| Robert LaGouze | |
|---|---|
 Robert LaGouze, comte de Béthonsart | |
| Biographical information | |
| Born |
11 May 1706 |
| Died |
19 July 1771 (aged 65) |
| Political information | |
| Affiliations |
French nobility Merchants |
| Real-world information | |
| Appears in |
Assassin's Creed: Purge (mentioned) Assassin's Creed: Changes (mentioned) |
- "I am the ruler of this house; I am the master of many lives – follow my rules, or else …"
- ―Robert LaGouze scolding Shamar al-Djin after he broke a rule, 1746
Robert Tindoir LaGouze de Béthonsart (born Renaldo LaGouze) was a French nobleman who was born in Seville, Spain, but was brought to France in a young age. He was the oldest child of 12, and did therefore have a huge responsibility – not only for his parents, but also for his younger siblings.
Biography[]
Early life[]
The LaGouzes had arrived in France due to a will of an uncle told that Robert's parents was beneficiary of the deceased. LaGouze's uncle had died of a incurable illness that would kill not only him, but also almost 2/5 of his peasants. The staff of servants did not see gladly on a foreigner from Spain was supposed to be the heir to their old master; some in the staff planned to kill the spaniers. This plan was unmasked, and the criminal mastermind and his acolytes was hanged.
Robert knew that since he was the heir after his father, his younger siblings would gladly kill him for the money he was supposed to get in his inhabitance. He made an alliance with his mother shortly after his father's death. She did also knew that the other parts of the family would do their best to get their hands on the fortune. To ensure that Robert would be the heir, Mme. LaGouze found a woman that Robert could marry. After the marriage, there was born a boy into the family. Robert's siblings disliked this, and planned to kill him. Robert's wife get her hands on this conspiracy, so she arranged an "accident" for four of the siblings. Robert hired a tutor that would be the teacher for his son, but was also to make sure that three of his youngest siblings would be sold to the sultan of Egypt as slaves. Now was four dead; three sent to Egypt – and had no chance to return to France; another sibling left to England – in fear of her brother's wrath; the last three left to marry with their suiters in Austria-Hunguary, Belgium and Portugal.
Midlife[]
When the siblings was out of the picture Robert had become 31 years, and his mother only waited to see her son be a great man. Robert's wife did not trusted her mother-in-law however, so she let her brother, a French nobleman, take Mme. LaGouze to his estate at Corsica – where he killed her. Robert did not found out of this, so he just sorrowed. His wife owned an estate in the city of Marseille, where the LaGouzes returned to every summer; that, or they lived at an estate right outside Calais.
In 1742, Shamar al-Djin was bought by Robert LaGouze
Robert had 4 other children, of which was learned by Robert's tutor – and these would soon share their life with a boy named Shamar al-Djin. Shamar was a slave that Robert had bought in Marseille, and would be a slave for the LaGouzes. When the winter arrived in France and it was time for Christmas, the LaGouzes traveled back to Calais. Since al-Djin did not spoke French, the LaGouzes tutor had to learn him in this. In turn, al-Djin told of what he remembered of the old world – the place where he came from. The tutor wrote this down, and would learn this to Robert and Mme. LaGouze's children. As the LaGouzes' slave, al-Djin had no claim of being learned, but the tutor did this for his employers' pleasure. It was mostly Mme. LaGouze who watched over al-Djin.
Later life and death[]
Robert did at some point learned of his wife's history, and from her Robert learned of the Templars. Since Robert was originally a spanier, he was recruited into the Spanish Rite of the Templar Order. He served his duties well, and was even sent to America for a while, where he worked the Scottish Templar Callum Kerr in 1770, but only for a while. After his experiences here, Robert returned to France – from where he established a trading company for his and his Order's benefits.
Years passed, and now Shamar al-Djin had become a great thinker and a wise man. In 1759, the LaGouzes gave him moneys so he could make to live through the year. They wished him good luck, but told him that as long as he did not become a competitor for the LaGouzes' trading company, they would leave him be. As a former slave of the LaGouzes however, al-Djin did not kept his promise, and with the help of Joséph Iscariotte, the home of the LaGouzes were sold. Their house in Marseille had been burned down by the French Order – under the guidance of al-Djin and François Germain.
On 19 July 1771, Robert was in his house, finishing a novel. He had celebrated his 65-year-old birthday during the past months. He had got rumors that his family would soon be contacted by a woman named Vaso Demetrios, a member of the Greek Rite of the Templar Order. She was the family's eyes and ears in Greece, and the news was not good. In her letters, she told that a trading-group had captured several ships of the family's convoys. But Robert knew that the last letter had been decorating on the truth: Robert had no ships left. All of his money was invested and waisted. The one remaining was his own life insurance. He left a will before taking a pistol from the wall. He loaded it and placed it to his temple. He pulled the trigger.
To be sure the family would be eliminated, Shamar al-Djin sent Marguerite Murat to deal with the rest of the family before they knew it was him who was the architect of their misery. One by one, the LaGouzes was killed by Marguerite, and The Turk got all the money and resources the LaGouzes had got with Robert's suicide. This made The Turk's finances grow sky-high.
Trivia[]
- Robert is a Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic *χrōþi- "fame" and *berχta- "bright". Compare Old Dutch Robrecht and Old High German Hrodebert (a compound of hruod "fame, glory" and berht "bright"). It is also in use as a surname.
- Gouze coming from a commune in France