Agostino Barbarigo

Agostino Barbarigo (1420 – 1501) was the Doge of Venice from 1486 until his death in 1501. He was a member of the prestigious House of Barbarigo, and the younger brother of Marco Barbarigo.

Though initially siding with the Assassin Order, in contrast to many of his family members' ties to the Templar Order, Agostino succumbed to corruption during his rule as Doge, and was killed by his former allies.

The Doge's brother
"[Marco] hides himself away in his palazzo while Venezia comes apart at the seams, then expects a few expensive explosions will make the people forget their problems."

- Agostino at Carnevale, 1486.

Agostino was born in Venice in 1420, as the younger brother of Marco Barbarigo. While Marco was extremely spoiled from birth, Agostino had to work to make his way up the social ladder.

Agostino's brother Marco joined the Templar Order by 1476, and became the Doge of Venice shortly after his fellow Templar, Carlo Grimaldi, poisoned Doge Giovanni Mocenigo on 14 September 1485. As the Templars' sworn enemies, the Assassins attempted to break their grip on Venice, thus Marco never left the Palazzo Ducale for fear of death; a fact Agostino greatly disapproved of.

However, as the Doge, Marco was obliged to come out of his Palazzo in 1486 to celebrate Carnevale. The Assassins used this to their advantage, as the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze won a Golden Mask that allowed entry to Marco's private party.

Agostino was present at his brother's party, where he conversed with a man shortly before Marco's assassination, criticizing his brother's governance of Venice, and dismissing the party as a gimmick. Agostino remained at the party long enough to witness Marco's assassination by a shot from Ezio's Hidden Gun.

Doge
After Marco's death in 1486, Agostino met with the Assassins Ezio Auditore and Antonio de Magianis in the Palazzo della Seta, which had once belonged to Agostino's assassinated cousin Emilio. As at the time he was still only the Doge-elect, and did not yet have the power to act, Agostino confided in the two that his Templar cousin, Silvio Barbarigo, had taken over the Arsenal Shipyard with at least 200 mercenaries at his command.

He explained that this threatened his appointment to become Doge, and helped them devise a plan to assassinate Silvio. Afterwards, Agostino promised that he would not ally himself with the Borgia, as his brother and cousins had.

After the Assassins succeeded in killing Silvio and freeing the Castello District, Agostino was successfully inaugurated as Doge. Agostino then helped to create a coalition against, after which he managed to gain territory on the mainland of Italy.

However, he also entered a war with in 1499, which caused the loss of the Venetian navy, as well as control over many of Venice's strongholds along the.

Death
"The Brotherhood left Venice in the care of Agostino Barbarigo, who swore to avoid his brother's path of corruption and his link to the Borgia. He has failed."

- Francesco Vecellio.

Despite his promise to the Assassins that he would not turn out as his brother had, by 1501, Agostino had been corrupted by power, and by the Borgia.

Upon discovering this corruption, the Assassins sent Agostino four threatening letters, each of which had been powdered with small doses of poison by Tessa Varzi. One letter warned him that "old friends" had come to settle a debt, and in a panic, Agostino visited several moneylenders and mercenaries around the city, paying his outstanding debts and apologizing for his tardiness.

Antonio Loredan, brother of the new Doge, charged him with receiving bottles of wine as gifts, then reselling them tax free "beneath the staircase of the prisons." In addition, Agostino was also charged with extortion and nepotism. However, upon receiving a letter advising him to "watch the sky" as it would soon fall upon him, Agostino stayed indoors for two days, screaming at the rooftops. Soon afterwards, Agostino fell ill and died on 20 September 1501, as a disappointment to all of Italy.

Trivia

 * In Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy, Agostino dresses almost identically to Carlo Grimaldi. He also has a considerably lighter build, and is not wearing the corno ducale (Doge's hat).