Antonio Maffei

Antonio Maffei (1450 - 1478) was one of the monks under the employ of Lorenzo de' Medici, though he worked with Uberto Alberti. As such, he was in league with Alberti's treachery towards Lorenzo and was one of the Pazzi conspirators who tried to assassinate the ruling family of Florence.

Assisting the Templars
Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, another ally of the Medici family, intercepted a letter from the suspected conspirators of the murder of the Duke of Milan in Venice, which was waxed with the Barbarigo family seal. As Giovanni showed the letter to Lorenzo and Alberti, the latter quickly realized that the contents were encrypted with a strange code, and that translating it would take several hours. Alberti then handed the letter to Father Maffei to work on.

Later that night Father Maffei handed the complete translation of the letter to Alberti, who praised him for the good work and told him to fetch Giovanni for his next mission. Before leaving, Alberti made him take a vow of silence, of not to tell anyone of the true contents of the letter. After fetching Giovanni from his residence and returning, he worked on a duplicate letter, as Alberti claimed they were unable to decode it, and handed the completed forged document for Giovanni to deliver to Rome.

After Giovanni's failure to capture Rodrigo Borgia, he returned to his Florentine home as his wife tended to his near-fatal wound. Father Maffei then appeared in front of the Auditore residence with armed guards, demanding entry and custody of the Assassin. However, Giovanni evaded capture as his eldest son bought him time to slip into a hidden passageway.

Pazzi Conspiracy and death


In 1478, Maffei met in a secret chamber under the Santa Maria Novella with Rodrigo Borgia and the other conspirators. Father Maffei showed up the next day during the assassination attempt against Lorenzo at the Duomo where he slashed Lorenzo's neck. Maffei fled with the other conspirators to Tuscany. He evidently went insane as he stood atop the tallest tower in San Gimignano, shouting sermons. Ezio assassinated him as Antonio spoke a sermon, though Antonio was the only conspirator not to tell Ezio about their meeting with Rodrigo Borgia.

Final Words
Antonio: Away with you, demon!

Ezio: Have some respect for death, my friend.

Antonio: ''I'll show you respect! -''

Ezio: ''No, I will. Che tu possa alfine trovare riposo nel corpo e nella mente''. (May your body and mind at last be still.) Requiescat in Pace. (Rest in peace.)

Trivia

 * In real life, Antonio Maffei was a monk who tried to kill Lorenzo. He sliced him below his right ear. He found refuge with Benedictine monks in the Badia Fiorentina across from the Palazzo Pazzi. He was arrested on May 3. His nose and ears were sliced off and he was later hanged from the Palazzo della Signoria.

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