Bartolomeo d'Alviano

Bartolomeo d'Alviano (1455 - 1515) was a condottiero (mercenary leader) leading the Mercenaries in Venice. He was a big, strong man and extremely virile who always taunted his enemies and kept his allies' spirits up in weird ways.

Ezio Auditore da Firenze helped Bartolomeo escape from his prison cell in hopes to get aid from him to assassinate Silvio Barbarigo. After this, Ezio lead a number of Bartolomeo's men around the district of Castello to distract Silvio's army leaving Silvio vulnerable. Soon after Silvio's death, control of Venice's military district was granted to Bartolomeo.

Bartolomeo eventually revealed himself to be an Assassin to Ezio after the battle with Rodrigo Borgia for the Apple of Eden.

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Database Entry
Born in the town of Alviano in Central Italy by Francesco d'Alviano and Isabella degli Atti, Bartolomeo grew up to be a clever and resourceful soldier. After spending several years in Venice, he joined the Orsini family in 1496 to fight against Pope Alexander VI, who was attempting to seize Orsini territory.

The Pope's men had the upper hand, narrowing Bartolomeo's resources down to three fortresses, but Bartolomeo continued to hold out. Smelling victory, Cesare Borgia, the Pope's son, cut off his supplies. Then, when all looked lost, Carlo Orsini rode over the hill with his army, joining Bartolomeo to defeat the Pope's men and even wounding Cesare in the face.

In 1503, Bartolomeo was hired by Ferdinand II of Spain to help the Spanish army defeat the French and seize the Kingdom of Naples. The following year, he defeated Maximilian I, the Holy Roman Emperor, taking Trieste and Gorizia. Impressed, Venice elected him to the office of Governor General.

Everything was coming up roses for Bartolomeo, until the disastrous Battle of Agnadello in 1509, when he disobeyed orders to avoid combat and directly attacked the French army.

The battle was lost, Bartolomeo was captured and wounded by the French, and the Venetians lost Lombardy, a province it had taken them "eight hundred years of exertion to conquer".

Furious, Venice refused to help Bartolomeo despite his claim that the French commander had stolen "a priceless Venetian artefact", which he was attempting to rescue.

Bartolomeo was kept in French prison until 1513. However, he was later sprung from jail to fight for them, managing to defeat the Swiss with only 300 men in 1515.

Later the same year, once restored to his former glory as General of the Venetian Army, he was killed besieging Brescia.

Venice welcomed his body home with a grand ceremony and buried him in the church of Santo Stefano.

Trivia

 * When Ezio freed him, he used a broom in combat.
 * He had a large sword, which looked like a Scottish claymore which he called "Bianca" which is Italian for, 'white'. He was shown to be very caring for the sword, treating it like his own child.
 * Even though Bartolomeo looked much older than Ezio, he is only 4 years older.