Maria Auditore da Firenze

"Go, my son, destroy them... but remember for whom we Assassins fight."

―Maria to Ezio, 1500.

Maria Auditore da Firenze (née de' Mozzi; 1432 – 1504) was a Florentine noblewoman during the Renaissance and, alongside her husband Giovanni, a member of the Italian Brotherhood of Assassins. She was also the mother of four children, one of whom–Ezio–would eventually become Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood.

Born into the noble Mozzi family, Maria liked to blend with "real citizens" when she was younger, which led to her meeting Giovanni Auditore, the man who would later become her husband. As a member of the Auditore family, Maria continued to fraternize with the lower classes, developing a working relationship with the artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Maria was traumatized by the execution of her husband and two of their children, Federico and Petruccio, in 1476, after which she slipped into a state of shock and refused to communicate until Ezio helped her recover years later. She would thereafter continue to support her son, as well as her daughter Claudia after she too joined the Brotherhood, until her eventual death from an illness in 1504.

Biography

Early life

Born to the powerful and opulent Mozzi family of Florence, Maria's parents strongly protected her from the outside world. Resenting this control, the young Maria chose to actively fraternize with the lower classes in the city.

Reluctantly, her parents eventually compromised with their daughter and allowed her to open up a bakery inside the family palazzo where, a week later, she met Giovanni Auditore. Wooed by Giovanni, the two developed a close relationship and eventually married in 1450.

Life as an Auditore

Now married, Maria went to live with Giovanni. Over time, Maria gave birth to four children: Federico, Ezio, Claudia, and Petruccio Auditore. During the early years of their marriage, Giovanni was inducted into the Assassin Order and required Maria to help him keep the secret from their children. Sometime thereafter, Maria herself was inducted into the Order.

Maria walking with Ezio and Leonardo

By 1476, Maria had taken to supporting various local artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci, whom she introduced to her son Ezio when she requested the latter's help carrying some of Leonardo's works from his workshop to their home.

However, later that day, Giovanni, Federico, and Petruccio were arrested by the Florentine government on false charges of treason. When Maria protested, she was assaulted by the city guards and slipped into a state of shock as a result. The three were ultimately tried and hanged, despite Ezio's attempt to prevent their deaths.

Maria, who had not spoken since the arrest, was brought to her fellow Assassin, Paola, alongside Claudia, by their family's servant and Paola's sister, Annetta. She remained there for a while until Ezio returned to take them to the home of Maria's brother-in-law, Mario Auditore, in Monteriggioni.

While there, Maria remained silently sitting in prayer beside her bed for several years, not speaking until Ezio brought her a hundred feathers in the memory of Petruccio. Thanking Ezio for not forgetting about her, Maria hugged him and presented him with a cape bearing the Auditore coat of arms. Afterward, Maria's temperament began to improve.

Later life in Rome

Maria, Claudia and Ezio during the Borgia siege

In January 1500, after Ezio returned from his confrontation with the murderer of their family—Rodrigo Borgia—in Rome, Monteriggioni was besieged by the Papal forces under the command of Rodrigo's son, Cesare Borgia. Maria fled to the sanctuary beneath the Villa, where she waited for Claudia and Ezio to join her. It was here that she learned of the execution of her brother-in-law Mario by yet another Borgia.

From there, the three fled the town via a secret passageway built into the mound upon which the town rested. Ezio then instructed Maria and Claudia to return to Florence, where they would be safe, while Ezio would head to Rome to take down the entire Borgia family. As Ezio began to ride off, Maria encouraged him to wipe out the Borgia.

Returning to Florence, Maria and her daughter found the Palazzo Auditore burned to the ground. With nowhere else to go, the two decided to follow Ezio to Rome, where they felt that they would be better suited to do something to aid him.

Traveling to the Assassins' hideout on Tiber Island, Maria and Claudia met with the Order's acting-leader, Niccolò Machiavelli, who told them to look for Ezio at the Rosa in Fiore. When they arrived, Ezio was not there, so they spoke to the resident courtesans as they waited for him. Shortly thereafter, Ezio returned with news that the brothel's owner, Madonna Solari, had been killed by the Cento Occhi gang.

Maria with Claudia and Ezio at the Rosa in Fiore

Maria's son was both shocked and angry to discover his family in Rome. His mood only worsened when, reminded by the courtesans that they could not continue without a Madame, Claudia volunteered for the task, much to Ezio's displeasure. With a role set for them, Maria helped Claudia in controlling and managing the brothel, instructing her son to aid the girls wherever he could.

When the Rosa in Fiore was attacked by Borgia soldiers, Maria helped to defend the brothel and was guarded by several courtesans. Later, she expressed her relief that Claudia and Ezio had finally reconciled.

By this time, Maria's health had slowly begun to decline, mainly due to a long-term illness she had been suffering from. She later began to talk of Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio again, before succumbing to her illness and passing away in 1504, which left both Ezio and Claudia devastated.

Legacy

"It is as if he plucked her from heaven, and gave her new life. Grazie (Thank you), Leonardo. I shall treasure this until my last day."

―Ezio, upon finding the painting depicting Maria, 1509.

A few years after Maria's death, Claudia commissioned Leonardo da Vinci to make a painting of herself, Ezio, and Maria, as a memento of their late mother. In 1509, she hid this painting within a music box in the attic of the Villa Auditore, where it would eventually be found by Ezio.

Thanks to the multi-volume diaries Maria kept from her youth until the execution of her husband and sons in 1476, she became an important source for historians, detailing her life, her patronage of several up-and-coming artists and her trials as a mother. By modern times, her diaries had been translated and put on display at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Personality and traits

"She's in shock. They... When she resisted..."

―Annetta speaking to Ezio about how Maria tried to stop the guards from arresting Giovanni, Federico, and Petruccio, 1476.

Maria had a loving and caring personality, which was shown when she prayed over Petruccio's feathers at Monteriggioni. She was also displayed as a rebellious figure, as in her early life, she was protected from the outside world, to which she grew tired of and possibly confronted her parents regarding the matter.

This too was shown when she tried to stop the guards from arresting Giovanni, Federico, and Petruccio before being presumably raped. With this in mind, it could be said that she held a fierce love for her family, as her retaliation against the guards proved how willing she was to protect them.

She was also presented as someone willing to help her husband Giovanni keep secrets from their children about their Assassin heritage, to safeguard them from the potential dangers that came with it. As well as this, she also kept Giovanni informed about what happened in the family while Giovanni was on his missions, as displayed when Maria told him that their son Ezio was becoming suspicious of why he went out at night.

Behind the scenes

Maria Auditore is a character in Assassin's Creed II and the film Assassin's Creed: Lineage. She is voiced in-game by actor Ellen David, and portrayed in the film by Claudia Ferri.

Trivia

• Maria seemed to be a skilled surgeon, as she was seen stitching up Giovanni's near-fatal wound in Assassin's Creed: Lineage.
• Maria only spoke three times throughout Assassin's Creed II: once during Ezio's birth; in the memory "Friend of the Family"; and when given the 100 feathers.
• Maria could be seen praying for around 12 to 23 years since all of the locations that had feathers were not available until Sequence 11 of Assassin's Creed II, which took place in 1488.
• According to Assassin's Creed: Renaissance, Maria and Claudia lived in a convent after the execution of the Auditore until the late 1480s, when they moved to Monteriggioni.

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of Maria
• 
  Maria's database image
• 
  Maria talking with Ezio
• 
  Maria praying in her room
• 
  Maria's box of feathers at the Villa Auditore
• 
  Maria's room at the Villa Auditore
• 
  Maria and Claudia seeing Ezio off
• 
  Maria pleased to see her children reconcile

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Lineage (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed II
• Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
• Assassin's Creed: Recollection
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood novel
• Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China (mentioned in Database entry only) (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed: Nexus VR (painting only)

References

zh:玛丽亚·奥迪托雷