Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment, also known as the Enlightenment for short or the Age of Reason, was an intellectual movement in Europe that spanned throughout the 18th century. It promoted many revolutionary ideas at the time that commonly espoused rationality as the primary source of authority, dramatically shifting European culture towards the ideals of natural rights, liberty, constitutional government, and scientific advancement. In this light, it echoed the Renaissance, the cultural movement that preceded it centuries earlier.

The movement's widespread popularity in Europe served as a major catalyst for calls for democracy, culminating in waves of republican revolutions that overturned the feudal, monarchic regimes of the past.

History

Origins

The Renaissance period lasted from the 15th to the early 17th century and popularized ideas such as humanism, individualism, and the recovery of values of Classical antiquity. These beliefs greatly influenced the way European society evolved in the following centuries.

Scientific Revolution

In the 17th century, the Templars in Europe wanted to forget the "Dark Age of the Order" when the Borgia ruled over the Templars and corrupted their goals into pursuing power by any means, forgetting their original purpose. After the fall of the Borgia, the Templars rethought their role as advisors to the rulers and no more as rulers themselves. To achieve this, they used and influenced the works of intellectuals such as Isaac Newton, Baruch Spinoza, and Francis Bacon to make philosophy, science, and rationalism flourish in society to advance their goals. This period saw the scientific revolution and the beginning of empiricism and liberalism.

Great Britain

Main article: English Civil War

The crowning of Charles II

In 1642, the English Civil War broke out between King Charles I and the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell. In 1648, Charles I was defeated and executed by the parliamentarians, leading to the establishment of the Commonwealth, with Cromwell as its Lord Protector. Charles II, son of Charles I, continued the fight but was forced to exile himself in Europe. There, he received letters from an organization which helped him to recover the throne with the support of General George Monck. In 1660, after the death of Cromwell, Charles returned to England and was crowned in Westminster Abbey. The monarchy was thus restored in Great Britain.

In 1689, the political philosopher John Locke wrote the Two Treatises of Government which initiated the liberalism philosophy. His work was influenced by the Templars.

During the 18th century, the Scottish economist Adam Smith developed the concept of "invisible hand" within the classical liberalism movement. The Templars were influenced by his work.

West Indies

Main article: Golden Age of Piracy

Pirates meeting in Nassau

At the beginning of the 18th century, after the conclusion of the War of the Spanish Succession, countless privateers who had fought in the conflict were left out of work. Many elected to turn to piracy as a means of survival, marking the start of the third and final "Golden Age of Piracy". A group of pirates operating in the West Indies elected to band together and take over the city of Nassau in the Bahamas, where they established a short-lived Pirate Republic.

Pirates such as Edward Thatch, Benjamin Hornigold, Charles Vane, Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and Bartholomew Roberts became notorious during this time, with some of them becoming among the most successful pirates in history. Edward Kenway was a privateer-turned-pirate active in the West Indies during this period, who later joined the Assassins.

Thirteen Colonies

Main article: American Revolution

In the latter half of the century, after the Seven Years' War, the British colonies in North America began to be taxed excessively in an attempt to recover Great Britain's war costs. A faction known as the Sons of Liberty protested against these measures, leading to a wave of protests, including the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Philosophers such as Benjamin Franklin thought that the colonies must have more autonomy from Great Britain with their own government.

The Founding Fathers signing the Declaration of Independence

The British Empire ignored these claims, which soon led to the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and its colonies. On 6 July 1776, with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the colonies achieved autonomy, and so a new nation, the United States of America, was born. The war continued until 1783, where a string of defeats forced the British Army to withdraw from the colonies and recognize the United States' independence.

The main thinkers of the time were mostly Founding Fathers like Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine. They developed the ideals of liberty, republicanism, and self-governance.

France

Main article: French Revolution

As the absolute power of the monarch developed under the Kings Louis XIV and Louis XV of France, intellectuals and philosophers thought about the separation of powers. Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Denis Diderot were the main philosophers of the country, fighting the arbitrary power, developing the idea of equality, and publishing the Encyclopédie to spread knowledge.

During the 1780s, France entered a financial crisis due to supporting the United States throughout the Revolutionary War. The population was starving and the Third State was the only one paying to refund the national debt. To fix the economy, King Louis XVI programmed the Estates-General of 1789. The Third State was organized as a National Assembly, and soon revolts were promoted to the Paris and Versailles corridors. On 14 July 1789, with the Storming of the Bastille, the French Revolution officially broke out, marking one of the bloodiest periods in French history.

Louis XVI on the guillotine

After the execution of Louis XVI on 21 January 1793, two large factions gained notoriety and power across the country: the Girondists, a right-leaning party who defended the interests of the bourgeoisie, and the Jacobins, a left-leaning party led by the Templar Maximilien de Robespierre, who persecuted anyone who was considered "an enemy of the revolution". Robespierre's party promoted the Reign of Terror, where much of the French population was executed by guillotine. This lasted until the Thermidorian Reaction, when Robespierre was overthrown, arrested, and guillotined.

After Robespierre's death, the French Revolutionary Wars continued against neighboring countries. In the meantime, a military commander named Napoleon Bonaparte brought victories to the French Army in numerous battles. Napoleon's popularlity only continued to grow, in part thanks to an Apple of Eden in his possession, and in 1799, with the Coup of 18 Brumaire, he became the ruler of France, laying the foundations of the French Empire.

Haiti

Main article: Haitian Revolution

The Haitian Revolution

Coinciding with the French Revolution was the Haitian Revolution, where the enslaved population of the French colony of Saint-Domingue rebelled against their oppressors. Led for most of the conflict by the Assassin Toussaint Louverture, the revolutionaries were eventually granted the freedom to govern themselves, leading to the establishment of the independent nation of Haiti. However, Louverture was arrested by the French in 1802 and his successor, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who led the revolutionaries to victory, declared himself Emperor Jacques I of Haiti in 1804. Since his rule was seen as tyrannical, the Assassin Eseosa made plans to eliminate him.

Appearances

This list is incomplete. You can help the Assassin's Creed Wiki by expanding it.

• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates
• Assassin's Creed III
• Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
• Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
  • Freedom Cry
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Blackbeard – The Lost Journal
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates
• Assassin's Creed: Memories
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
  • Dead Kings
• Assassin's Creed: Unity novel
• Assassin's Creed: Rebellion
  • Dead Men's Gold
  • Caribbean Sea, 1713 CE
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple
• Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR