Domenico Auditore

Domenico Auditore was the great-great-grandfather of Ezio Auditore da Firenze; a descendant of the Assassin Altaïr, and forefather to yet another named Desmond Miles. He lived around the late 13th and 14th Centuries and was the founder of Auditore family Villa in the town of Monteriggioni.

Following his death, Domenico Auditore was buried within the family crypt he had built in the city.

Biography
Domenico Was raised in Venice, Italy; subsequently becoming an apprentice sailor for an Adriatic based vessel when he was "barely old enough to walk", before carrying cargo for his father's patron – Marco Polo. One day, while looking for work in the harbor, he fell in love with a young woman, with whom he would maintain a relationship with whilst he continued to work as a sailor. Eventually, the two married, and a son was born.

One summer's afternoon, his patron called upon him; Domenico arrived to see both his father and an older man dressed in a "strange hooded cape" also there. Domenico's father revealed that he was an Assassin, and as such Domenico himself was destined to follow in his footsteps. The man in the hood – Dante Alighieri – would become his master. Dante would teach Domenico the ways of the Assassins, and in return Domenico would give him passage to Spain.

Preparing for the journey, Domenico met with Dante many times, purchasing supplies and talking about important things such as life, love, honor and justice. He taught him that society was set up by its rulers to control the people, to stop them from thinking and seeing the truth. Then, Dante showed him the Codex written by Altaïr, his forefather, that Marco Polo had acquired whilst visiting the court of Kublai Khan.

While returning to Ravenna to pick up his belongings, Dante died. Domenico went to announce the news to his father and patron, but before he could say a word, the two revealed that Dante had been murdered by the Knights Templar; they had been watching Dante and sought the Codex, which Dante was due to take to Spain. Domenico's father ordered him to leave immediately for Spain, telling him to take the Codex and his family with him. Marco Polo handed Domenico a small sheet of paper, bearing an Polo's own account number upon it, so that he might draw upon it when necessary.

He set sail the night with a ship filled with cargo to be sold in Barcelona. However, to avoid a coming storm, they were forced to take shelter in the harbour of Otranto. During the night, Pirates under the employ of the Templars snuck aboard the vessel. Domenico didn't see them until they were already aboard the ship. He hid with his family in the hold, broke the codex into pages, and placed them into boxes and containers.

Finding Domenico and his family, the pirates found them, and demanded the codex. Domenico could tell that they were drunk, and told them that he had thrown it overboard. Two of them held him down, whilst the rest raped his wife, before throwing her overboard. They eventually threw both Domenico and his son aboard as well, before stealing the vessels cargo and sinking the ship. Domenico and his son reached the shore, and the next day happened upon the corpse of his wife, which had washed up on shore.

Travelling by land, the two made way to Florence. Using Messer Polo's account, which he had memorised, Domenico rented a small room for his son before travelling to Venice to meet with his father and patron. Journeying in disguise, Domenico discovered that they had already been killed; he returned to Florence the next day. With the account of Marco Polo in his possession Domenice took to studying the classics, taking vocal lessons and collecting treatises on architecture. Impersonating a noble at the Florentine court, he took the name of Auditore and was accepted as a part of the city's nobility.

In the year 1290, Domenico constructed what would become the Auditore Villa in Monteriggioni. He trained his son to become an Assassin; killer of the Knights Templar, just like he was.

In 1296, before his death, Domenico constructed the Auditore family Crypt within the city, leaving his memoirs engraved on stone plaques throughout.

Trivia

 * While the in-game database claims that Domenico is Ezio's great-grandfather, Ezio's uncle Mario and the architect that helps the player rebuild Monteriggioni say that Domenico was Ezio's great-great-grandfather. It has been noted that the writer of the database, Shaun, used an incomplete family tree from the British archives as his source, which led to his mistake.
 * The actual commune of Monteriggioni was built in 1213 and was mentionned by Dante Alighieri in his "Inferno" while Domenico said Dante had died before he left Venice and built Monteriggioni. Though Domenico only built the villa and no the characteristic city walls mentioned in The Divine Comedy, which would allow for the reference in the Assassin's Creed Universe.