Claudia Auditore da Firenze

Claudia Auditore da Firenze (born 1461) was a Florentine noblewoman during the Italian Renaissance, and a member of the Assassin Order.

Early life
Claudia was born on 2 January 1461 in the city of Florence. The daughter of Giovanni and Maria Auditore da Firenze, she was the third child, and only daughter to the House of Auditore. She had three brothers, Federico, Ezio and Petruccio.

In the year 1476, she was betrothed to Duccio de Luca. However, rumors (and later, evidence) of his infidelity subsequently ended the relationship between the two.

Later that year, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were wrongly arrested by the city guards, upon the orders of Gonfaloniere Uberto Alberti, for the crime of treason. Uberto was, in fact, acting upon the orders of Rodrigo Borgia, Grand Master of the Templar Order. Despite evidence gathered by Claudia's remaining brother, Ezio, the three were executed the next day.

At the behest of her brother, Claudia and her mother, Maria, were safely escorted by the Auditore housemaid, Annetta, to the safety of La Rosa Colta, which was operated by Annetta's sister, Paola. There they stayed until Ezio, having taken up his father's mantle as an Assassin, exacted his revenge on Uberto.

Soon afterwards, the three remaining Auditore left Florence for Monteriggioni, to stay with Claudia's uncle Mario. Although they had originally planned to stay in Monteriggioni only for a few days before moving to Spain, Ezio decided that it would best to remain at the Villa Auditore so that he could finish his father's work.

Life in Monteriggioni


Mario assigned Claudia to be Monteriggioni's treasurer and book-keeper, a job in which she would keep track of all the city finances, as well as the objects that Ezio brought in from the outside.

During this time, Claudia married, though the marriage would end soon after with the passing of her husband. She also became pregnant, though it is unknown whether the baby was a boy or a girl.

Claudia was often quite bothered by the fact that Ezio rarely came to see her over their twenty year stay in Monteriggioni. Despite this, she "thought the world of him" nonetheless.

On 1 January 1500, Claudia's brother and uncle returned from their excursion to Rome. Upon reuniting with Ezio, Claudia asked him if the Spaniard, Rodrigo Borgia, was finally dead, though he declined to answer straight away. In Mario's office later that day, she expressed her interest in the "wonders" Ezio had witnessed in the Vatican Vault.

That day, the city of Monteriggioni was also preparing for Claudia's birthday, though Claudia wished to keep the party a secret from her brother.

The next day however, before any celebrations could begin, the city came under siege by the Papal army, under the command of Cesare Borgia, Captain-General and son of Rodrigo Borgia.

As a result, Mario was killed, and Ezio left for the Templars' headquarters in Rome to exact revenge. Before he departed, Ezio instructed Claudia and their mother to go to Florence, where they would be safe. However, both women felt obliged to take their revenge as well, and thus later followed Ezio to Rome.

Madame of Roma


That year, Claudia took control over the Rosa in Fiore after the former owner, Madonna Solari, was killed. Through the courtesans she managed, Claudia was able to find the location of Caterina Sforza. Despite her success, her decision to run the brothel strained her relationship with her brother, with whom she acted coldly towards for some time.

Three years later, in 1503, she assisted Ezio in assassinating the Banker by sending her courtesans to the pagan party that he held. After infiltrating the event, the courtesans reclaimed Egidio Troche's money and brought it back to the brothel. However, several Borgia guards discovered the theft and followed them.

When Ezio heard of this, he was alarmed and immediately hurried into the Rosa in Fiore. However, when he arrived, he only discovered an unharmed Claudia standing over several corpses, nonchalantly holding a knife. He praised her efforts, easing the tension that had been between them for years.

Member of the Assassin Order


In 1503, sometime after the events of the Colosseum Passion Play, Claudia (by her brother's recommendation) joined the Order of Assassins. At the Tiber Island headquarters, she underwent the initiation process of branding her left ring finger, as well as performing a Leap of Faith into the Tiber River.

She later fought alongside Ezio, Niccolò Machiavelli, La Volpe and Bartolomeo d'Alviano against Cesare Borgia's last remaining followers, after which Cesare was arrested.

In 1504, Claudia was assaulted by Borgia supporters, prompting her to step down as the Madame of the Rosa in Fiore. La Volpe requested Rosa to be Claudia's replacement, to which she agreed. Some time afterwards, Ezio sent Claudia back to Florence to stay with her friend, and now fellow Assassin, Paola.

Three years later, after Ezio assassinated Cesare in Spain, he asked Machiavelli to send Claudia back to him in Rome, where she would continue to support her brother in leading the Brotherhood.

Characteristics and personality
In her younger years, it was evident that Claudia had been too spoiled by Giovanni, and was unafraid to be violent when a girl merely "looked at her boyfriend." Due to her temper, Giovanni was forced to raise her dowry by 1,000 florins, since she scared off all of her suitors. At times, she was also seen to be immature, complaining vehemently after Mario assigned her to manage Monteriggioni's finances. (Though this may be due to Giovanni raising his sons, not his daughter, to manage the family bank and handle paperwork.)

Regardless, Claudia was quite capable of handling and keeping track of the town's bankroll and her brother's purchases and earnings. Her capability in business management again came to play when she volunteered - despite Ezio's initial protest - to take over the brothel in Rome. Under her management, the Rosa in Fiore became the most popular brothel in Rome, as well as a far more effective intel-gathering arm for the Order of Assassins.

Claudia was also kind with her family, being especially emotional over her father and brothers' execution, her mother's emotional trauma, and leaving her home and her friends in Florence. Claudia was Ezio's only sister, and unlike her brothers (who were executed in order for Rodrigo Borgia to prove a point to the Assassins) she was spared, likely because of her gender.

Assassin's Creed II

 * Claudia, as with most characters, appears not to age over the course of the game, and remains at the same desk in the Villa Auditore for 23 years. After she complained about being put to work, her only interaction with Ezio was asking if he was there to look at the book of finances.
 * When Ezio starts earning income from Monteriggioni, Claudia states that she would keep any money past the chest's maximum capacity, with no explanation of what she intends to do with all the money.
 * Although she is always sitting in the Villa Auditore through most of the game, she appears in the "vision" Ezio has at his home during the Bonfire of the Vanities.
 * There is a glitch where, if you manage to bump into Claudia and knock her down, she will be given the voice of one of the guards (since knocking her down is normally not supposed to be possible).

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

 * Claudia still looks quite young, despite her being 38 years old at the beginning of the game. Her skin appears to be paler than it was before as well.
 * When Claudia is inducted into the Assassin Order, her outfit is similar to that of her ancestor Maria Thorpe in Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines and Assassin's Creed II.
 * Like her brother, Claudia wields a dagger with an Icepick Grip, as shown in the memory "Paper Trail."
 * Claudia is not listed as an Assassin in the Animus database. This could be explained by the fact that the information was not known at the time of the article's creation.