Uberto Alberti

Uberto Alberti (1416 – 1476) was an ally of the Templar Order and the Gonfaloniere of Florence, as well as being a former ally of Lorenzo de' Medici and friend of the Auditore family.

Uberto was close friends with Giovanni Auditore da Firenze before the arrest and execution of Giovanni and his family by order of Templar Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia.

Biography

Early life and Templar affiliation

"According to the history books, this man was a saint."

―Shaun Hastings, regarding Uberto Alberti.

Uberto Alberti lived in Florence for most of his life, and was a well-known and respected lawyer. A majority of the prosecutions he made were won, despite his legal skills being entirely self-taught. During his time as a lawyer, the Medici bank evicted his family, which made him thirst for revenge against the Medici. It was there that he came in contact with the Templars, who promised to give him what he desired in exchange for his cooperation. Uberto agreed to cooperate, and conspired with them after his election in the Signoria, and making ties with the Medici.

Working with the Medici

Uberto advised both Giovanni and Lorenzo on certain matters, and was involved in an interrogation of one of Rodrigo Borgia's men regarding the preplanned assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza. He was put in charge of decoding a letter Giovanni had intercepted in Venice, though after it was deciphered by Antonio Maffei, Uberto disposed of it as part of his agreement. Uberto then had a copy of the letter, in its pre-deciphered state, made. He would then give the letter to Giovanni and have him deliver it to Rome in hopes of following the conspirator's trail.

After the near escape of Rodrigo Borgia from Giovanni in Rome, Uberto was among those called to a meeting held by the Spaniard. Taking part in the meeting along with the other Templars, Uberto was informed that Giovanni had to be disposed of in order for their plans to succeed.

Auditore execution

"In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, I am bound to pronounce you guilty."

―Uberto to Giovanni

Ezio Auditore met Uberto in Giovanni's office, and though the two were conversing about something urgent, Ezio was dismissed by his father before he could understand their discussion. Soon after, Giovanni sent Ezio to deliver a letter containing compelling evidence to Uberto. Ezio did as his father asked, and swiftly made his way to Uberto's house.

Uberto (left) at the execution.

Uberto immediately knew what was in the envelope, and asked Ezio if he would like to stay at his house, though Ezio declined. Moments before Ezio left, he caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure, who was in fact Rodrigo Borgia; the man behind the events that were yet to come. Soon after receiving the letter, Uberto warranted the arrest of Giovanni, Federico, Petruccio, and Ezio for the crime of treason. However, on the day of the execution, Giovanni reminded Uberto of the evidence given to him by Ezio that proved his family innocent, but Uberto claimed that he had no recollection of such evidence, before sentencing the three to death.

At the sight of their deaths, Ezio ran towards the stage, claiming that he would kill Uberto for what he had done, but a brute guard disarmed him before he was able to get close enough. After escaping the guards, Ezio met up with Annetta, who directed him to go to her sister's house, near the Duomo. Once there, Annetta's sister, Paola, taught Ezio the skills necessary to assassinate Uberto.

Death

After a few days of training Ezio, Paola tracked down Uberto so that Ezio's act of vengeance could take place. Ezio followed Uberto to the Santa Croce cloister, where he was attending an art exhibition of Verrocchio.

Uberto was speaking with Lorenzo de' Medici about the executions, and subsequently insulted Lorenzo on his way to the exhibition. After Ezio dispatched the guards patrolling the courtyard of Santa Croce, Uberto spoke with various attending nobles, who lauded him for the executions. Afterwards, Uberto noticed Ezio approaching, but was too shocked to call the guards. Ezio brutally killed Uberto with his hidden blade, stabbing him multiple times in the chest. Avenging his father and brothers, Ezio proclaimed to everyone in attendance that the Auditore were not dead, and that he was still alive.

Personality and characteristics

File:Uberto Alberti.png

Uberto in Florence.

Uberto was confident in himself and his new power once becoming an ally of the Templars. Even so, all of Uberto's actions were forced upon him by Rodrigo Borgia, who manipulated Uberto to help the Templar Order. He carried out any of Rodrigo's demands, never defying him even when asked to execute his close friend's family. Uberto kept his true allegiances to himself, never sharing it with the family he loved and cared for.

Letter to Uberto's wife

After Ezio killed Uberto, he found an undelivered letter to Uberto's wife in his wallet. Written there was:

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's last moments.

• Uberto: You would have done the same, to save the ones you love...
• Ezio: Yes... I would. And I have!

Trivia

• According to the Animus database, Uberto was not a Templar. However, when viewing the portraits of Ezio's victims in his room in the Villa Auditore, Uberto's portrait depicts otherwise.
• If you watch carefully at the end of his database video, it shows four ropes hung on the gallows in front of the Palazzo della Signoria, instead of the three shown in-game.
• If Uberto is left alive for a few moments after he has seen Ezio, he will eventually break out of shock and call for the guards to arrest him.

Gallery

• 
  Uberto in Lineage.
• 
  Uberto with Father Maffei.
• 
  Uberto reads the courier's letter.
• 
  Uberto with Giovanni and Lorenzo.
• 
  Uberto meets Ezio.
• 
  Uberto with Rodrigo Borgia.
• 
  Uberto arguing with Lorenzo moments before his death.
• Uberto's demise.
  Uberto's demise.