Giovanni Auditore da Firenze

Overview

Giovanni Auditore da Firenze (1436 – 1476) was a Florentine nobleman, and head of the Auditore family in Florence. A banker working for the Medici family, Giovanni's true nature as an Assassin was known only to a few. Raised and trained along with his brother Mario from birth to be an Assassin, Giovanni had been aware of the Templar Order for almost all of his life.

Giovanni was also the husband of Maria Auditore, and father to Federico, Ezio, Claudia and Petruccio. He sought to induct his children into the Order, but had only revealed his allegiance to his wife by the time of his death; despite this, he had already begun to train his eldest son in the Assassin ways, albeit secretively.

Story

The second son, or grandson, of Ilario Auditore, Giovanni was born in Monteriggioni, in 1436, two years after his elder brother Mario. From an early age, both Giovanni and his brother were taught the ways of the Assassins, although Giovanni was also tutored in banking and other subjects as well.

With time, Giovanni left the family Villa and joined Ilario in Florence, where he was serving as Gonfaloniere to Cosimo de' Medici. In 1452, Giovanni met and married Maria de' Mozzi, to whom he revealed himself to be an Assassin. After four years, their first son Federico was born, followed by Ezio in 1459, Claudia in 1461, and Petruccio in 1463.

Sometime in 1454, Giovanni also aided the members of his Brotherhood in dealing with the Shroud. After Mario uncovered the artifact under Monteriggioni, he summoned his brother to bring it out of the city, and into the protection of the Order.

Giovanni also eventually revealed to Lorenzo de' Medici, his patron, his true nature as an Assassin, and undertook several missions for him behind the back of his own children. In 1476, Giovanni tracked down Rodrigo Borgia, Grand Master of the Templars, in a Florentine alleyway.

Although Giovanni managed to eliminate two of his bodyguards, and incapacitate the third, Rodrigo escaped. The Assassin handed the third guard over to the Uberto Alberti, the Gonfaloniere of justice, for questioning.

Through torture, the bodyguard revealed that Galeazzo Maria Sforza, the Duke of Milan was to be assassinated by the Templars, and Giovanni was quickly sent to prevent this. Though he arrived too late to save the Duke, Giovanni was able to eliminate some of his murderers whilst the Duke’s bodyguards killed the rest. With all the assassins dead, Giovanni searched the corpse of Giovanni Andrea Lampugnani, and found a pouch of coins stamped with the seal of Venice.

Arriving in Venice, Giovanni infiltrated the Basilica di San Marco, and eavesdropped on a group of men conversing in a nearby room. The two men then dispatched a courier, with a message for their master in Rome.

Giovanni chose to pursue the courier, before finally confronting him in a secluded area. After a lengthy battle, he overpowered and pinned down the courier, his hidden blade to the man’s throat. Refusing to answer his questions, the courier impaled himself on the blade, leaving Giovanni frustrated, albeit with a letter sealed with the crest of the House of Barbarigo. Returning to Florence, Giovanni presented the letter to Lorenzo de' Medici, although they found that it was encoded.

That night, Giovanni was summoned to meet with Lorenzo and Uberto. Before leaving, Maria reminded her husband that their son, Ezio, who was watching them from behind a nearby haystack, was becoming suspicious of his banker father having to leave the Palazzo at night so often. Giovanni promised that he would speak with him soon, and then left.

Arriving at the meeting, Uberto falsely claimed that Father Antonio Maffei had been unable to decrypt the letter, thus, the only course of action was for Giovanni to deliver the letter himself. Giovanni agreed, and headed for Rome with a copy of the letter in hand.

In Rome, he delivered the letter, and followed it until it reached the hands of Rodrigo Borgia. Giovanni followed Rodrigo into Basilica di San Pietro, where the two finally exchanged words. Rodrigo remarked his respect for the Assassin's skills, and offered him the chance to join the Templar Order, and live to see the "new world."

Giovanni refused, and was subsequently attacked by a number of Rodrigo's henchmen. Despite being heavily outnumbered, he prevailed, although a knife thrown by Rodrigo wounded him gravely, and allowed the Templar the opportunity to escape.

Returning home, Giovanni had his wife tend his wound, and confessed that he feared the assassination of the Duke of Milan had only been the beginning of a much wider conspiracy. Before he could go on however, the two were interrupted by their son Federico, who warned that Father Maffei had arrived with armed guards. Asking his son to provide him cover, Giovanni slipped out of the palazzo through a secret passage within the fireplace.

At some point after this, Giovanni found evidence suggesting Francesco de' Pazzi had committed murder, and he thus had Uberto Alberti arrest him. As a result, Francesco's son Vieri developed an intense rivalry with Ezio Auditore.

Following a brawl the two had on the Ponte Vecchio, Giovanni scolded his son for his behavior, although he noted that it reminded him of himself when he was younger. He then tasked Ezio with delivering a letter to Lorenzo, but was surprised to learn that Lorenzo had left the city for a short while. Undeterred, Giovanni had Ezio deliver several more letters, as well as pick up a letter from a pigeon coop near the Piazza della Signoria.

Whilst his son was away, however, armed guards sent by Uberto suddenly invaded the Palazzo Auditore and arrested Giovanni and his two other sons, taking them to be imprisoned in the tower of the Piazza della Signoria. Before long, Ezio had managed to climb the clock tower, where Giovanni told his son to empty his chest in the room behind the fireplace, and retrieve the evidence exonerating him and his family. Ezio did so, and delivered the evidence to Uberto that night.

The next day however, Giovanni was shocked to find Uberto and Rodrigo Borgia together, with Uberto denying ever receiving any evidence. Giovanni and his sons were then sentenced to death on the grounds of treason. A horrified Ezio, watching from below, cried out that Uberto was lying, but was unable to prevent his father's hanging.

Hours later, Giovanni's corpse was to be disposed of in the Arno, though Ezio was able to retrieve his, Federico's and Petruccio's bodies, and give them a proper funeral.