William of Montferrat

"We'll see how sweet they are, the fruits of your labors. You do not free the cities as you believe, but rather damn them. And in the end, you'll have only yourself to blame. You, who speak of good intentions."

―William of Montferrat in his final moments, 1191.

Guglielmo V Aleramici, Marchese del Monferrato (1115 – 1191), often anglicized as William of Montferrat, was the 7th Marquess of Montferrat, a Crusader in the army of King Richard I of England, and a member of the Levantine Templars.

Following Acre's conquest, Montferrat became the regent of the city, and as a result of Al Mualim's plan to free the Kingdom of conflict, he became the fifth target of the Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad.

Biography

Regent of Acre

"Conrad? My son is an arse, unfit to lead his host, let along, a kingdom. And Richard, the enseignant (teacher), is no better, blinded as his is by faith in the insubstantial. Acre does not belong to either of them. The city belongs to its people."

―William of Montferrat, 1191.

At some point during his life, William aligned himself with the Templar Order and became involved in Robert de Sablé's plot to usurp control of the Holy Land from both the warring Christians and Saracens. To this end, William became involved in Robert's plan to obtain the fabled Apple of Eden. As part of the Templars' plan, he was given soldiers to train; these "soldiers" were actually slaves kidnapped by Talal, brainwashed by Garnier de Naplouse, and armed with weapons given to them by Tamir. At the same time, Abu'l Nuqoud financed the cause by stealing money from wealthy merchants and nobles.

In the aftermath of the fall of Acre, William was appointed as the city's regent by King Richard the Lionheart. Though this was ostensibly a show of trust by Richard, the Assassin Rafiq Jabal deduced that it was in fact a way to keep William a hostage to deter any act of rebellion by his son Conrad. Since Conrad vied for the kingship of Jerusalem against Guy of Lusignan, a vassal of Richard, Richard bore much enmity for him. Contrary to popular belief, William himself held little respect for his son, yet his relationship with the king was stained with mutual distrust. It became a frequent habit of William to take his frustration out on his soldiers after being scolded by the king.

On 20 August 1191, believing that this would instill fear on the Saracens, William authorized the execution of 3,000 Saracen prisoners whom King Richard had planned to trade for Christians likewise captured by Saladin. However, for this deed, William was publicly denounced by the King of England, who rightly predicted that it would strengthen the enemy's resolve instead.

Hunted by the Assassins

Jabal: "Richard and Conrad do not see eye to eye on most matters. Though they are civil enough in public, there are whispers that each intends evil upon the other. And then, there was that business with Acre's captured Saracens. In its wake, Conrad has returned to Tyre, and Richard has compelled William to remain here as his guest."

Altaïr: "You mean his hostage."

Jabal: "Whatever you wish to call it. William's presence here should dissuade Conrad from acting out."

—Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Jabal discussing William, 1191.

Erstwhile, William's membership in Robert's scheme became known to the Assassins of Masyaf—sworn enemies of the Knights Templar—and so he was chosen to be eliminated. On the orders of Al Mualim, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad arrived in Acre to begin his investigation into William's life, and he soon discovered that William was withholding food and money from the citizens. Alongside this, the Assassin learned of the ever-growing divide between Richard I and his regent.

Unbeknownst to Altaïr, William had caught wind of his investigation and, realizing he was the Assassin's next target, laid a trap for him. However, his plan to ambush Altaïr was foiled by a team of Levantine Assassins sent by Al Mualim to ensure Altaïr would succeed in his task. These Assassins killed William's bodyguard Isembart, and eliminated Templar and Crusader patrols across Acre, forcing William to take refuge in the Acre Citadel, where he mistakenly believed he would be safe.

King Richard scolding William

After gathering enough intel, Altaïr made his way to the front of the citadel, where he witnessed Richard and William's argument over the Saracen executions. During this conversation, William complained that the King had judged him too quickly, and that he did not trust him enough. Outraged, King Richard responded that he had left William as Acre's regent, an honor which should not have been underestimated. With this, William railed that the king had missed his point entirely, but Richard abruptly ended their quarrel, finding it a waste of time in the face of a war.

Angered by the shame of being publicly reprimanded, William returned to the citadel, where he took his temper out on his men as usual. In a corner of the keep, William began to berate his soldiers, accusing them all of dereliction of duties, and intending to motivate them towards greater discipline and diligence. He ordered that from that day forth, their training would double in intensity, even at the cost of rest and nourishment. To enforce his point, he brought forth two men who had been neglectful of their duties while on patrol, then had their throats slit to serve as an example to the rest.

Death

"Everything I did, I did to prepare them for the New World. Stole their food, no. I took possession so that when the lean times came, it might be rationed properly. Look around, my district is without crime, save those committed by you and your ilk. And as for the conscription, they were not being trained to fight. They were being taught the merits of order and discipline. These things are hardly evil."

―William's final words to Altaïr, 1191.

Altaïr, who had followed William into the fortress, silently and skillfully eliminated the archers around the fortifications' perimeter. When William concluded his latest lecture, his forces left, and he began to look through his papers. It was during this time that Altaïr leapt down and assassinated William with his Hidden Blade.

Altaïr assassinating William

As William laid mortally injured, Altaïr remarked that he knew William plotted to murder King Richard to give the city to his son Conrad—a claim that William caustically denied. Much to the Assassin's shock, William countered that he felt Acre neither belonged to Richard nor his son, but rather to its people. He asserted that he had only been upholding order, and that he had not been stealing resources from the citizens, but was simply stockpiling them to be distributed efficiently in times of hardship.

Even so, Altaïr insisted that William's deeds were nothing but cruel, to which William used his dying words to accuse his killer of condemning cities to adversity rather than saving them. Before Altaïr could argue any further, William perished, and the Assassin made his escape from the fortress.

Personality and traits

"I see the way you train. You lack conviction and focus. You gossip and gamble. Tasks set to you are left unfulfilled, or poorly performed. This ends today! I will not suffer further degradation at his hands! For whether or not you see it, and you should, this is your fault! You've brought shame upon us all! Skill and dedication are what won us Acre, and they will be required to keep it! I have been too lenient it seems, but no more! You will train harder and more often! If this means missing meals, missing sleep, so be it! And should you fail in these tasks, you will learn the true meaning of discipline."

―William addressing his men, 1191.

Although not a giant of a man, William of Montferrat was nevertheless set in the belief that might makes right, and he spent countless hours training and berating his men, to prepare them for the "coming war." Oddly enough, few of his soldiers had actually joined King Richard's march to the Arsuf plains, leading people to wonder about what "war" he spoke about. ^{[citation needed]}

As a strict taskmaster and disciplinarian, William constantly demanded perfection from his men, and was both quick to point out flaws and reluctant to give praise. He was often witnessed shouting, and rarely seemed happy. Later, when two of his soldiers were caught whoring and drinking while on duty, he killed them as an example for the rest of his men.

Behind the scenes

William of Montferrat is a historical character in Assassin's Creed, which he was voiced by Canadian actor Harry Standjofski.

Trivia

• The choice of William as a target for Altaïr was inspired by the fact that, historically, his son Conrad, King of Jerusalem, was actually murdered by the Assassins in Acre in 1192. In reality, William was an elderly man during the events of the Third Crusade and he was called William the Old to distinguish himself from his other son, William Longsword.
  • Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond revealed ^{[citation needed]} that they had originally planned to have Conrad of Montferrat in the game. Their research indicated that he was not killed in 1191, but Conrad's father William was located in Acre in the same period. In order to maintain some historical accuracy in the project, William was inserted into the game in his stead.
• During the argument between Richard and William, the king blames William for the execution of Saracen prisoners, referring to the event known as the Massacre at Ayyadieh. Quite ironically however, historically it was Richard who had ordered the act.
• The apparition of William conjured by Al Mualim during Al Mualim's fight with Altaïr sometimes shouts orders to his men that they should lure Altaïr to nearby archers.
• A glitch can occur in Assassin's Creed if William pursued Altaïr to the upper walls of citadel. From there, it would be possible to climb on top of the battlements and push him off into the sea below. A message would then announce the failure of the mission since the target had "escaped."
• In the mobile version of Assassin's Creed, William is the second target of Altaïr. Unlike in the console version, he is air assassinated by Altaïr while riding on a horse alongside his lancers, and the Assassin then proceeds to hijack his galloping horse to escape.
• In Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade, William is called William de Montferrat and falsely implied to be French like Conrad, who is also misidentified as William's brother rather than his son.

Gallery

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  Altaïr observing William and Richard from the crowd
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  William talking to one of his guards
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  William with his men inside the Citadel
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  William's final moments
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  William's assassination in Assassin's Creed: Rebellion

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion – The Eagle's Shadow