Spain

Spain is a country in western Europe, situated on the Iberian peninsula, that borders Portugal to the west, and France and to the north.

Spanish Inquisition
As of the late 15th century, an Assassins Guild was located in the Spanish city of Barcelona. With a firm base in the city, the Spanish Assassins had close connections to the Spanish royal house – namely King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I – and kept a close eye on them, making sure that the Borgia and the Templars did not possess too big of an influence over them.

In 1491, Rodrigo Borgia, the Grand Master of the Templar Order, was able to fool the Spanish Inquisitor General Tomás de Torquemada into believing that the Assassins were heretics, and ordered them to be tried and executed. Torquemada, believing Rodrigo was a true follower of the church like him, followed Rodrigo's orders and had several Assassins across the country captured.

The same year, Luis de Santángel, the finance minister of Ferdinand II and an Assassin, traveled with his friend Christoffa Corombo to Venice, where Corombo was to have a meeting with Rodrigo Borgia. After being saved from a Templar trap by the Italian Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Luis and Christoffa requested that Ezio retrieve Christoffa's stolen atlas. After having done so, Luis informed Ezio of the capture and execution of Spanish Assassins; from there, Corombo and Santángel returned to Spain, to which they were followed shortly afterwards by Ezio, who felt obliged to help the Spanish Assassins.

As Ezio walked through the streets of Barcelona, he encountered someone who directed him to the abandoned Assassins Guild. While he was observing its apparant emptiness, he was suddenly attacked by four guards, whom he quickly dealt with. Ezio then encountered a Brute and decided to flee, resulting in a chase. As the Assassin managed to escape through the sewers, there Ezio met Raphael Sánchez, a fellow Brother.

After their encounter, Ezio set out on his quest of saving the imprisoned Assassins, seeking out Gaspar Martínez. On locating the man and engaging in a short conversation, the Assassin took Martínez's life and searched his body to find a list of names. Ezio also discovered that the execution of one of the Assassins was already being prepared, thus he ran through the streets in an attempt to arrive in time to save him; Ezio successfully managed to fend off the guards and save the Assassin, after which the pair made their way to Raphael. Upon seeing the list, Raphael replied that they were being held in Zaragoza, so the Assassins decided to travel there.

Upon arriving in Zaragoza, Ezio was told to look for Pedro Llorente, who would know the locations of the remaining Assassins. Ezio soon found him, though he watched as Llorente spoke with Tomás de Torquemada, before they executed an Assassin. Afterwards, Ezio overheard Torquemada speaking about Rodrigo Borgia, who had tasked him to execute the Assassins.

With his fears confirmed, Ezio made his way to the sewers, where he found the five remaining Assassins. Through his efforts, he managed to save all of them, despite the large number of guards stationed around them. Following this, Ezio escaped the sewers by performing a Leap of Faith, and met up with Raphael again. The two of them then decided that Pedro Llorente had to be assassinated.

Ezio soon found him in a courtyard, where Pedro denied any knowledge of the Templar Order. In response, Ezio told him that "there would be no one to save him", before he quickly dealt with Llorente and returned to Raphael. From there, Raphael told Ezio of his connections to queen Isabella of Spain, and that the Templars and Assassins each held one of her ears; both Assassins decided it was best to travel to Granada to prevent the Templars from gaining control over Spain.

Once they arrived in Granada, Ezio noticed the fighting that was already going on and Raphael explained to him that the Moors were the attackers. The two Assassins set out to kill the Captain Guards and save the citizens, before meeting up again. Ezio was then told of a spy, Juan de Marillo, who he swiftly assassinated, and then he made his way back to Luis, who informed him that Corombo had set out to Paris to plan his journeys.

On 16 September, 1498, the Assassins assassinated Torquemada, but this did not end the Inquisition.

Poisoning of Queen Isabella
"Queen Isabella has chosen to secretly serve the Borgia rather than rebel, and even now, her power over Manuel I of Portugal threatens to further spread her vile Inquisition. Her reign must come to an end."

- An Italian Assassin apprentice after having researched Isabella.

In 1498, Luis died. With his death, the Assassins lost their eyes on the Spanish royal house. In the early 1500s, Ezio Auditore sent a group of Assassin apprentices to retrieve Luis' journal. After having successfully retrieved the journal, the apprentices found out that Luis was slowly poisoning Queen Isabella. Suspecting Luis' motives were partly retaliation for the Inquisition and slaughter of his Jewish family, the apprentices studied the queen's behavior to find out more.

Following Isabella via the rooftops, they concluded that she easily allowed herself to be influenced by priests and other religious figures. Additionally, the queen received various letters from the Borgia; threats from Cesare Borgia – the leader of the Papal armies – backed by the power of his father's status as Pope, which resulted in Isabella secretly deciding to serve the Borgia. The apprentices contacted one of Luis' close associates, a servant of Isabella's, who agreed to poison the queen after having earned her trust.

Cesare Borgia's escape
In 1504, Cesare Borgia had escaped from imprisonment in the Castel Sant'Angelo. Pope Julius II contacted King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I, who both agreed to have Cesare imprisoned in the Castillo de la Mota in Medina del Campo. However, Isabella was still under the effects of her poisoning and died later that year.

In 1506, Cesare's right-hand man Micheletto Corella was able to bribe one of the prison guards, who gave Cesare a rope to escape. Meeting with Micheletto outside the castle, Cesare rode off into Valencia. There, Cesare began to rebuild his forces, eventually having set up a large military encampment and operating from the Lone Wolf Inn. However, the encampment and twelve of Cesare's ships were destroyed by Ezio Auditore and the Assassin Niccolò Machiavelli, using some of the hand-held bombs given to them by Leonardo da Vinci.

Cesare blamed Micheletto for the attack, and Micheletto, realizing his service to Cesare was never rewarded, attacked Cesare. However, during the struggle, Cesare was able to shoot Micheletto in the head, killing him. Soon after, while spying from the rooftops, Ezio and Machiavelli stirred one of the tiles, smashing it and accidentally making their presence known to Cesare. Startled, Cesare shot towards the roof, hitting and severely wounding Machiavelli, before he made his escape to Navarre; the land owned by his brother-in-law, King John III of Navarre.

Uniting with John III, Cesare was given control of the Navarrese army and led them to attack Viana, hoping to regain his lost status. However, Ezio Auditore joined the battle, making an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Cesare. Cesare fled further towards Viana, with Ezio following him while fighting his way through Navarrese and Vianan soldiers.

Whilst Cesare was fighting on the battlements of Viana Castle, Ezio met up with him and the two men engaged in a fight. Gradually removing pieces of Cesare's armor in the conflict, Ezio was able to defeat Cesare and throw him from the castle walls, killing him and ending his ambitions to conquer Italy and Spain.