Welcome back everybody, my name Robius and
today I’m proud to share with you the twelfth
episode in the new iteration of Assassin’s
Creed the Real History. We’ll be picking
up where we left off in the previous video
by continuing the sub-series of these episodes
in which I chronologically cover the time
periods used as the backdrops for the various
Assassin’s Creed titles, filling you in
on their major historical events, breaching
the historical gaps left by the games and
introducing you to the individuals who actually
existed.
Having said that, this episode will concentrate
on the Italian Renaissance, which served as
the set piece for both Assassin’s Creed
2 and Brotherhood. Please be aware of story
spoilers throughout the entire video.
Before officially beginning this episode,
I’d like to first discuss the parameters
of this topic. It’s important to understand
that the Renaissance as a whole is considered
to be a centuries-long experience in European
history that breached the gap between the
cultural periods of the Middle Ages and the
Modern Era, which featured the rise of Humanist
beliefs and encouraged the acquisition of
knowledge and free thinking. For the sake
of this video, we’ll be specifically concentrating
on the Renaissance within Italy. Although
sources differ on the exact start and end
years of the Italian Renaissance, most can
generally agree that it occurred somewhere
within the 14th to the 16th century. Originally,
I intended to solely cover the sub-period
recognized as the High Renaissance, which
represented an approximate 30-year stretch
that encompassed much of the Assassin’s
Creed storyline. However, since the entire
beginning of Ezio’s story occurs prior to
these three decades, I instead decided to
provide you all with a general overview of
the entire Italian Renaissance, while putting
an emphasis on its later years. Therefore,
please keep in mind that since the Renaissance
is not a set event per say, but rather a period,
this video will be mainly centered on discussing
its general themes, while also specifically
concentrating on the events presented in the
games.
Now that I’ve clarified that, without further
ado, let’s discuss the history of the Italian
Renaissance prior to the events of Assassin’s
Creed. As I stated earlier, although many
historians disagree at exactly which time
the Italian Renaissance began, most tend to
point towards similar elements when discussing
its origins and the factors which led to its
occurrence. Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries,
the Italian region experienced significant
change. As a result of their involvement in
the Crusades, certain port-cities had obtained
access to valuable trade routes in the Levant,
greatly expanding their import of foreign
products and their subsequent sale to the
rest of Europe, thus providing the area as
a whole with newfound wealth. These financial
benefits were among the multiple elements
that played a role in the rise of the Italian
merchant class. As the region established
itself further, in the form of consolidated
city-states, this cultural and financial shift
lead to a steady decline in feudalism, and
opened the way for strong, independent governments.
With the rise of the Italian financial sector,
and the creation of international banks and
foreign exchange markets, both merchants and
bankers were among the most important political
players within this new societal structure,
in which old laws were re-written. In this
period, the concept of patronage saw a brief
resurgence as the wealthy began commissioning
works.
Unfortunately, this period of change was soon
stifled. The economy was struck by recession,
only worsened by the Hundred Years’ War
between the Kingdoms of France and England,
and the actions of the Ottoman Empire at the
time, which negatively impacted trade profits.
In addition, the Black Death also struck from
the mid-1340s to early 1350s, eventually leading
to the death of anywhere from 1/3rd to nearly
½ of the European population. These significant
circumstances led to further important developments
within the Italian culture. A stand-out example
of this was how the sudden decrease in available
labour meant that the remaining workers were
gradually paid more. Subsequently, as the
economic crisis began to pass, new banking
families, among which stood the Medici, rose
to prominence as much of their earlier competition
had now been wiped out.
It’s also worth mentioning the fall of Constantinople
to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, which ultimately
led to a mass exodus of eastern scholars who
sought refuge in Italy and brought with them
elements from their traditional Greek culture.
Another important component to understand
was the political status of the region. Through
years of in-fighting, the various city-states
had battled for control while outside influences
vied for their own piece of the region. These
wars, mainly fought by mercenaries that were
contracted by the city-states, instead of
standing armies, spanned for decades. However,
by the 1450s it became clear that Florence,
Venice, Naples and Milan represented the most
significant factions. Eventually, these city-states
were able to broker a peace agreement, in
favor of pursuing economic success instead
of military expansionism. These non-aggression
pacts led to decades of diplomatic negotiations
between the city-states, instead of outright
war, with most agreeing to discourage the
interference of external powers in their local
affairs.
It was within this new climate that most historians
state the Italian Renaissance truly began,
due to the opportunity created by these specific
circumstances which allowed for the emergence
of cultural changes, the likes of which had
not been seen for centuries.
Florence specifically is considered by most
to be the original birthplace of the Renaissance.
With the new re-distribution of wealth among
a rich merchant and banking class, leading
figures within the city-state set an example
by demonstrating their wealth as a status
symbol through patronage. It is consequently
stated that the Medici family were among the
most important patrons of the period. This
in turn with the city’s thriving economy
quickly earned it the title of being the cultural
center of Europe. The concept of patronage,
which had only seen a brief resurgence prior
to this revitalization, allowed artists, poets,
musicians, authors, scholars, architects and
the like, to commit themselves fully to their
craft. The fact that these individuals were
now able to work on these projects full time,
consequently led to a period of explosive
creativity. Soon after, although Florence
was its birthplace, the movement quickly spread
to neighbouring city-states with their various
rulers and wealthy figures embracing the concept
of becoming a patron of the arts. Notably,
it was under Pope Nicholas V that the church
also became more involved in this patronage,
going so far as to invest heavily in the renovation
of Rome.
Beyond simply funding the arts, this system
also furthered the work of various intellectuals
who explored different scientific, mathematic
and philosophical avenues. The discoveries
made, the art created, the thoughts pondered
and the stories written were also distributed
throughout Europe to an unprecedented degree
due to the recent advent of the printing press,
which finally made this type of knowledge,
once a rare commodity, far more accessible.
Historians point to the availability of this
information as a partial cause for the return
of a more classical education model, which
is believe to have ended a lengthy interval
of cultural stagnation.
Chronologically, this would represent the
point where the plotline of Assassin’s Creed
2 would finally begin, skipping ahead from
Ezio’s 1459 birth and introducing the players
to the Florentine noble during a brawl with
his rival in 1476.
At this point in time, the city was culturally
thriving with many new artists starting their
careers within. Leonardo da Vinci was one
such individual, who’d just recently completed
his apprenticeship and had officially begun
accepting professional commissions. It was
within this atmosphere that he first met Ezio
in the game.
Unfortunately, Assassin’s Creed 2’s narrative
soon took a darker turn and following a series
of fictional events which saw the execution
of his father and brothers, his summary retaliation
against the executioner and his subsequent
retreat from Florence, Ezio quickly found
himself embroiled in a very real conspiratorial
plot. Historically speaking, the current ruler
of Florence was Lorenzo de’ Medici, a member
of the wealthy banking family. Following in
the footsteps of his predecessors, Giovanni
and Cosimo, he did much for promoting the
culture of patronage in Florence, with many
stating that it reached its peak in the city
under his rule, as he personally sponsored
a variety of artists. It was through such
ventures that he met and became friends with
the scholar Angelo Ambrogini. However, although
Lorenzo had successfully maintained good relations
with some of the neighbouring city-states,
his rapport with the papacy had rapidly gone
from mediocre to abysmal. This led a group
of conspirators, who opposed the Medici rule
of Florence, and mainly consisted of bankers
and members of the church operating with the
technical approval of Pope Sixtus IV, to organize
a coup d’état. The goal would be to kill
the ruling Medici family members and replace
them with Girolamo Riario, who was the nephew
of the Pope, as the new Lord of Florence.
This plot came to be known as the Pazzi conspiracy,
as it was believed to be spearheaded by the
Pazzi banking family, with Jacopo de’ Pazzi
and Francesco de’ Pazzi at its head. In
the game, Ezio became aware of the plot when
tracking individuals he believed were involved
in his family’s death. Quickly piecing it
together, the Florentine noble soon realized
what was going to happen and decided to try
and prevent it. In actuality, on Sunday, April
26th 1478 the plot was put into effect and
in the midst of High Mass, the conspirators
struck. Lorenzo de’ Medici was injured by
his assailants, but managed to flee and hide
with the help of his friend Poliziano. Unfortunately,
Lorenzo’s brother, Giuliano de’ Medici
was stabbed to death by two of the conspirators.
Ultimately, due to the disorganization of
their efforts, and Lorenzo’s survival, the
conspiracy failed.
In Assassin’s Creed 2’s depiction, this
was largely due to Ezio’s interference,
since although he was too late to save Giuliano,
he successfully protected Lorenzo from being
killed. Thereafter, in the game Ezio killed
Francesco de’ Pazzi and had his body hung,
while the other conspirators fled, only to
be systematically hunted down and assassinated
by the young man throughout the following
year. Although the aftermath of the conspiracy
slightly differed in the game from the history,
they did share a few notable parallels. For
example, many records point to the fact that
Francesco de’ Pazzi was in fact hung from
the walls of the city hall, and that most
of the other conspirators were also executed
within the following years for their involvement.
It’s worth mentioning that unlike in the
game, Francesco Salviati was hung alongside
Francesco de’ Pazzi immediately after the
failed coup, while Jacopo de’ Pazzi and
many of the other conspirators were later
captured, tortured and hung in Florence at
different intervals. Among the individuals
who fled with Jacopo when failure was in sight
were Bernardo di Bandino Baroncelli, Stefano
da Bagnone and Antonio Maffei. Therefore,
it would be safe to say that these remaining
conspirators weren’t all hunted down by
a sole assassin.
The game’s narrative then has Ezio following
in the footsteps of his friend, Leonardo da
Vinci, by beginning his travels to Venice
in hopes of tracking down more of the men
involved in executing his family members.
It’s worth mentioning that historically,
da Vinci would not actually leave for Venice
until years later. Nonetheless, during his
travels, Ezio briefly met and befriended Caterina
Sforza, the wife of Girolamo Riario, Lord
of Imola and Forlì, and former Pazzi conspirator.
Soon after the protagonist reached Venice
and again uncovered another conspiracy organized
by the fictional Templars, however instead
of being rooted in historical fact, this one
was more tied-into popular rumors of the period.
In the game, during his subsequent years in
Venice, Ezio discovered that the Templars
initially sought to turn the Doge of Venice,
the city’s titular leader, to their cause
but when this failed they instead turned to
the idea of killing him and replacing the
man with one of their own. This led to a series
of missions in which Ezio enlisted the help
of the local Thieves’ Guild and Leonardo
da Vinci, eventually succeeding in using one
of the inventor’s flying machines to breach
the walls of the Doge’s residence. In the
game, Ezio arrives too late, with Doge Giovanni
Mocenigo having already been poisoned, leading
the assassin to instead kill the fictional
Templar conspirator and flee as he is accused
of the murder. Historically speaking, there
is no record of such an assassination plot,
however it was postulated by certain sources
of the period that the Doge may have in fact
been poisoned in 1485.
Thereafter, Marco Barbarigo was elected as
the new Doge of Venice. Assassin’s Creed
2 presents him as one of the Templar conspirators
involved in the earlier plot, and their chosen
candidate to rule Venice in accordance with
the Templar agenda. This again led to another
series of fictional missions which saw Ezio
coordinate with da Vinci and his allies over
the following year to both build an early
version of a wrist-mounted pistol and gain
him access to the Venetian Carnevale celebrations
where he would finally succeed in killing
Marco Barbarigo. Thereafter, Ezio’s allies
explain that the man’s brother, Agostino
Barbarigo, would be replacing Marco as Venice’s
Doge and usher in a period of legitimacy.
When reviewing the actual history, it’s
important to note that Marco Barbarigo did
die within a year of his rule as Doge, although
he was not killed during Carnevale. In fact,
records differ on his exact cause of death,
with some simply indicating that his passing
may have been a product of infighting with
other nobles. In the end however, he was indeed
replaced by his brother Agostino Barbarigo
as the Doge of Venice in 1486.
The game then presents a completely invented
narrative in which Ezio eliminates the remaining
Barbarigo influence in Venice and manages
to acquire a Piece of Eden. This leads to
another historical event in 1488. Within AC2,
the Assassin order decides to move this newly
discovered Piece of Eden to Forlì, where
it may be defended by their ally Caterina
Sforza. Upon his arrival, Ezio is presented
with a dilemma. Caterina had originally hired
the brothers Ludovico and Checco Orsi to kill
her husband, Girolamo Rirario for being a
Templar conspirator, thus giving her the technical
control of his cities. However these same
Orsi brothers were then tasked by the Templar
Order to take control of Forlì and acquire
both a codex map and the Piece of Eden. During
the siege they captured Caterina’s children,
Bianca and Ottaviano Riario, and tried to
use them as leverage. In the end, Ezio succeeded
in liberating the city, freeing the children
and killing the Orsi brothers, at the cost
of being severely wounded and losing the Piece
of Eden. Although the event presented in the
game definitely holds ties to the actual occurrence,
there were multiple fictionalized components.
Historically speaking, there is no record
of Caterina hiring the Orsi to act as her
assassins. In fact, most sources point to
the idea that the Orsi acted of their own
accord, killed Girolamo and attempted to capture
the city as whole, in which time they took
Caterina and her children as prisoners. They
were unable to take the fortress within, at
which point Caterina said she would negotiate
the surrender on their behalf and would leave
her children with them as collateral. However,
once she entered the fortress she defied them
and was able to hold the Orsi off until support
from her Uncle arrived and Caterina was able
to re-gain control of the city. Despite records
being limited on this confrontation, many
point to the fact that much of the Orsi family
involved in the conspiracy then fled into
exile, including the brothers.
Within the game, Ezio recovers from his injuries
over time and recommences his hunt for the
Piece of Eden. During this time period, the
game parallels the actual history by featuring
the ascension of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia to
the Papacy as Pope Alexander VI in 1492. According
to the AC2 narrative, he was the Grandmaster
of the Italian Templar Order and sought this
position of power to gain access to another
Piece of Eden and a Precursor Site.
Nevertheless, we continued to follow Ezio
in his hunt for his Piece of Eden, which led
him to discover that it had been acquired
by the Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola.
The game had the priest use this powerful
artifact to manipulate the population of Florence,
having it turn against its current ruler,
Piero de’ Medici, the son of Lorenzo, and
instead recognize him as the city-state’s
de facto ruler in 1494. In reality, although
this did occur it was due to a distaste of
the ruling Medici, the tumultuous military
stand-off with France, and the effectiveness
of his sermons that Savonarola was actually
able to take control of the city. Within this
position of power, he preached about reformation,
the cleansing of corruption within the church
and eventually the destruction of items which
represented human sins. This led to an event
known historically as the bonfire of the vanities
in which the people of Florence disposed of
art, literature and a large variety of other
items into public bonfires meant to cleanse
away their sins of vanity and their glorification
of secular pieces. Although his rule of the
city arguably stretched for a few years it
was finally brought to an end in 1498. The
game credits this downfall to the interference
of the Assassins in his affairs, who eventually
succeeded in turning the population against
him, when in reality Savonarola’s loss of
power is more-so attributed to his recent
excommunication by the Pope and how he failed
to meet the challenges of some of his contemporaries,
leading the preacher to be condemned to death.
Historically, he was hanged and burned, however
AC2 has Ezio kill him before he is burned
at the stake, and afterwards retrieve the
Piece of Eden he had lost.
Notably, the friar’s downfall preceded the
rise of a few important political figures
within Florence, among which were Niccolò
Machiavelli, who at the time was beginning
his more than decade-long direct involvement
with the city-state’s politics.
It is also essential to recognize that this
time period represented the opening of the
Italian Wars, which were fundamentally over
six decades of fighting that originally erupted
over the dynastic rule of certain Italian
city-states by foreign leaders, but quickly
devolved into years of conflict over the control
of large portions of the region. The involvement
of other countries in regional politics once
again prompted a large influx mercenary armies
to be employed by certain city-states, with
individuals like Bartolomeo d'Alviano making
their mark on history during these conflicts
by standing against and defeating certain
armies sent by empires to conquer the cities
they defended.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, there is a general
disagreement on the exact duration of the
Renaissance. Certain sources point to the
rise of Savonarola and the subsequent events
displayed in the Bonfire of the Vanities as
its technical end. However, most tend to believe
that this point in time did not represent
the overall end, but rather simply the decline
of Florence’s role in the movement. In fact,
many list the period that follows as the High
Renaissance, when the movement began to take
center stage in the cities of Venice and Rome
in the 1490s, at which point it was felt the
artists had reached the pinnacle of their
creation process, utilizing all the new methods
and practices developed throughout the earlier
years of the period.
Nevertheless, back in the game, having just
acquired his precursor artifact Ezio finally
faces-off against and spares the life of Pope
Alexandre VI, discovers the Vault and its
message and flees Rome as a result. This fictional
sequence leads to the equally invented opening
of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood in which
Cesare Borgia, son of the pope, lays siege
to Monteriggioni and defeats the Assassins
within, taking back the Piece of Eden. In
response, Ezio makes his way to Rome to launch
a campaign with the goal of eliminating the
Borgia and the Templars, while re-establishing
his own order. Now, although the siege of
Monteriggioni was entirely fictional, it was
representative of the military campaigns launched
by Cesare Borgia against his adversaries in
Italy at the time. It’s important to recognize
that this opening segment of the game represented
the time period in which Cesare was just launching
his military career and had begun conquering
neighbouring regions in the name of the Papal
States.
Nevertheless, during his early days in Rome,
Ezio came across Nicolaus Copernicus who’d
historically been working on a few astronomy-based
projects in the city that year. Although the
interaction where he and his contemporaries
are accosted by church representatives, for
the content of their speeches which opposed
religious teaching, was fictionalized, it
was symbolic of the type of push-back scientific
figures would still experience during the
period.
Within a year of his arrival, Ezio had identified
that Caterina Sforza was a prisoner in the
Castel Sant’Angelo. He made a daring attempt
to save her and succeeded in freeing Caterina
despite the efforts of Lucrezia Borgia, who
was likely in the city at the time as she
was between her second and third political-based
marriages, organized by her father the Pope.
This sequence is interesting because certain
elements were accurate while others weren’t.
First, Caterina had been initially captured
when Cesare laid siege to her fortress in
Forli, instead of how the game demonstrated
her being captured in Monteriggioni. Then,
although she was finally freed from the Castel
Sant’Angelo in 1501, it clearly wasn’t
through the efforts of the Assassin order,
but rather through the intervention of the
French army as they travelled through Rome.
Once his ally was secured, Ezio launched a
campaign to hunt down Cesare’s commanders.
His first target in this endeavour was Juan
de Borja Lanzol de Romaní, el mayor. Although
his depiction as one of Cesare’s generals
and the de facto banker for his military campaigns
was fictionalized, he was in fact one of the
so-called Cardinal-nephews who’d been granted
his position when his Borgia relative was
made pontiff. The known circumstances surrounding
his death are limited, other than he is thought
to have died in mid-1503, which allowed the
game writers to have Ezio kill him around
this time. Furthermore, the party at which
he was killed in the game, stylized as a pagan
orgy of sorts, was a perfect example of the
type of festivities that the Borgia family
were accused of hosting throughout their reign.
Thereafter, Ezio set off to hunt down the
fictitious French commander who served alongside
Cesare, with the assassin seeking the help
of his ally Bartolomeo d’Alviano and his
wife Pantasilea Baglioni. It’s worth saying
that although the couple and their allies
would have been at odds with the Borgia at
this time, they likely would not have been
in Rome. In addition, despite there not being
any French troops under the Captain-General’s
command at the time, this was again symbolic
of the current state of affairs in Italy during
the period. Throughout these years, agreements
and alliances were made with France by the
Borgia that had them providing their support
to Cesare during some of his various Italian
military campaigns.
Brotherhood then had Micheletto Corella as
the final so-called General serving under
Cesare, who to be fair was perhaps the most
realistic individual to be demonstrated in
such a position. During different intervals
in the story, Micheletto is shown acting both
as Cesare’s military commander, leading
his troops at certain points, and as Cesare’s
personal assassin, such as when the game had
him kill Francesco Troche. Historically speaking,
although it isn’t fully confirmed, there
is much speculation that this man may have
been killed while serving the Borgia due to
his indiscretions. However, in terms of Micheletto’s
depiction, as is a clear theme with the Borgia
family and their close associates, due to
the large amount of rumors and disputed claims
concerning their lives, it is best to say
his portrayal matched well with his generally-accepted
history.
It is also worth bringing up that this represented
a period of increased resistance to Borgia
control in Rome. In fact, an alliance of the
Orsini, Colonna and Savelli families, led
in part by the soldier Fabio Orsini, even
made a brief attempt to take city, although
they were unsuccessful and were forced to
flee as Cesare made his way back to defend
his father’s holdings. This however was
only one example of how the Borgia control
had begun to weaken.
In the game, with the generals defeated, Cesare
was left with limited power. This led to a
conflict with his father the Pope, which Brotherood
depicted by having the pontiff try to poison
his son. When this failed, Cesare retaliated
by killing the Pope. This entire segment was
completely fiction-based, although it is believed
that after sharing a meal together the two
Borgia men became severely ill with Cesare
eventually recovering, while Pope Alexander
VI passed away. Although the circumstances
differ from the game to reality, they lead
to the same to conclusion in which Borgia
influence in Rome steeply declines following
the death of their pope, and comes to an ultimate
end when Cesare is later arrested by order
of the new pontiff.
Chronologically, after this power struggle,
in the midst of Cesare’s imprisonment, Assassin’s
Creed Brotherhood creates another fictional
series of missions in which the artist Leonardo
da Vinci is kidnapped by a secret cult who
required his talents to discover the entrance
to an ancient temple. To save his friend,
Ezio decides to work alongside the artist’s
assistant Salaì, using the young man’s
knowledge of Leonardo’s recent works to
help ascertain clues to his location.
Then, in Brotherhood’s final confrontation,
Ezio met Cesare during the 1507 siege of Viana.
Here they battled, at which point Ezio let
Borgia fall of the walls to his death. In
reality, although Cesare was involved in the
conquest of Viana, he never made it into the
castle and was instead killed in combat when
fighting a fleeing group of the knights defending
the fortress.
As this battle between the Italian assassin
and the Borgia noble represented the last
event in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, from
this point on we will discuss the history
of the Renaissance following the timeline
of the AC titles. It can be said that the
remaining years of the High Renaissance period
in Italy were filled with the creation of
further artistic masterpieces and the continued
development of the region. In particular,
figures like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and
Michelangelo became emblematic symbols of
this period of creativity.
Venice consolidated its seaborne trade market
and brought in significant profits, while
the Papacy, specifically under the reigns
of Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X continued
to maintain Rome’s position as the new heart
of patronage within Italy.
As a quick note, it was in this period that
Martin Luther began a movement in 1517 which
led to the Reformation, and created a fundamental
schism within the Roman Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, it is agreed by many sources
that the Italian Renaissance came to its end
in 1527, during the reign of Pope Clement
VII, following the sack of Rome which was
conducted by Imperial and Spanish troops.
This devastating act led to the exodus of
the papacy from the city, the decline of Independent
rule in the war-torn Italian region, and a
general ramping down to the levels of cultural
development which had been experienced over
the past decades.
Despite this regrettable deterioration of
such an important period of change, it is
essential to remember that Italy was simply
its birthplace, and that the movement had
already spread across Europe. One need only
look at the actions of certain Italian artists,
like Leonardo da Vinci, who emigrated to France
in 1516, to see that the Italian Renaissance
was only the beginning of a Europe-wide cultural
evolution.
Having arguably reached the end of the Italian
Renaissance, I feel that we can now move on
to the video’s final chapter and review
everything we’ve learned so far and compare
the game’s depiction to the actual history.
Before starting this analysis, given the massive
size of this video, I think it’s only fair
to say that I’ll be solely concentrating
on the major story elements for this review
and will omit the minor details related to
specific characters. Those will likely be
discussed within the individual characters’
videos at a later date.
I’ll begin by reviewing the completely fictionalized
components of the games. The first of these
major points was Ezio’s attack on Pope Alexander
VI at the end of AC2. Although there had been
apparent assassination attempts on the Pope’s
life, there was never anything quite to the
degree of a man charging him in the middle
of mass, only to lead to a battle between
the individuals. The next one which come to
mind was the Siege of Monteriggioni. This
acted as the primary catalyst for Ezio’s
entire story in Brotherhood, and the whole
battle was actually just invented for the
sake of the game, with the writers taking
elements from Cesare’s attack of Forli,
like Caterina Sforza’s capture, and attributing
them to this fictional battle instead. Lastly,
it should go without saying, but for the sake
of consistency, I’ll remind you that premise
of the Templar vs Assassin battle for the
Pieces of Eden, which drove the main narrative
for both of these games was clearly 100% fictionalized.
With all of these points cleared up, let’s
move on to the portions of the game that took
inspiration from real historical events, but
that the writers altered to fit the games’
storylines. In chronological order, these
were as follows; The first was the Pazzi Conspiracy,
which was altered to be a plot organized by
Rodrigo Borgia that only failed due to the
interference of Ezio Auditore. Next was the
succession of Venetian Doges, which was altered
by presenting a rumor as fact, when they had
Doge Mocenigo poisoned and replaced by Marco
Barbarigo, and further changed the history
by having this new Doge killed by Ezio. After
this was the Siege in Forli whereby the Orsi’s
attack on the city wasn’t credited to the
family’s goals, but was rather attributed
to a Templar plot to re-take a Piece of Eden.
As the last manipulation of the AC2 history,
we saw the game credit Savonarola’s rise
to power Florence to acquiring this same Piece
of Eden instead of correctly representing
his ascension as a product of their actual
political, military and religious circumstances.
Within the scope of Brotherhood, the entire
concept of Ezio hunting down Cesare’s generals
in the city was fictionalized but it represented
the general decline in Borgia influence over
this period of time. Next, the game had Cesare
kill his father the pope, which is an incredibly
unlikely scenario, however it was among a
series of potential rumors at the time for
how the pontiff may have died. Lastly, as
an overall blanket statement, the vast majority
of assassination targets did die around the
time depicted in the games, but all from circumstances
that differed from being hunted by the same
lone assassin.
Keeping all of this information in mind, let’s
now consider whether the Italian Renaissance
was fairly depicted in the Assassin’s Creed
games. When you realize the massive scope
of this culturally transformative movement,
and you accept the fact that not all of its
components could be proportionally included
within just two games, I personally feel as
though the final product should be acknowledged
as a good depiction of the time period.
Throughout the approximate 30 years of Ezio’s
life that we get to experience in Italy as
a player, I believe the game’s creators
were able to give us a good, passive sense
of the world through his eyes. Much of the
game time is spent in cities like Florence,
Venice and Rome where it is truly possible
to take in this apparent cultural rebirth
where art and education have become central
components of urban society. Ezio runs into
various artists and thinkers of the period
at different points in their careers, with
da Vinci and Machiavelli actually providing
two examples of progression as their roles
develop over time. We are provided with insight
on this cultural shift, but we are also made
privy to its more complicated undertones,
with religious backlash against the church’s
declining influence, the constant threat of
foreign involvement in Italian affairs and
the complicated political landscape of the
varying city-states and their rulers. In addition,
multiple sources point to the fact that although
the Renaissance brought about significant
cultural and ideological changes, it didn’t
necessarily represent a period of social or
economic development for most citizens. In
fact, it is believe that a large portion of
the population, estimated at numbering nearly
three quarters, still lived in rural environments
and therefore did not experience a larger
degree of these changes, a fact which was
partly demonstrated in the game during the
brief instances when the player travels between
cities and witnesses the still under-developed
agricultural areas. Overall, despite its alterations
to the history for the sake of storytelling,
I still greatly enjoyed the depiction of the
Italian Renaissance in the Assassin’s Creed
games and felt it was a wonderful nod to a
very influential historical period.
With that final thought, we have reached the
end of today’s video. If you enjoyed this
content, please share this series with your
friends and be sure to check out the other
episodes. Although I intend on continuing
this trend of covering all the time periods,
please feel free to leave me your topic requests
for future videos in the comments. My sources for
making this video will be in the description bar below.
Thanks for watching.
