Girolamo Riario

Girolamo Riario (1443 – 1488) was the Lord of Imola and Forlì, and a member of the Templar Order.

Biography

Riario was the nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, and secured his power early in life using his connections to the church. In 1473, he married Caterina Sforza, daughter of Duke Galeazzo Maria Sforza of Milan. The couple resided in Rome during Sixtus' pontificate, where Riario gained a reputation for being one of the most ruthless nobles at court. After the death of the Pope's brother, Riario secured the titles of Lord of Imola and Forlì. Riario became a prominent enemy of Florence's leader Lorenzo de' Medici, who contracted his Assassin ally Ezio Auditore to thwart several of Riario's plans in Forlì and Romagna.

Until his death, Riario continued to aid the Borgia family in their attempts to conquer Italy, working on a map that detailed the locations of the pages of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad's Codex. On a cold day, Riario was contacted by a Templar agent who would not reveal his true identity. The agent gave Girolamo a small box bearing weird carvings, and told him to hide it well until the day the agent returned for it. In 1488, Caterina hired Checco and Ludovico Orsi to murder her husband. The Orsi brothers infiltrated Riario's home, stabbed him to death, and looted his residence. Riario's naked corpse was then thrown in the center of the town square.

Legacy

His son Ottaviano succeeded him as Lord of Imola and Forlì, with Caterina Sforza serving as regent. In 1489, Ezio himself returned to Rocca di Ravaldino to explore its hidden secrets.

Trivia

• Historically, Girolamo Riario was one of the leaders of the Pazzi conspiracy against Lorenzo de' Medici. During Assassin's Creed II, he is never identified as a member of the conspiracy, despite his enmity to Lorenzo being alluded to in assassination contracts.
• The Database's account of Riario's death is accurate to history, including the Orsi brothers ransacking his estate and tossing his corpse into the town square. In real life, however, the assassination was not ordered by Sforza.
• In 2014, Assassin's Creed: Identity was in open beta. The game was given the Riario reference that Riario was contacted by a Templar Agent in the loading screen, but it was removed after the update in 2015.
  • In the game file, a database entry named "The Fallen Ruler" revealed that Ezio find a small Cube with a red substance. This is might a proof that the Crystal Cube originally was the Blood vial. However, it is not clear why this has been changed.
    • In 1499, Ezio managed to find a man named Andrea Migli who was Girolamo's left hand, assisted by Assassin Lo Sparviero. By nightfall, Ezio managed to gain entry to the secret chambers using the small key-medallion, but when he left the Rocca, he seemed troubled. He said that many secrets are buried down there, most notably a small cube with a red substance inside, and an old sword of unknown origin. He is sure Leonardo will know what to do with these mystical items.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (first mentioned) (mentioned in Database entry only)
  • Battle of Forlì
• Assassin's Creed: Identity (mentioned in Database entry only; deleted content)