Maffeo Polo (c. 1230 – c. 1309) was a Venetian merchant and explorer, the brother of Niccolò Polo, and the uncle of Marco Polo. Through their travels, Maffeo and his brother became influential members of the Assassin Order, who founded several Assassins Guilds, such as in the Byzantine Empire and Italy.
Biography
Maffeo traveled extensively between 1252 and 1294, but it was in the year of 1257 that Maffeo and his brother ventured to the aged fortress of Masyaf to meet with Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins. Together, the two spent six months in Masyaf, and while his brother was by Altaïr's side frequently, Maffeo grew restless, longing to set sail and leave the Assassin fortress behind. To counter his brother's boredom, Niccolò told him about the fortress' Assassin heritage.
During the preliminary Mongol attacks on the Masyaf castle in 1257, the Mentor gave the Polo brothers his Codex, and guided them out of the fortress with the help of an Apple of Eden, an advanced technological device created by the First Civilization, in order to fend off Mongol invaders.
At the bottom of Masyaf, Altaïr bequeathed five keys to Maffeo's brother, asking him to keep them safe. Although the two safely carried the keys in their travels, the Codex was lost two days later during an attack by a Mongol scouting party. Following these events, the Polos, then honorary members of the Assassin Order, returned to Constantinople; their mission being to set up a trading post and establish a Guild in the city. Before they died, they distributed the keys across the city and surrounding area.
Generations later, Sofia Sartor operated a bookstore out of the Polos' old trading post in the heart of the city, and eventually helped her future husband Ezio Auditore da Firenze locate four of the five keys by translating books hidden by the Polos throughout Constantinople.
Trivia
- In the Italian version of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Maffeo Polo is mistakenly referred to as "Matteo Polo".
Gallery
References