Italy

Template:WPlocations Italy, or Italia to its residents, is a country located in southern Europe, and was home to the Italian branch of the Assassin Order during the 13th to 16th centuries. Italy also served as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and had many beautiful cities and towns dotted across the landscape.

Despite the ideals of the Renaissance spreading out across all of Italy, during this period, the nation remained divided into a multitude of city-states and republics, with some of the most notable being La Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, and the Papal States. Taking advantage of this division, the Templars attempted to seize control of much of northern Italy during the late 15th century, but were ultimately thwarted in this attempt by Ezio Auditore da Firenze and his fellow Assassins.

History

Founding the Assassin Order

After having founded an Assassins Guild in Constantinople at the request of the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo traveled to Italy, where they established another Assassins Guild.

During the late 13th century, the family that would later become the House of Auditore lived near Venice. Somewhere around 1296, Domenico Auditore was inducted into the Assassin Order, and when his master, Dante Alighieri died, Domenico was tasked with the hiding of the Codex in Spain, though he was ambushed by Templar pirates.

With only his son remaining, after his wife was killed and thrown overboard, he began to impersonate a nobleman in Florence, using the money he had been given by Marco Polo. His family continued to act as nobles to conceal their affiliation to the Assassins, and the family also built the Villa Auditore around this time, thus founding the town of Monteriggioni.

Giovanni's travels

In 1476, the Assassin Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, a descendant of Domenico Auditore, learned of a Templar plot to gain power in Italy. He discovered that the Templars, led by Rodrigo Borgia, were planning to murder the Duke of Milan. This act would greatly destabilize the relations between Milan and Florence, allowing the Templars to seize power in the struggle. Even though he attempted to stop them, it was too late to prevent the assassination, so the Assassin began to investigate the event for the Medici family.

Sforza's death.

He set off to Venice, where he infiltrated the Palazzo Ducale and overheard two men sending a messenger to Rome. From there, he followed the messenger in order to interrogate him, but he took his own life by impaling himself on Giovanni's Hidden Blade when caught, without revealing his secrets beforehand. Following this, Giovanni searched his body and found a letter with the seal of the wealthy Venetian Barbarigo family.

Some time after, he took the letter to his employer and friend, Lorenzo de' Medici, who found it to be encrypted. The letter was then given to Uberto Alberti, who deciphered it with the help of Antonio Maffei, though they kept the contents to themselves. The two then proposed to have Giovanni deliver a duplicate letter to expose the man behind the assassination of Galeazzo Sforza, the Duke of Milan.

Giovanni traveled to Rome, where he posed as the original courier, and witnessed the letter switching hands until it came to those of Rodrigo Borgia, who delivered the letter to Pope Sixtus IV. The Pope was worried about the Medici family not respecting him, so Rodrigo played on these feelings to gain "spiritual support and military aid." Subsequently, he made his way to an abandoned church, where Giovanni confronted him. Rodrigo offered him a place in the Templar organization, claiming that they would win the war that hadn't even begun yet, but Giovanni declined the offer and was forced to fend off a number of guards, leaving him wounded and with a broken Hidden Blade.

Auditore execution

Later that year, Francesco de' Pazzi was arrested for his involvement in the plot against the Duke of Milan, and Giovanni Auditore started to prepare for the trial against him. However, he and two of his sons, Federico and Petruccio, were taken away by guards before the trial could start.

After Giovanni's third son had returned from an errand and found his home in disarray, as well having the housemaid Annetta mistake him for a guard and initiate an attack, Ezio Auditore went to the Palazzo della Signoria once he had told Annetta to take his mother and sister to safety.

Making his way to the jail in which his father was being held prisoner, Ezio climbed to the upper levels to speak to him through the bars in the window of his cell. Giovanni told Ezio to hurry to his office and look for a hidden passage, before opening the chest that was there and taking everything that was in it. Complying to his father's orders, Ezio discovered that the chest contained a set of robes, a sword, a broken blade and bracer and a letter addressed to Uberto Alberti, to which Ezio promptly delivered.

File:Assassins creed 2 222785.jpg

The Auditore execution.

The next day, the trial was held at the Piazza della Signoria, and Uberto sentenced the three men to death, claiming to have no knowledge of any documents. Ezio attempted to attack Uberto for his blatant lies, but he was stopped and disarmed by the guards.

Returning home, Ezio found Annetta, who told him the location of where his mother and sister were being kept safe, discovering the place to be that of a brothel, where Paola, Annetta's sister, was looking after them. Deciding to keep the truth from them a little longer, Ezio began training under Paola, who taught him to blend and steal, so that he could take his revenge on Alberti, as well as possess some of the skills he would need to survive. On Paola's encouragement, he also had Leonardo da Vinci repair his father's Hidden Blade for him, as he had lost his sword at the execution of his family.

Death of the Gonfaloniere

Shortly after the Auditore execution, Uberto Alberti attended an art display by Verrocchio in the Santa Croce. Using this as a chance to assassinate the Gonfaloniere, Ezio stabbed him multiple times, and made a public declaration that the Auditore were still alive and their legacy lived through him.

File:Uberto2.jpg

Ezio stabbing Uberto.

Immediately after this event, the remaining members of the Auditore family left the city, as Ezio was now the most wanted man in Florence. Traveling to Monteriggioni, the three Auditore members encountered Vieri de' Pazzi, a long-time rival of Ezio, along with his men. However, the ambushers were quickly defeated with the help of Ezio's uncle, Mario Auditore, and of his mercenaries, who came to back up his nephew.

From that point, Ezio was trained in Monteriggioni for a few months, receiving lessons from his uncle in order to become a true Assassin. Once Mario declared Ezio's training to be finished, the latter decided to leave Italy, causing Mario to angrily ride to San Gimignano to deal with Vieri on his own.

However, feeling guilty for the troubles he had placed upon his uncle, Ezio followed him, and the assault on San Gimignano resulted in the death of Vieri de' Pazzi and most of his mercenaries by the hands of the Assassins. The Assassins also learned that something was on the verge of occurring in Florence, as they overheard a conversation between Rodrigo Borgia and Jacopo, Francesco and Vieri de' Pazzi.

Pazzi conspiracy

With the help of Leonardo da Vinci and the mysterious thief La Volpe, Ezio managed to eavesdrop on a secret Templar meeting underneath the Santa Maria Novella church, where he discovered they were planning to kill Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother, Giuliano de' Medici, at High Mass.

The Pazzi Conspiracy.

The next day, the attack on the Medici occurred at the Duomo. Lorenzo and Giuliano arrived, as well as Francesco de' Pazzi and one of his co-conspirators, Bernardo Baroncelli. Taking the Medici by surprise, however, the Templars attacked Giuliano, while two of the priests attacked Lorenzo. Arriving slightly late, Ezio managed to save Lorenzo, who was heavily wounded, though he unable to rescue Giuliano as he died from the multiple stab wounds inflicted upon him.

Immediately after the attack, Florence was set in chaos, with Medici guards fighting off the attacking Pazzi guards. After returning Lorenzo to his home, Ezio made his way to the Palazzo della Signoria, where he managed to assassinate Francesco after a short chase across the rooftops.

While the crowds were cheering to the Pazzi conspirators, being rallied by Jacopo de' Pazzi, Francesco's body was thrown from the roof of the Palazzo della Signoria, causing the other conspirators to flee the city because of their failed attempt to seize power.

The fleeing conspirators, who were Antonio Maffei, Bernardo Baroncelli, Francesco Salviati and Stefano da Bagnone, were all later hunted down by Ezio in the Tuscan town of San Gimignano, before they could attend the next Templar meeting. Jacopo de' Pazzi was the only one to arrive before Rodrigo Borgia and Emilio Barbarigo in the ancient Roman theater, situated just outside the city walls.

At the meeting, Rodrigo and Emilio stabbed Jacopo for not having kept his promises, before directing their attention to Ezio – who had infiltrated the meeting – and sending the guards to deal with him. After defending himself from their attacks while Rodrigo and Emilio left, Ezio approached Jacopo's weak and suffering body and finished him off with the Hidden Blade, showing him a final mercy. He then returned to Florence to report his progress and seek out his friend Leonardo, though he was told that he had situated to Venice.

Jacopo being stabbed.

The two men met each other close to the Appennine Mountains, where Leonardo's carriage had broken down and the inventor was struggling to fix it. Once Ezio repaired the wheel and commented on Leonardo's prototype, they continued their journey together, only to be ambushed by Borgia guards. The attack failed and both men managed to make it to Forlì, a city in Romagna from where the ship to Venice departed. After having saved Caterina Sforza, the duchess of Forlì, from an island she was stranded on, the grateful Caterina saw that Ezio was allowed entrance to the ship, allowing the two to set off to Venice.

Hunt in Venice

In 1480, a group of thieves tried to assault the Palazzo della Seta, where Emilio Barbarigo lived. Ultimately, their attempt failed and one of the thieves, Rosa, was crippled by an arrow to the leg. Ezio Auditore helped to get her back to the Thieves Guild, through protecting the gondola she was carried on from guards, and met the Guild's leader Antonio de Magianis.

Ezio assassinating Emilio.

In 1485, the thieves worked with Ezio, where together they managed to infiltrate the Palazzo. There, he overheard Emilio speaking with Carlo Grimaldi, a government official. Soon after the two men parted, Ezio assassinated Emilio and opened the Palazzo doors to let the thieves in, and from then on, the thieves would use the Palazzo della Seta as their main hideout.

Sometime after the death of Emilio Barbarigo, a Templar meeting was held. Carlo Grimaldi, Silvio Barbarigo, Marco Barbarigo and Dante Moro discussed who would become the new Doge of Venice, and Rodrigo Borgia soon joined them. It was then decided that Giovanni Mocenigo, the current Doge, would be poisoned by Carlo Grimaldi through the use of cantarella. After that, Marco Barbarigo would be elected as the new Doge.

Ezio and Antonio called upon the help of Leonardo da Vinci to gain entry into the Palazzo Ducale, by using his prototype Flying Machine. While the first attempt to pilot the machine failed somewhat, the plan worked with the inclusion of one detail, as the thieves set fires around the city to provide the updraft the Flying Machine needed. Sneaking into the Ducale from the roof, Ezio unfortunately arrived too late to save Mocenigo, however, he did manage to assassinate Carlo Grimaldi.

Soon after this, Marco Barbarigo was elected Doge and the festival of Carnevale arrived in Venice. Marco hosted a party for the occasion, which was infiltrated by Ezio Auditore, who planned to assassinate him. With the help of a Golden Mask, his newly crafted Hidden Gun and the nun-courtesan Teodora Contanto, Ezio managed to assassinate the Templar Doge.

Ezio warning Mocenigo of the poison.

Not long after that, Ezio met with Antonio once more, who then introduced him to Agostino Barbarigo. As Agostino would soon become the new Doge, he promised Ezio that he would not serve the Borgia, before Ezio told them about his plans to assassinate Silvio Barbarigo as well, to which Antonio directed him to Bartolomeo d'Alviano, a mercenary leader in the Arsenale District. Once he arrived, he found Bartolomeo imprisoned by Silvio's thugs and managed to free him, with the two of them starting the preparations for their assault on the Arsenal afterwards.

During the attack, Bartolomeo fought against Dante, until Silvio ordered him to return to him, as their ship was about to leave. Giving chase, Ezio managed to catch up to them and assassinate both Silvio and Dante before they reached their ship with his dual Hidden Blades, after which Dante told him that the ship was to sail to Cyprus with his last dying breath.

In 1488, Ezio learned from the thief Rosa that the ship would return from Cyprus soon, as she had acquired the ship's records and given them to him as a "birthday gift". He finally realized that the Templars had plotted something large, something that had to do with the Codex and the Vault, as he walked with his friend Leonardo da Vinci. He spied on the ship's return and decided to take the place of a Templar courier, once he discovered that the Apple of Eden would be brought from the ship to Rodrigo Borgia, who was also in Venice.

Ezio and Rodrigo.

Eventually confronting Rodrigo, who spoke of a "Prophet", Ezio sarcastically told him that no one had shown up to meet his claims. Rodrigo then declared that he was the Prophet, to which Ezio attacked him, after having grown tired of his words. Suddenly, Mario Auditore, La Volpe, Antonio de Magianis and Bartolomeo d'Alviano arrived and started fighting the wave of guards that were called in by the Templar Grand Master.

After some time, Rodrigo eventually managed to escape, though he was forced to leave the Apple behind. While Ezio wanted to give chase, he was stopped by Paola and Teodora, with Niccolò Machiavelli making his presence known, explaining to Ezio about the Assassin Order, and how all of them were members of it. From that night onward, Ezio was officially inducted into the Order, sealing his initiation with a Leap of Faith.

Battle of Forlì

Later that same year, Ezio and Machiavelli traveled back to Forlì, where they planned to keep the Apple safe. They met up with Caterina Sforza, an ally of the Assassins, and she assured them that the Apple would be safe in the Rocca di Ravaldino. As they reached the town, they noticed it was under attack by the mercenaries Checco and Ludovico Orsi, who had been hired by the Borgia to find the Apple of Eden.

The Orsi threatening Caterina and Ezio.

Fighting their way through the city until they had reined it under their control once more, Caterina Sforza soon discovered that two of her children had been taken by the Orsi brothers, who were willing to barter their safety for the Apple. On Caterina's request, Ezio was sent out to liberate the children, while Machiavelli and her kept the citadel secure.

Ezio quickly managed to locate and save Bianca and Ottaviano Riario, additionally killing Ludovico in the process. When he returned to the city however, Ezio found that Checco had managed to obtain the Apple from Caterina and Machiavelli and had taken off with it, prompting him to give chase. When he caught up with Checco and killed him as well, he was wounded in the process, due to being stabbed in the abdomen by the dying Checco. Just before passing out, Ezio saw a monk with a missing finger take the Apple from him and set off with it.

Once he had recovered from his wounds, he sought out Darby O'Callahan, hoping that he could reveal the identity of the mysterious monk. Ezio was then directed back to Florence, suspecting the mysterious monk to be Girolamo Savonarola.

Bonfire of the Vanities

Delayed by his travels to Spain to thwart the Templars there, Ezio Auditore did not return to Florence until 1497. When he arrived in the city where he was born, he discovered that it had changed considerably, since Girolamo Savonarola had taken control over Florence with the use of the Apple. During this time, the monk had turned the city into a place where art and wealth was forbidden, in an effort to revert it back to medieval times.

Savonarola being tied to the stake.

Meeting up with Machiavelli, the two Assassins came up with a plan to break Savonarola's power, by deciding that they would take down his nine lieutenants in order to free the people from his tyranny. Meanwhile, it was La Volpe and Paola's responsibility to rally up the citizens to stand against Savonarola.

When the angry crowds surrounded the Palazzo Pitti, Savonarola attempted to control their minds with the Apple of Eden, in order to quell their protests, however, Ezio threw a knife at his hand, causing him to drop the artifact and be lifted away by the mob that formed. Immediately after that, Ezio chased down a Borgia guard who had taken off with the Apple as it had been dropped, managing to retrieve the artifact through the guard's subsequent assassination.

After the death of his lieutenants, Savonarola too was assassinated by Ezio, though the mob had planned to burn him at the stake, even though the Assassin deemed it too harsh of a way to die. Ezio then spoke to the citizens directly, telling them they were free to do as they desired without obeying any particular ruler from that point.

Confrontation in the Vatican

Immediately after the retrieval of the Apple, an Assassin meeting was held in the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, where the Apple was used to reveal the location of the Vault, which was underneath the Vatican. The Assassins decided to travel to Rome and cause a distraction, so that Ezio could infiltrate the Cappella Sistina and enter the Vault, mainly undeterred.

Ezio confronting Rodrigo.

In a confrontation between the two, Ezio Auditore and Rodrigo Borgia faced off against each other in the Sistine Chapel, with both of them possessing a Piece of Eden, with Rodrigo's artifact being the Papal Staff. After the fight, Rodrigo managed to take Ezio's Apple of Eden and attempted to enter the Vault.

However, Rodrigo couldn't open the Vault, and Ezio revealed to him that he had never been the Prophet at all. The two of them then entered into a fistfight and Ezio, being victorious, entered the Vault where he discovered a message from Minerva. Once Minerva had given her warning to a figure known as Desmond and disappeared afterwards, Ezio made his way out of the Vault and attempted to retrieve the Papal Staff, before meeting up with his uncle Mario, who helped him to escape the Vatican. Together, they traveled back to Monteriggioni.

Fall of Monteriggioni

The day after the arrival of Ezio and Mario in Monteriggioni, the town was besieged by Borgia forces under the command of Cesare Borgia. The attack was fierce and the Borgia heavily outnumbered Monteriggioni's mercenaries, resulting in them taking the town without too much effort.

Monteriggioni besieged.

As a result, the attack on Monteriggioni culminated in the death of Mario Auditore and the imprisonment of Caterina Sforza, who had also been in the town, along with other Assassins that had met with Ezio to discuss the events at the Sistine Chapel the day before. Ezio, Maria and Claudia Auditore managed to escape through a secret passage in the Sanctuary beneath the Villa Auditore, along with most of the citizens. From there, Ezio immediately traveled to Rome, knowing that the city was where the Borgia were based, and was therefore the base of the Templars' power.

From that moment onwards, Monteriggioni became an abandoned and ruined town, without any of the status it had when it was still ruled by the Auditore family.

Liberation of Rome

Immediately after the attack on Monteriggioni, Ezio met up with Machiavelli in Rome and the two discussed about how to liberate it from the Borgia's control. Seeing a Borgia Tower nearby, which they had constructed around the city, Ezio killed its Captain by throwing him into to some scaffolding and burned the tower from the top to the ground, sending a signal to the citizens, as well as to the Borgia.

A burning Borgia Tower.

The Assassins then focused on rebuilding Rome's underground factions, which were the La Volpe Addormentata, the Rosa in Fiore and the Caserma di Alviano. By doing this, they enforced the Assassins Guild with allies and met up with old friends and fellow Assassins, such as La Volpe and Bartolomeo d'Alviano, and Maria and Claudia Auditore, who took control over the Rosa in Fiore instead of returning to Florence.

The next important action in the liberation of Rome was Ezio's infiltration of the Castel Sant'Angelo, where the Borgia had imprisoned Caterina Sforza. Both Rodrigo Borgia and his son Cesare were away from the Castel, leaving Ezio with no chance to assassinate them, though he did confront Lucrezia Borgia in order to free Caterina Sforza.

After returning to the Tiber Island headquarters with the Duchess, Ezio hunted down several Templar agents in and around the city.

From that moment on, the Assassins began to thwart the Borgia's plans much more than before, having decided to break Cesare's power while he was away from Rome. Starting off by seeking out the senator Egidio Troche, who complained frequently in the Rosa in Fiore about his financial problems, the Assassins enlisted his help in finding the Banker, who was a mysterious man that supplied Cesare with the money he needed for his conquests.

Cesare's arrest.

The Assassins soon discovered the Banker to be Juan Borgia the Elder, a cousin of Cesare Borgia himself, and managed to assassinate him during one of his parties. Soon after that, Ezio made his way to Bartolomeo d'Alviano, where he discovered that his wife, Pantasilea Baglioni, had been imprisoned by the French general Octavian de Valois.

Using several French sets of armor, the Assassins and several mercenaries managed to enter the French camp, Castra Praetoria, with Ezio managing to kill Octavian with a bullet from his Hidden Gun, freeing Pantasilea and chipping away at more of Cesare's influence.

From there, after he had recovered the key to the Castel Sant'Angelo from Lucrezia's lover, Pietro Rossi, Ezio once again infiltrated the building. Once he reached its top, he witnessed how Cesare murdered his father after the latter had attempted to poison him with an apple laced with cantarella. Once threats had been made against her and her feelings shattered by Cesare, Lucrezia then told Ezio where the Apple of Eden had been hidden, to which he managed to recover it before Cesare could do so.

The Assassins then used the Apple's power to break Cesare's hold over Rome, and Cesare was eventually imprisoned by the new Pope, Julius II, being locked up in the Castel Sant'Angelo. However, after a failed escape attempt, he was transferred to the Castillo de la Mota in Spain.

Battle of Agnadello

In 1509, the French army and the Venetian army were involved in a clash in the fields of Agnadello. The military conflict was a great failure for Venice, who lost more than 4000 men in the battle. Despite this, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, one of the commanders of the Venetian army, managed to put up a good fight against the French.

Modern times

During the early 21st century, Abstergo Industries – a front company for the Templar Order – had a presence in Italy, whilst the Assassins continued to maintain a presence of their own, following the betrayal and assimilation of the ex-Assassin Daniel Cross to their enemy. In 2012, Abstergo held Desmond Miles, an Assassin, hostage and used him as Subject 17 for their Animus Project, having him relive the memories of one of his ancestors, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

File:Escape3.jpg

Desmond and Lucy making their way through Abstergo Industries.

Lucy Stillman, who appeared to him as an undercover Assassin, managed to free him and the two escaped to the Hideout, where they met up with Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings, with Desmond beginning to relive the memories of Ezio Auditore. When their safehouse was compromised and Abstergo came to take Lucy and Desmond back, they made their way to Monteriggioni, where they found shelter in the Sanctuary beneath the Villa Auditore.

Once Desmond had discovered where Ezio had hidden the Apple of Eden, the Assassins made their way to the Santa Maria in Aracoeli, where they discovered the temple of Juno. After activating a series of free-running obstacles, Lucy was unwillingly killed by Desmond after Juno forced control over him through the Apple, eliminating the woman who was secretly a Templar mole.