Julius Jacob von Haynau

Julius Jacob von Haynau (1786 – 1853) was an Austrian general, baron, and member of the Austrian Rite of the Templar Order.

Biography

At some point in his life, von Haynau was inducted into the Templar Order. As an Austrian general, he suppressed insurrectionary movements, especially in Hungary. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the baron personally ordered the female rebels to face punishment, which was flogging with fifty lashes each. He later oversaw and mandated the rebel general to be hanged. Alongside his right-hand man, Karl Mayr, he sought one of the female rebels, Margit Libényi, and later found out that both she and her brother, János Libényi, had fled to Vienna. With Mayr, he extorted János over his sister's involvement with the rebels. During a visit to London, the baron was attacked and nearly killed by Londoners for his actions during the revolution.

In 1852, a retired von Haynau hosted a party, where he met his invited guests, the Irish Assassin Oscar Kane and his apprentice, "Jack Straw." Unknown to Kane's apprentice, von Haynau and his fellow Templars, Mayr and Countess Konstanze von Visler, had welcomed Kane into their ranks, as they exchanged information about their inventions while Kane gave information about his Brotherhood.

At the party, the baron introduced himself and his Templar guests to Straw as he divulged about his part in the Hungarian Revolution and the current remodel of the city of Vienna. He also stated the remodel would directly push the Libényis out of their home. After the conversation, von Haynau carried on as the host, despite presumably finding the body of Mayr – killed by Straw after he had attacked Kane – not long after.

The next year, weeks after the failed attempt on Emperor Franz Joseph I's life, Baron von Haynau died peacefully in his home.

Behind the scenes

Historically, von Haynau gained recognition as a heartless and assertive general. His soldiers knew him as the "Habsburg Tiger", while his opposition called him the "Hyena of Brescia" in Italy and the "Hangman of Arad" in Hungary.

In terms of the baron's death, Price speculated within his conversation with Kane that von Haynau's death may have been the result of poisoning and that Kane had a part in it, but he could not confirm his theory.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: The Engine of History – The Magus Conspiracy