Bartolomeo d'Alviano

"It will take more than just the two... three of us to defeat Silvio."

- Ezio to Bartolomeo and his sword, Bianca, before the assault on l'Arsenale

Bartolomeo d'Alviano (1455 – 1515) was an Assassin and Italian condottiero (mercenary leader).

Early life
Bartolomeo was born in the town of Alviano, and was the son of Francesco d'Alviano and Isabella degli Atti.

Bartolomeo somehow found his way into the Assassin Order and positioned himself in the Castello district of Venice.

Retaking the Castello district
By 1486, the Templar Silvio Barbarigo had taken control over the Castello district, and had captured most of Bartolomeo's men, including Bartolomeo himself. Luckily for him, Ezio Auditore, the son of the late Assassin Giovanni Auditore, came to his rescue and the two fought their way back to Bartolomeo's headquarters.

After Bartolomeo found his precious sword "Bianca," he asked Ezio to rescue some of his men who had been captured by Silvio's. Ezio successfully rescued each of the mercenaries and, upon returning to Bartolomeo, was instructed by the latter to position some of the men throughout the district, in order to regain the lost territory. Bartolomeo explained that these men would stir up trouble once Ezio launched the signal, forcing Silvio to dispatch most of his guards, and in turn leave himself vulnerable. Ezio killed several guards on the marked locations and positioned the mercenaries there.

Bartolomeo gave Ezio some fireworks upon his arrival, to be used to signal the attack. Ezio climbed the highest viewpoint and launched the fireworks, after which Bartolomeo and his men fought against Dante Moro and some other guards. Ezio rushed to Bartolomeo's aid, and Dante fled to l'Arsenale. Bartolomeo and Ezio killed two brutes and followed Dante to the shipping port, where Ezio almost defeated Dante; though he escaped into l'Arsenale to run towards a docked ship with Silvio. The two of them were assassinated by Ezio before they could set sail on the ship, however. Bartolomeo thanked and congratulated Ezio on liberating the Castello district from Silvio's oppression, and the two parted ways.

Acquiring the Apple of Eden
Two years later, Bartolomeo met with some of the other Assassins, those who had been guiding Ezio Auditore over the past 12 years, to acquire the "Apple of Eden" from Rodrigo Borgia, the Grand Master of the Templar Order. However, when they reached Rodrigo's location, they found Ezio already fighting Rodrigo and his guards, and thus the Assassins rushed to his aid. After killing all the guards and severely wounding Rodrigo, the group all revealed themselves to be Assassins, which was previously unknown by Ezio. They then inducted Ezio into the order atop a tall tower and all performed a Leap of Faith into a haystack.

Battle against Pope Alexander VI
In 1496, Bartolomeo joined the Orsini in a battle against the Borgia, who were attempting to seize Orsini territory.

Bartolomeo's resources were cut down to three fortresses by the Borgia, but Bartolomeo's fighting spirit kept him going. Cesare Borgia completely cut off his surprise when he thought victory was near, but Carlo Orsini arrived just in time to support Bartolomeo, even wounding Cesare in the face.

Under Ferdinand II and Nicolò Orsini
In 1503, hired by Ferdinand II of Spain, Bartolomeo was determinant in the victory at the Battle of Garigliano over the French army, which started the Spanish domination over southern Italy. In 1507, together with Nicolò Orsini, Bartolomeo was rehired by the Republic of Venice. The following year, he defeated the Imperial Army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in Cadore, at Mauria and Pontebba, conquering Gorizia and Trieste. In the same year, Pordenone also fell, and the Serenissima assigned its seignory to Alviano himself.

Battle of Agnadello
In 1509, he fought in the Battle of Agnadello. He allegedly attacked the enemy without the authorization of the Orsini, then commander-in-chief. He was wounded as a result, but managed to recover and rally his troops. He won the hearts of the citizens of Agnadello, where the Shroud of Eden was located, and they in turn helped Bartolomeo and his men in getting resources.

However, he was still captured by the French; Louis XII placed Bartolomeo in jail. In 1513, after the alliance between France and Venice against the Duchy of Milan, he was freed and later fought under the French commander Louis de la Trémoille. He was defeated at Vicenza by the Spanish viceroy of Naples, Ramón de Cardona.

Later life
Later, Bartolomeo conquered and sacked Pordenone, which in the meantime had fallen again to the House of Habsburg. He was subsequently a protagonist of the French victory at Marignano (September 1515), in which he attacked the Swiss mercenary with a corps of only 300 knights. Later, he also managed to conquer Bergamo, but died in October of the same year while besieging Brescia.

Venice welcomed his body home with a grand ceremony, and he was buried in the church of Santo Stefano in Venice.

Trivia

 * Bartolomeo owned a large sword resembling a Scottish claymore, which he called "Bianca," the Italian word for "white." He was shown to be very protective of the sword, treating it like his own child.
 * It has been stated in an interview that you can acquire his sword by completing a mission for the mercenaries in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.