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.
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