Uberto Alberti

Uberto Alberti (1416 – 1476) was an ally of the Templar Order and the Gonfaloniere of Florence during the Renaissance. Despite his reluctance, Uberto turned against his former allies Lorenzo de' Medici and the Auditore family.

Before his defection, Uberto was close friends with Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, though he personally authorized the arrest and execution of Giovanni and his family by order of the Templar Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia, in exchange for the promises of his own family's financial wellbeing.

Early life
"According to the history books, this man was a saint."

- Shaun Hastings, regarding Uberto Alberti.

Uberto Alberti lived in Florence for most of his life, and was a well-known and respected lawyer, with a majority of the prosecutions he made being successful, despite the fact that his legal skills were entirely self-taught. During his time as a lawyer, the Medici bank evicted his family, which made him thirst for revenge against the Medici family.

From this resentment, he came into contact with the Templars, who promised to give him what he desired in exchange for his cooperation. With this, Uberto agreed, and secretly conspired with them after his election in the Signoria, to which he began making ties with the Medici to gain Lorenzo's trust.

Working with the Medici
Uberto advised both Giovanni and Lorenzo on certain matters, and was involved in an interrogation of one of Rodrigo Borgia's men regarding the pre-planned assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza. He was put in charge of decoding a letter Giovanni had intercepted in Venice, though after it was deciphered by Antonio Maffei, Uberto disposed of it as part of his agreement. Uberto then had a copy of the letter, in its pre-deciphered state, made. From there, he then gave the letter to Giovanni and had him deliver it to Rome, in the Assassin's hopes of following the conspirator's trail.

After the near escape of Rodrigo Borgia from Giovanni in Rome, Uberto was among those called to a meeting held by the Spaniard. Taking part alongside the other Templars, Uberto was informed that Giovanni had to be disposed of in order for their plans to succeed.

Auditore execution
"In the absence of any compelling evidence to the contrary, I am bound to pronounce you guilty."

- Uberto to Giovanni.

Some time later, Ezio Auditore da Firenze stumbled upon Uberto in Giovanni's office, and while his father and the Gonfaloniere were conversing about something urgent, Ezio was dismissed by Giovanni before he could understand their discussion. Soon after, Giovanni sent Ezio on an errand to deliver a letter containing compelling evidence to Uberto, to which he did as his father asked, and swiftly made his way to Uberto's house.

Once Ezio had arrived, Uberto asked the young Florentine noble if he would like to stay at his house, presumably with the intent of murdering him, though Ezio declined. Moments before Ezio left, he caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure, who was in fact Rodrigo Borgia; the man behind the events that were yet to come.

Subsequent to receiving the letter, Uberto warranted the arrest of Giovanni, Federico, Petruccio, and Ezio for the crime of treason, going against the letter's intention. Afterwards, on the day of the execution at the Piazza della Signoria, Giovanni angrily reminded Uberto of the evidence that had been given to him by Ezio which proved his family innocent, though Uberto purposely claimed that he had no recollection of such evidence, before sentencing the three to death.

At the sight of their demise, Ezio ran towards the stage with his sword, claiming that he would kill Uberto for what he had done, but a Brute guard disarmed him before he was able to get close enough. However, on the urging of some of Giovanni's friends, a thief and a courtesan, Ezio fled from the scene.

Upon his escape from the guards, Ezio met up with the Auditore housemaid Annetta, who directed him to go to her sister's house, near to the Duomo. Once there, Annetta's sister, Paola, taught Ezio the skills necessary to elude attention and assassinate Uberto, and kept his mother and sister safe until he had managed to do so.

Death
After a few days of training Ezio, Paola tracked down Uberto's location so that Ezio's act of vengeance could take place. Following this, Ezio followed Uberto to the Santa Croce cloister, where he was attending an art exhibition of Andrea del Verrocchio.

There, Uberto conversed with Lorenzo de' Medici about the executions, and subsequently insulted him on his way to the exhibition. After Ezio had dispatched the guards patrolling the courtyard of Santa Croce, Uberto spoke with various attending nobles, who lauded him for the executions. Afterwards, Uberto noticed Ezio's approach, but he was too shocked to call the guards. In this moment, Ezio brutally killed Uberto with his Hidden Blade, stabbing him multiple times in the chest.? Accompanying this, Ezio avenged his father and brothers' death, and proclaimed to everyone in attendance that the Auditore were not dead, with himself being alive and that his family's legacy lived on through him.

Personality and characteristics
Uberto was a confident man whose belief in himself and his power bolstered on becoming an ally of the Templars. Even so, all of his actions were manipulated by Rodrigo Borgia, who promised Uberto the wealth that he required to keep his family secure.

Because of this, Uberto carried out any of Rodrigo's demands, never defying him, even when he was asked to execute his close friend's family. However, Uberto kept his true allegiances to himself, never sharing it with the family he loved and cared for, in the hope that the cost for keeping them safe outweighed his guilt for his betrayal.

Letter to Uberto's wife
After Ezio killed Uberto, he found an undelivered letter to Uberto's wife in his wallet. Written there was:

My love,

''I put these thoughts to paper in the hope that I might one day have the courage to share them with you. In time, you'll no doubt learn that I betrayed Giovanni, labeled him a traitor and sentenced him to die.''

''History will likely judge this to have been a matter of politics and greed. Know that it was not hate that forced my hand, but fear. When the Medici robbed us of all we owned, I found myself afraid. For you. For our son. For the future. What hope in this world for a man without proper means?''

''They offered me money, land and title in exchange for my collaboration. And so, this is how I came to betray my closest friend. However unspeakable the act, it seemed necessary at the time. And even now, looking back, I see no other way...''

Final words

 * Uberto: You would have done the same, to save the ones you love...
 * Ezio: Yes... I would. And I have!

Trivia

 * According to the Animus database, Uberto was not a Templar. However, when viewing the portraits of Ezio's victims in his room in the Villa Auditore, Uberto's portrait depicted otherwise.
 * During Uberto's database video, it could be seen that four ropes hung on the gallows in front of the Palazzo della Signoria, instead of the three shown in-game. Presumably, this fourth rope could have been meant for Ezio.
 * If Uberto was left alive for a few moments after he had seen Ezio, he would eventually break out of his shock and call for the guards to arrest Ezio.

Reference

 * Assassin's Creed II