Italy

Italy (Italian: Italia) was a country located in southern Europe, and home to the Italian branch of the Order of Assassins during the 13th to 16th Centuries. Italy also served as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and had many beautiful cities and towns dotted across the landscape.

Despite the ideals of the Renaissance spreading out across all Italy, during this period the nation remained divided into a multitude of city-states and Republics, notables of which included La Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia, and the Papal States. Taking advantage of this division, the Templars attempted to seize control of much of northern Italy during the late 15th century, but were ultimately thwarted in this attempt by Ezio Auditore da Firenze and his fellow Assassins.

Founding the Assassin Order
After having founded an Assassins Guild in Constantinople at the request of the Grand Master of the Assassin Order, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo traveled to Italy, where they established another Assassins Guild.

During the late 13th century the family that would later become the House of Auditore lived near Venice. Somewhere around 1296, Domenico Auditore was inducted into the Assassin Order. When his master, Dante Alighieri died, Domenico was tasked with the hiding of the Codex in Spain, but he was ambushed by Templar pirates.

With only his son remaining, he started impersonating a nobleman in Florence, using the money he had been given by Marco Polo. His family continued to act as nobles to conceal their affiliation to the Assassins. The family also built the Villa Auditore around this time, thus founding Monteriggioni.

Giovanni's travels
In 1476, the Assassin Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, a descendant of Domenico Auditore, discovered the Templars plotted to gain power in Italy. He discovered that the Templars, led by Rodrigo Borgia were planning to murder the Duke of Milan. This act would greatly destabilize the relations between Milan and Florence, allowing the Templars to seize power. Even though he attempted to stop them, it was too late to prevent the assassination and the Assassin started investigating the event for the Medici family.

He set off to Venice, where he infiltrated the Palazzo Ducale and overheard two men sending a messenger to Rome. He followed the messenger to interrogate him, but the messenger took his own life by impaling himself on Giovanni's Hidden Blade without revealing his secrets. Giovanni searched his body and found a letter with the seal of the Barbarigo family. He took the letter to his employer and friend, Lorenzo de' Medici, who found the letter to be encrypted. The letter was then given to Uberto Alberti, who deciphered it with the help of Antonio Maffei, though they kept the contents to themselves. They then proposed to have Giovanni deliver a duplicate letter to expose the man behind the assassination of Galeazzo Sforza, the Duke of Milan.

Giovanni traveled to Rome, posing as the original courier, and witnessed the letter switching hands until it eventually got in the hands of Rodrigo Borgia, who delivered the letter to Pope Sixtus IV. The Pope was worried about the Medici family not respecting him, and Rodrigo played on these feelings to gain "spiritual support and military aid." Rodrigo then made his way to an abandoned church, where Giovanni confronted him. Rodrigo offered him a place in the Templar organization, claiming that they would win the war that hadn't even begun yet, but Giovanni declined the offer and was forced to fend of a number of guards, leaving him wounded and with a broken Hidden Blade.

Auditore execution
Later that year, Francesco de' Pazzi was arrested for his involvement in the plot against the Duke of Milan, and Giovanni Auditore started to prepare for the trial against him. However, he and two of his sons, Federico and Petruccio where taken away by guards before the trial could start.

Ezio Auditore went to the Palazzo della Signoria, where his father was being held prisoner, and spoke to him through the bars in front of the window of his cell. Giovanni told Ezio to go to his office and look for a hidden passage, open the chest that was there and take everything that was in it, which Ezio hurriedly did. The chest contained a set of robes, a sword, a broken blade and bracer and a letter addressed to Uberto Alberti, which Ezio delivered.

The next day, the trial was held at the Piazza della Signoria, and Uberto sentenced the three men to death, claiming to have no knowledge of any documents. Ezio attempted to attack Uberto, but was stopped and disarmed by the guards.

Ezio went back home, where he found Annetta. She told him the location of his mother and sister, and he found them in a brothel, where Paola was looking after them. He told them what had happened and started training under Paola, so he could take his revenge on Alberti. He also had Leonardo da Vinci repair his Hidden Blade, as he had lost his sword at the execution of his family.

Death of the Gonfaloniere
Shortly after the Auditore execution, Uberto Alberti attended an art display by Verrocchio in the Santa Croce. Ezio used this as a chance to assassinate the Gonfaloniere by stabbing him multiple times and declared that the Auditore were still alive.

Immediately after this event, the remaining members of the Auditore family left the city, as Ezio was now the most wanted man in Florence. They traveled to Monteriggioni, where they encountered Vieri de' Pazzi, a long-time rival of Ezio, and his men. However, the ambushers were quickly defeated with the help of Mario Auditore and his Mercenaries.

After that, Ezio was trained in Monteriggioni for a few months, receiving lessons from his uncle to become a true Assassin. Once Mario declared Ezio's training to be finished, the latter decided to leave Italy, causing Mario to angrily ride to San Gimignano to deal with Vieri.

The assault on San Gimignano resulted in the death of Vieri de' Pazzi, and most of his mercenaries, by the hands of the Assassins. The Assassins also learned that something was about to happen in Florence, as they overheard a conversation between Rodrigo Borgia and Jacopo, Francesco and Vieri de' Pazzi.

Pazzi Conspiracy
With the help of Leonardo da Vinci and La Volpe, Ezio managed to eavesdrop on a secret Templar meeting underneath the Santa Maria Novella, where he discovered they were planning to kill Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother, Giuliano de' Medici.

The next day, the attack on the Medici occurred at the Duomo. Lorenzo and Giuliano's arrived, as well as Francesco de' Pazzi and one of his co-conspirators, Bernardo Baroncelli. They attacked Giuliano, while two of the priests attacked Lorenzo. Ezio managed to save Lorenzo, though he came too late to rescue Giuliano.

Immediately after the attack, Florence was in chaos, with Medici guards fighting of the attacking Pazzi guards. Ezio made his way to the Palazzo della Signoria, where he managed to assassinate Francesco after a short chase across the rooftops.

While the crowds were cheering to the Pazzi conspirators, being rallied by Jacopo de' Pazzi, Francesco's body was thrown from the roof of the Palazzo della Signoria, causing the other conspirators to flee the city because of their failed attempt to seize power.

The fleeing conspirators, Antonio Maffei, Bernardo Baroncelli, Francesco Salviati and Stefano da Bagnone, were all hunted down in San Gimignano before they could attend the next Templar meeting. Jacopo de' Pazzi was the only one to arrive at the meeting with Rodrigo Borgia and Emilio Barbarigo in The ancient Roman theatre.

Rodrigo and Emilio stabbed Jacopo for not having kept his promises and then directed their attention to Ezio, who had infiltrated the meeting, sending the guards to deal with him. Ezio defended himself and finished of Jacopo. He then returned to Florence to report his progress and seek out his friend Leonardo, though he was told Leonardo had moved to Venice.

The two men met each other just outside of Florence, where Leonardo's carriage had broken down. After having it repaired, they continued their journey together, only to be attacked by Borgia guards. The attack failed and both men managed to make it to Forlì, a city in Romagna from where the ship to Venice departed. After having saved Caterina Sforza, the duchess of Forlì, from an island, Ezio was allowed entrance to the ship and they set off to Venice.

Hunt in Venice
In 1480, a group of Thieves tried to assault the Palazzo della Seta, where Emilio Barbarigo lived. Their attempt failed and one of the thieves, Rosa, was shot in her leg by an archer. Ezio Auditore helped getting her back to the Thieves Guild and met Antonio de Magianis.

In 1485, the Thieves worked with Ezio and they managed to infiltrate the Palazzo. Ezio overheard Emilio speaking with Carlo Grimaldi, a government official. Soon after the two men parted, Ezio assassinated Emilio and opened the Palazzo doors to let the Thieves in. From then on, the Thieves would use the Palazzo della Seta as their main hideout.

Sometime after the death of Emilio Barbarigo, a Templar meeting was held. Carlo Grimaldi, Silvio Barbarigo, Marco Barbarigo and Dante Moro discussed who would become the new Doge of Venice, and Rodrigo Borgia soon joined them. It was then decided that Giovanni Mocenigo, the current Doge, would be poisoned by Carlo Grimaldi, using Cantarella. After that, Marco Barbarigo would be elected the new Doge.

Ezio and Antonio called upon the help of Leonardo da Vinci to gain entry into the Palazzo Ducale using his Flying Machine. The plan worked, and though it was too late to save Mocenigo, Ezio managed to assassinate Carlo Grimaldi.

Soon after this, Marco Barbarigo was elected Doge and Carnevale arrived in Venice. Marco hosted a Carnevale party, which was infiltrated by Ezio Auditore, who planned to assassinate him. With the help of a Golden Mask, his Hidden Gun and Teodora Contanto, Ezio managed to assassinate the Templar Doge.

Not long after that, Ezio met with Antonio once more, who now introduced him to Agostino Barbarigo, who would soon become the new Doge and promised not to serve the Borgia. Ezio told them he planned to assassinate Silvio Barbarigo as well, and Antonio directed him to Bartolomeo d'Alviano, a mercenary leader in the Arsenale District. Once he arrived, he found Bartolomeo imprisoned by Silvio's thugs and managed to free him, after which the two of them started the preparations for their assault on the Arsenal.

During the attack, Bartolomeo fought against Dante, until Silvio told him to come back because their ship was about to leave. Ezio chased them and managed to assassinate both Silvio and Dante before they reached their ship, after which Dante told the Assassin they were to sail to Cyprus.

In 1488, Ezio learned from Rosa that the ship would return from Cyprus soon. He finally realized the Templars had plotted something large, something that had to do with the Codex and the vault. He spied on the ships return and decided to take the place of a courier when he learned that the Apple of Eden would be brought to Rodrigo Borgia, who was also in Venice.

He eventually confronted Rodrigo, who spoke of a Prophet, though Ezio sarcastically told him that no one had shown up. Rodrigo declared he was the Prophet, after which Ezio attacked him. Suddenly, Mario Auditore, La Volpe, Antonio de Magianis and Bartolomeo d'Alviano arrived and started fighting the guards. Rodrigo eventually managed to escape, though he was forced to leave the Apple behind. Ezio wanted to give chase, but was stopped by Paola and Teodora. Niccolò Machiavelli then appeared, explaining to Ezio about the Assassin Order, and all of them being members of it. Ezio was officially inducted in the Order that night.

Battle of Forlì
Later that same year, Ezio and Machiavelli traveled back to Forlì, where they planned to keep the Apple safe. They met up with Caterina Sforza, an ally of the Assassins, and she assured them the Apple would be safe in the Rocca di Ravaldino. As they reached the town, they noticed it was being attacked by Checco and Ludovico Orsi, who had been hired by the Borgia to find the Apple of Eden.

They fought their way through the city until they had it in their control again, though Caterina Sforza soon discovered two of her children had been taken by the Orsi brothers, who were willing to trade them for the Apple. Ezio was sent out to liberate the children while Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza kept the citadel secure.

Ezio quickly managed to save Bianca and Ottaviano Riario, killing Ludovico in the process. When he returned to the city, Ezio found that Checco had managed to obtain the Apple and had taken off with it, and thus he gave chase. He managed to catch up with Checco and killed him too, though he was wounded in the process. Just before passing out, Ezio saw a monk with a missing finger taking the Apple and setting off with it.

When he had recovered from his wounds, he sought out Darby O'Callahan, hoping he could reveal the identity of the mysterious monk. He was then directed back to Florence, suspecting the mysterious monk to be Girolamo Savonarola.

Bonfire of the Vanities
Ezio Auditore did not return to Florence until 1497, because he had traveled to Spain to thwart the Templars there. When he arrived in Florence, the city where he was born, he discovered it had changed considerably. Girolamo Savonarola had taken control over the city with the use of the Apple, and had turned Florence into a place where art and wealth was not allowed.

He met up with Machiavelli, and the two Assassins came up with a plan to break Savonarola's power, deciding they would take down his nine lieutenants in order to free the people from his tiranny. Meanwhile, La Volpe and Paola rallied the citizens to stand up to Savonarola.

After the death of his lieutenants, Savonarola too was assassinated by Ezio, though the mob had planned to burn him at the stake. Ezio then spoke to the citizens directly, telling them they were now free to do as they desired without obeying any particular ruler. Immediately after that, Ezio chased a Borgia guard who had taken off with the Apple and managed to retrieve the artifact.

Confrontation in the Vatican
Immediately after the retrieval of the Apple, an Assassin meeting was held in the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni, where the Apple was used to reveal the location of the Vault, which was underneath the Vatican. The Assassins decided to travel to Rome and cause a distraction, so that Ezio could infiltrate the Cappella Sistina and enter the Vault.

Ezio Auditore and Rodrigo Borgia faced each other in the Sistine Chapel, with both of them possessing a Piece of Eden. After the fight, Rodrigo attempted to enter the Vault.

However, Rodrigo couldn't open the Vault, and Ezio revealed to him that he had never been the Prophet. The two of them then got into a fistfight and Ezio, being victorious, entered the Vault where he found Minerva. Once Minerva had given her warning and had dissapeared, Ezio made his way out of the Vault and met up with his uncle Mario, who helped him to escape the Vatican. Together, they traveled back to Monteriggioni.

Fall of Monteriggioni
The day after the arrival of Ezio and Mario in Monteriggioni, the town was besieged by Borgia forces under the command of Cesare Borgia. The attack was fierce and the Borgia heavily outnumbered Monteriggioni's mercenaries, resulting in them taking the town without too much effort.

The attack on Monteriggioni resulted in the death of Mario Auditore and the imprisonment of Caterina Sforza, who had also been in the town. Ezio, Maria and Claudia Auditore managed to escape through a secret passage in the Sanctuary beneath the Villa Auditore, along with most of the citizens. Ezio immediately traveled to Rome, knowing that was where the Borgia were based, and was thus the base of the Templar power.

From that moment onwards, Monteriggioni became an abandoned and ruined town, without any of the status it had when it was still ruled by the Auditore family.

Liberation of Rome
Ezio collapsed on his way to Rome due to injuries he had sustained during the Siege of Monteriggioni, but he was cared for by Margherita dei Campi. After recovering, Ezio met up with Machiavelli and the two discussed how to free Rome. Ezio started of by burning one of the Borgia Towers that the Borgia had built around the city, sending a signal to the citizens as well as to the Borgia.

Ezio then focused on rebuilding Rome's underground factions, La Volpe Addormentata, The Rosa in Fiore and the Caserma di Alviano. By doing this, Ezio enforced the Assassins Guild with allies and met up with old friends of his, La Volpe and Bortolomeo d'Alviano, as well as his mother and sister, who would now lead the Rosa in Fiore.

The next important action in the Liberation of Rome was Ezio's infiltration of the Castel Sant'Angelo, where the Borgia had imprisoned Caterina Sforza. Both Rodrigo Borgia and his son Cesare were away from the Castel, leaving Ezio with no chance to assassinate them, but he did confront Lucrezia Borgia in order to free Caterina Sforza. After returning to the Tiber Island Hideout, Ezio took some time to hunt down several Templar Agents.

From that moment on, the Assassins started thwarting the Borgia even more than before, having decided to break Cesare's power while he was not in Rome. Ezio started of by seeking out Egidio Troche and enlist his help in finding the Banker, the mysterious man that supplied Cesare with the money he needed for his conquests.

Ezio soon discovered the Banker to be Juan Borgia the Elder, a cousin of Cesare Borgia himself, and managed to assassinate him during one of his parties. Soon after that, Ezio made his way to Bartolomeo d'Alviano, and discovered his wife, Pantasilea Baglioni, to be imprisoned by the French general Octavian de Valois. Using several French armors, the Assassins and several mercenaries managed to enter the French camp, Castra Praetoria, and Ezio managed to kill Octavian, freeing Pantasilea and breaking even more of Cesare's power.

After having recovered the key to the Castel Sant'Angelo from Pietro Rossi, Ezio once again infiltrated the building. Once he reached its top, he witnessed how Cesare murdered his father after the latter had attempted to poison him. Lucrezia then told him where the Apple of Eden had been hidden, and Ezio managed to recover it before Cesare could do so.

The Assassins then used the Apple to break Cesare's power in Rome, and Cesare was eventually imprisoned by the new Pope, Julius II, and locked up in the Castel Sant'Angelo. However, after a failed escape attempt, he was transferred to the Castillo de la Mota in Spain.

Battle of Agnadello
In 1509, the French army and the Venetian army were involved in a clash in the fields of Agnadello. The military conflict was a great failure for Venice, who lost more than 4000 men in the battle. Despite this, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, one of the commanders of the Venetian army, managed to put up a good fight agains the French.

Modern Times
During the early 21st Century, Abstergo Industries, a front company for the Templar Order, had a presence in Italy, whilst the Assassins continued to maintain a presence of their own. In 2012, Abstergo held Desmond Miles, an Assassin, hostage and used him as subject 17 for their Animus Project, having him relive the memories of one of his ancestors, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad. Lucy Stillman, and undercover Assassin, managed to free him and they escaped to the Hideout, where they met up with Rebecca Crane and Shaun Hastings. Desmond then started reliving the memories of Ezio Auditore. When their Hideout was compromised and Abstergo came to take Lucy and Desmond back, they made their way to Monteriggioni, where they found shelter in the Sanctuary beneath the Villa Auditore.

When Desmond discovered where Ezio had hidden the Apple, the Assassins made their way to the Santa Maria in Aracoeli, where they discovered the Temple of Juno.