Acre

Acre (Hebrew: עַכּוֹ, Akko; Arabic: عكّا, Akka) is a coastal city located to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated in Western Galilee, in the northern area of Israel.^[1]

History[edit | edit source]

Middle Ages[edit | edit source]

In 1190, during the Third Crusade, the Knights Templar led King Richard I of England's Crusader armies to lay siege to the city, planning to poison its water supply and wipe out its inhabitants. The Levantine Assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad was able to stop this plot by killing the Templar in charge of the operation.^[2] The following year, however, the city fell to the besieging Crusaders. Acre then served as the capital of the remnants of the Kingdom of Jerusalem until the end of the Crusades.^[3]

It was in this city that the Christian Crusaders established a base of operations in order to stockpile weapons and troops. With this, they intended to march south towards Jaffa. From there, they planned to launch an all-out siege upon their true target, Jerusalem, which they had come from Europe to reclaim in the name of their religious faith.^[3]

The Templars, under the leadership of Grand Master Robert de Sablé, took advantage of the Crusaders' march to Jaffa to claim Acre for themselves, as part of a wider plot to control the Holy Land and establish their New World Order. Due to its occupation by the Crusaders as opposed to the Saracen-held Jerusalem and Damascus, the city became the Templars' main stronghold in the Levant for a time, and the Order maintained an active presence in each of Acre's districts.^[3]

While William of Montferrat, whom King Richard had personally appointed as the city's regent, oversaw the Rich District from his citadel,^[4] the Knights Hospitalier's Grand Master Garnier de Naplouse controlled the Poor District, where their fortress and hospital was located,^[5] and the Knights Teutonic's Grand Master Sibrand governed the Middle District, Acre's docks area.^[6] Secretly, all three men received instructions from Robert to further the Templars' overarching goals; thus, William began conscripting Acre's citizens and hoarding food to prepare the population for the Order's eventual takeover,^[4] while Garnier conducted experiments on patients in an attempt to replicate the powers of an Apple of Eden,^[5] and Sibrand blockaded the port with his fleet to prevent the European kingdoms from sending reinforcements.^[6]

However, the Levantine Assassins soon caught wind of the Templars' operations in Acre, and Altaïr, as part of his mission assigned by Al Mualim, traveled to the city to assassinate Garnier, William, and Sibrand.^[3] The local Assassin bureau's overseeing Rafiq, Jabal, assisted Altaïr's efforts,^[3] as did an Assassin team that Al Mualim had covertly sent without telling Altaïr. Managing to stay hidden even from the Master Assassin, the team helped weaken William's citadel defenses^[7]^[8]^[9] and killed his bodyguard Isembart ahead of Altaïr's assassination of the Templar.^[10]

Ultimately, Altaïr succeeded in eliminating his targets, though this did not completely eradicate the Templar presence in Acre.^[11]^[12]^[13] After Robert's death at Altaïr's hands during the Battle of Arsuf in September 1191,^[14] the remaining Templars in the Levant relocated in October to Acre, from where they planned to sail to Cyprus and continue their plans undisturbed. Altaïr, by now the Levantine Assassins' new Mentor, learned of their intentions and led an assault on their fortress in Acre, during which he captured Maria Thorpe. However, the Assassins were too late to prevent the Templar fleet from sailing to Cyprus.^[15]

Years later, in 1197, Altaïr and Maria would return to Acre and its citadel, where they conceived their second son, Sef.^[16]

Renaissance[edit | edit source]

In 1511, the Italian Assassins' Mentor Ezio Auditore da Firenze stayed in Acre while en route to Masyaf; there, the city's people warned him that the road to Masyaf was crawling with bandits and "foreign mercenaries". Ezio assumed the worst, believing that this was another Templar Rite, and expressed his concern in a letter to his sister Claudia.^[17] A year later, Ezio and Sofia Sartor stayed in Acre during their journey from Constantinople to Masyaf, where they sought to open Altaïr's library.^[18]

Districts[edit | edit source]

Poor District[edit | edit source]

In 1191, due to the recent siege, the Poor District was still recovering from the numerous casualties. Many dead bodies lay in the streets and alleys and around the main gate into Acre. The people also fought off disease, despair, oppression, corruption, and the memories of those lost, while the haunting stench of death filled the air. King Richard placed the entire district under the jurisdiction of the Knights Hospitalier, who governed from their fortress located at the north end of the district.^[3]

Middle District[edit | edit source]

The Middle District was more lively, in terms of both citizenry and military presence. This district was the location of Acre's docks, a large harbor area where both troublemakers and drunken sailors could be found. Richard gave control of the district to the Knights Teutonic, who fortified the entire area due to Sibrand's paranoia that the Assassins would come to take his life.^[3]

Rich District[edit | edit source]

As King Richard fought Saladin and his Saracen forces, the duty of governing the entire city fell to the regent and liege-lord, William of Montferrat. The Rich District was the center of William's power, and because of this, it was the district that suffered the most under his rule. Much of the populace complained about their ill treatment, while others plotted his downfall.^[3]

Within the beautiful Rich District were notable landmarks such as King Richard's citadel, of which a small keep within the fortress housed William's quarters. The citadel's interior contained numerous guards and archers and operated like an autonomous, small town within the city. Another landmark was the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the largest Crusader church in the city. The building itself concealed a Templar knight in the incomplete spire and also proved to be the highest climbable point in the cities that Altaïr visited.^[3]

Trivia[edit | edit source]

The cinematic video shown at the start of Assassin's Creed occurred in Acre. The city was also the location shown in most of the official pre-release Assassin's Creed trailers.
Acre was drastically altered from the first few gameplay demos shown at E3 in 2006. The first version of Acre had a larger area outside the city walls and could be entered while on horseback.^[19]
Acre's climate was dramatically different from the other settlements, since it was next to the Mediterranean Sea, giving a misty and foggy effect to the streets.
Historically, Acre was the last stronghold of the real-life Knights Templar, before the Mamluk Sultanate permanently expelled them from the Holy Land following the Fall of Ruad.^[20]