Gilberto (1448-1520), better known as La Volpe (English: The Fox) or Tagliagole (Cutthroat), was a Florentine member of the Assassins Order.
Biography[]
Gilberto's early life was shrouded by mystery, but there was a tale in which he robbed the Papal States carriage without being noticed by the guards or the Pope himself. It was said that he could see through buildings, was immortal, and had bright violet eyes.
In 1478 Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze was led to him by Assassins associate Leonardo Da Vinci, seeking him out in the Mercado Vecchio. He found Ezio when Ezio chased down a thief, and La Volpe told him of a secret meeting at sunset that could give Ezio the location of Francesco de Pazzi. He escorted him to the Santa Maria Novella, where he wished him good luck. In 1488 he was present at Ezio's induction into the Assassins.
In 1500, after the Fall of Monteriggioni, he quit the Brotherhood because he felt that Niccolo Machiavelli, the only remaining major member of the Assassins, was a traitor. He convinced Ezio to help him spy on Machiavelli in Rome, and Ezio wanted La Volpe to rejoin the Brotherhood. La Volpe and Ezio saved a boy named Claudio from Papal guards after noticing Machiavelli taking a letter from a guard, and in gratitude for Ezio's help, La Volpe rejoined the brotherhood as the leader of the Thieves' Guild in the city. However, he nearly killed Machiavelli out of suspicion in 1503 after an attack on the guild house, but Ezio ran to him with a letter from the real traitor, whom he had tackled and killed.
After the liberation of Rome and the fall of Cesare Borgia in 1507, Gilberto moved to Florence, where he spent the rest of his life until 1520.