanisms within the Villa Auditore were designed and built by him. These were several unique features of the building that made it a technological marvel as well as an architectural one.

Trivia

• The name Domenico is derived from Latin name Dominicus, meaning "of the Lord, belonging to God." The name "Auditore" is the Italian version of "auditor."
  • The name Domenico was traditionally given to a child born on a Sunday, especially by Catholics.
• While the Database claimed that Domenico was Ezio's great-grandfather, Ezio's uncle Mario and the architect of Monteriggioni both said that Domenico was Ezio's great-great-grandfather. It was later noted that the writer of the Database, Shaun Hastings, had used an incomplete family tree as his source, which led to his mistake.
• The actual commune of Monteriggioni was built in 1213 by the overlords of Siena and was mentioned by Dante Alighieri in his Inferno, in which he also mentioned the characteristic city walls. The in-game database, however, mentioned that the Auditore family, founded after Dante's death in 1321, constructed the walls.
• Mario mentioned to Ezio that Domenico told him about the Sanctuary. This is unlikely, given that Domenico was born almost two hundred years before Ezio went to Monteriggioni, and Mario would not be born for almost another 140 years.
• The stone plaques found in the Auditore Crypt suggest Domenico's story begins in 1296, but this interpretation depends on whether one reads the plaques as marking distinct moments in time, or if the title of the first one refers to his initiation into the Brotherhood as the pivotal moment in his life. The official infographic book favors the latter reading, placing Domenico's initiation year in 1296. Ultimately, his true birth year remains unknown.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned in Database entry only)
• Assassin's Creed: Unity (mentioned in Database entry only)