Felice Orsini
Felice Orsini (1819 – 1858) was an Italian revolutionary and leader of the Carbonari who tried to assassinate the French Emperor Napoleon III in 1858. His attempt triggered a series of diplomatic, political, and legal consequences that came to be known as the Orsini affair.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Early life[edit | edit source]
Orsini was born in Medola, Romagna, in 1819. Involved in revolutionary factions from a young age,[1] he was sent to prison in Mantua in 1854. However, he soon escaped with the help of the citizens and a mysterious figure named the "Magus." On the run from Italian soldiers, he sought refuge in a villa near Lake Como. The villa's owner, Laura, allowed him to stay for the night, and Orsini met Laura's other guests, Simeon Price and the former English soldier Oliver Fraser, talking and drinking with them all night.[2]
While drinking with Fraser, he revealed that he was heading to Paris or London to meet with other revolutionaries and mentioned how the Magus had freed him. The next morning, soldiers arrived as Orsini tried to escape the villa unnoticed. Although Orsini was caught escaping, Price, Fraser, and Laura fought and eliminated all the soldiers to save him. Orsini then left on Laura's advice, leaving the others to clean up the villa.[2] During the next few years, he met and conspired with English rebels to assassinate the French Emperor Napoleon III.[3]
The Orsini affair[edit | edit source]
On 14 January 1858, aided by bomb casings from the Magus, Orsini and his co-conspirators met at the theater opera of Rue le Peletier and waited for the emperor and his wife to arrive. Once the royal carriage drove in, the first bomb went off and injured multiple bystanders and horses. Meanwhile, the second bomb was intercepted by Simeon Price and Pierrette Arnaud. After Price saved an unconscious Arnaud, Orsini and his accomplices used two more bombs, but the emperor and his wife were barely injured.[4]
Orsini and his accomplices were later caught and arrested. As a result of their failed attempt on the French Emperor's life, France and England's cooperation lessened as England's government enacted harsher laws on its people.[3]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
Felice Orsini shares the same surname as the members of the House of Orsini, a Renaissance-era Italian noble family, though it is unknown if he is descended from them.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy
- Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Resurrection Plot (mentioned only)
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑
Felice Orsini on Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy – Chapter 12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy – Chapter 17
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy – Chapter 15