Uberto Alberti

Uberto Alberti (1416 – 1476) was the Gonfaloniere of Firenze, a former family friend of the Auditore's, and Lorenzo de' Medici's ally before the arrest and execution of Giovanni, Federico, Petruccio by order of Rodrigo Borgia. He was also Ezio's first assassination target. He is also considered one of the greatest lawyers in the Italian Renaissance.

Biography

Templar affiliation

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Uberto with Giovanni and Lorenzo.

Uberto aided both Giovanni and Lorenzo by giving them advice, additionally he was involved in a interrogation of one of Rodrigo Borgia's men regarding the preplanned assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, which they sucessfully extorted information from the prison. Later when Giovanni discovers possible evidence of the Templars' plans, Uberto disposes of it, revealing his true allegiance to the Templar's cause.

The Execution

"In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, I am bound to pronounce you guilty. You and your collaborators, I here by sentence to death."

― Uberto to Giovanni

Ezio meets Uberto in Giovanni's office conversing about something urgent, though Ezio is dismissed by his father before he can understand what they were talking about. Soon, Giovanni sends Ezio with a letter containing evidence that he must give to Uberto. Ezio does as his father asks, swiftly making it to Uberto's house (where Rodrigo currently was).

File:Uberto Alberti.png

Uberto in Florence.

Uberto immediately knows what's in the envelope and asks Ezio if he would like to stay at his house, though Ezio declines; a decision that most likely saves his life. Soon after receiving the letter, Uberto warrants the arrest of Giovanni, Federico, Petruccio and Ezio (though he escapes because of his errands) on the crimes of treason. On the day of the execution, Giovanni reminds Uberto of the evidence given to him by Ezio that proves his family innocent, but much to his surprise, Uberto claims that he doesn't know what he is talking about, before sentencing the three to death.

At the sight of their deaths, Ezio runs up to the stage, claiming that he will kill Uberto for what he has done, but a Brute guard disarms Ezio before he is able to get close enough. Escaping the guards, Ezio meets up with Annetta, who directs him to go to her sisters house. Once there, Annetta's sister, Paola, taught Ezio the skills necessary to assassinate Uberto.

Death

After a few days of training Ezio, Paola tracks down Uberto for Ezio's vengeance. Ezio follows Alberti to the Santa Croce cloister, where he is attending an art exhibition of Verrochio.

He is seen speaking with Lorenzo de' Medici about the executions, and subsequently insults Lorenzo. After Ezio dispatches the guards watching the courtyard of the Santa Croce, he sees Uberto speaking with various attending nobles, who are congratulating him for the executions. Afterwards, he sees Ezio approaching, but before he can call the guards, Ezio brutally kills Uberto with his hidden blade, stabbing him several times in the chest. Avenging his father and brothers, Ezio proclaims to everyone in the courtyard that the Auditore are not dead.

Letter to Uberto's wife

After Ezio kills Alberti, he finds an undelivered letter to his wife in the man's wallet:

My love,

I put these thoughts to paper in the hope that I might one day have the courage to share them with you. In time, you'll no doubt learn that I betrayed Giovanni, labeled him a traitor and sentenced him to die.

History will likely judge this to have been a matter of politics and greed. Know that it was not hate that forced my hand, but fear. When the Medici robbed us of all we owned, I found myself afraid. For you. For our son. For the future. What hope in this world for a man without proper means?

They offered me money, land and title in exchange for my collaboration. And so, this is how I came to betray my closest friend. However unspeakable the act, it seemed necessary at the time. And even now, looking back, I see no other way...

Final words

Uberto: You...

(Uberto is stabbed in the chest several times. The memory corridor is shown.)

Uberto: You would have done the same, to save the ones you love...

Ezio: Yes... I would. And I have!

Trivia

• Uberto saved the Templars from many close calls by destroying evidence of their conspiracy, and hindering their enemies' progress.
• It should be noted that Ezio assassinates Alberti in a rather "sloppy" manner, considering that he does so by stabbing him with the hidden blade five times on the chest, rather than plunging the blade into his target's throat in the traditional assassination technique. Of course, this could be easily explained and understandable to most, since it is Ezio's first time tracking down an assassination target, and he has not yet been extensively trained. He may also be simply venting his fury on the man who destroyed his family.
• According to the Animus database's filter, Uberto is not a Templar (despite plotting with them). However, when viewing the portraits of Ezio's victims in his room in the Villa Auditore, Uberto's portrait says that he is a Templar.
• It should be noted that, just as Uberto says "I see no other way" in his letter, Ezio sometimes uses the phrase when he assassinates other targets.
• If you watch carefully at the end of his database video, it shows four ropes on the gallows (instead of the three shown in the game), probably because the extra one was meant for Ezio.
• If left alive for a few moments after he has seen Ezio, he will call for the guards to arrest him.

Videos

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