Pigeon coop
Pigeon coops, as well as the courier pigeons they housed, were a means of communication used by the Assassins to trade messages and assignments.
History
During the Middle Ages and the Third Crusade, coops were located within Masyaf and the local Assassins' Bureau of each city. Messages were often sent to the Rafiq of the Bureau to inform them of contracts, or of the arrival of certain Assassins in their city.[1]
At the time of the Renaissance and Late Middle Ages, most of the contracts sent by pigeon were assigned by Lorenzo de' Medici, and were executed by Giovanni Auditore, and later, by his son Ezio.[2]
Mario Auditore also made use of pigeons in Monteriggioni, though mostly to collect the information gathered by spies he sent to other cities.[3]
When the Assassins built their brotherhood in Rome, Niccolò Machiavelli managed to plant several spies in the Borgia forces. These men gathered the names of important Templar figures, which were in turn delivered to Ezio Auditore through pigeon coops around Rome.[4]
As most rooftops were restricted to civilians, allies to the Assassins were easily able to leave messages at pigeon coops, to be later picked up by members of the Order.[3]
In Constantinople, pigeon coops were always located near the ground, in secluded areas next to bomb-crafting stations. Though they functioned similarly, they were also noticeably smaller than those found in Italy.[5]
Trivia
- Fiora Cavazza betrayed the Templar Order and allied herself to the Assassins by waiting near a pigeon coop, and speaking with a guard she witnessed leaving a message in one.
- Francesco Vecellio sent a message to Giovanni Borgia by a carrier pigeon, though it was able to fly straight into his room, instead of a coop.
Gallery
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Al Mualim's pigeon coop at Masyaf -
Altaïr standing near a pigeon coop in one of the Assassins' Bureaus -
Ezio retrieving a message from a pigeon coop in Florence -
Pantasilea Baglioni showing Ezio a pigeon coop -
Concept art of a pigeon coop in Rome
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References
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