Maria Auditore da Firenze

"Go, my son, destroy them... but remember for whom we Assassins fight."

- Maria to her son Ezio.

Maria Auditore da Firenze (1432 – 1504), née de' Mozzi, was the wife of Giovanni Auditore, a prominent Florentine banker and member of the Assassin Order. She was the mother of four – Federico, Ezio, Claudia and Petruccio – and the sister-in-law of Mario Auditore.

Born into the noble Mozzi family, Maria liked to blend with "real citizens" when she was younger, leading to her chance meeting with the man who would later become her husband. As a member of the Auditore family, she continued to fraternize with the lower classes, developing a working relationship with the artist Leonardo da Vinci.

Early life
Maria de' Mozzi was born in Florence in 1432 into a powerful family. Her parents strongly protected her from the outside world, which she grew tired of by the age of 16. Her parents allowed her to open up a bakery inside the family palazzo. A week later, while in the bakery, she met "a man with such conviction I found myself rooted to the spot, I couldn't look anywhere else." This man, Giovanni Auditore, developed a close relationship with Maria, and two years later, they married.

Life as an Auditore
Following their marriage in 1452, Maria went to live with Giovanni in the latter's personal project, the Palazzo Auditore. Eventually, Maria gave birth to Federico, Ezio, Claudia and Petruccio. Additionally, Giovanni became inducted into the Assassin Order, a secret which she helped him keep from their children. Maria herself became inducted into the Order sometime thereafter.

In 1476, Giovanni, Federico and Petruccio were arrested by the Florentine government (in secret, for the Templars) and Maria was mistreated when she tried to stop the guards, causing her to go into shock. The three were tried and hanged, despite Ezio's attempt to prevent it. Maria, who had not spoken since the arrest, was brought to fellow Assassin Paola alongside Claudia. She remained there for a while, until Ezio came to pick them up, bringing them to the Villa Auditore in Monteriggioni. She remained sitting in prayer beside her bed, silent, for several years, not speaking until Ezio brought her a hundred feathers. She thanked Ezio for not forgetting about her, and afterwards slowly started regaining her temperament.

Later life in Rome
In January 1500, after Ezio had returned from Rome to discover "the Vault", Monteriggioni was besieged by the Borgia under the command of Cesare Borgia. Maria fled to the Sanctuary beneath the Villa, where she waited for Claudia and Ezio to join her.

From there, they fled Monteriggioni via a secret passageway. Ezio instructed Maria and Claudia to go to Florence, where they would be safe, while Ezio went to Rome to take down the Borgia once and for all. As Ezio began to ride off, Maria gave him her "parting words," telling him to destroy the Borgia and remember who they (the Assassins) fought for (the people). Unknown to Ezio, Maria and Claudia secretly followed Ezio to Rome, wanting to help him.

Traveling to the Assassins' hideout on Tiber Island, Maria and Claudia met with the Order's Grand Master, Niccolò Machiavelli, who told them to go look for Ezio at the Rosa in Fiore, Rome's most popular brothel. When they arrived, Ezio was not there, thus they spoke to the resident courtesans as they waited for him.

Shortly, Ezio arrived with news that the brothel's Madame, Madonna Solari, was dead. The courtesans needed someone to lead them, thus Claudia volunteered for the task. Maria helped her in controlling and managing the brothel, instructing her son to aid the girls wherever he could.

Meanwhile, her health slowly grew worse due to a long term illness, until she inevitably died in 1504.

Trivia

 * Maria seems to be a skilled surgeon, as she is seen stitching up Giovanni's near-fatal wound in Assassin's Creed: Lineage.
 * Maria only speaks three times throughout Assassin's Creed II: during Ezio's birth, in the quest "Friend of the Family," and when given 100 feathers.
 * Maria prays for 12-23 years, since all of the locations that have feathers are not unlocked until Sequence 9 of Assassin's Creed II.
 * Maria would have been 72 years old when she died, another possible hint at the code for the Colosseum Vault.