Early Life[]
Germain was born a Sage in Assassin's Creed in 1726 to Thomas Germain and Anne-Denise Gauchelet. The Germains were a distinguished family of silversmiths, and Germain was raised and trained by his father to continue the family business. He became the royal silversmith and sculptor to the King of France, and employed dozens of workers in a workshop at the Louvre that produced thousands of pieces. Since his recorded death in 1791 however, most of his works works have either been stolen, lost or melted down. After a poorly-defined scandal in 1765, possibly involving the violation of guild regulations, Germain lost the prestigious position as royal silversmith and sculptor and was kicked out of his workshop in the Louvre.
At some point in his life, Germain became a member of the Parisian Rite of the Templar Order, rising to become the lieutenant of Grand Master François de la Serre. He crafted silver pins for members of the Order, and was trained in swordsmanship by fellow Templar Frederick Weatherall. Germain eventually began experiencing visions of the First Civilization. Initially, he believed that he was descending into insanity, but realized the truth of his visions upon the discovery of the Codex Pater Intellectus written by Jacques de Molay, in the vault beneath the Parisian Temple.
Through the readings of de Molay, Germain learned that the two of them were connected somehow, and became determined to shape the destiny of the human race in the way envisioned by de Molay. He believed that by stripping the aristocracy of power and giving it to the middle class, he would create a capitalist society which could be easily controlled by the Templars.
As Germain told the Order of these ideas, several Templars began to support them. De Molay was already a controversial figure among the Templars, and voicing support for him was considered heresy. Wishing to end the dissension, de la Serre pleaded with Germain to renounce his radical notions. As the latter refused, the heavy-hearted Grand Master decided to expel him from the Order. At a ceremony, de la Serre announced Germain's expulsion and claimed that anyone offering relief to him would be expelled as well. Embittered, Germain deemed the Order corrupt and having forgotten its original purpose, and requested aid from Marie Lévesque, one of the Grand Master's advisors who had protested the expulsion. He also recruited other individuals who were dissatisfied with the state of living in France, and the French monarchy itself.
Execution of the KingEdit[]
"The King is... merely a symbol. A symbol can inspire fear, and fear can inspire control - but men inevitably lose their fear of symbols. As you can see. This was the truth de Molay died for: the Divine Right of Kings is nothing but the reflection of sunlight upon gold. When the Crown and Church are ground to dust, we who control the gold will decide the future. (Jacques de Molay, you are avenged.)" Germain to Arno during King Louis XVI's execution, 1793.[]
On 21 January 1793, Germain was present at the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI was about to be executed. The Grand Master confronted Arno once again, proclaiming the rebirth of the Templar Order. Germain mentioned to Arno that the reason for de la Serre's murder was to rid the Templars of corruption. He also stated that the Grand Master's murder was only the first phase of the Order's reconstruction, and that it would truly be reborn with the death of King Louis.[1] Germain then revealed his plans as Louis XVI was placed on the guillotine. By stripping France's upper class and aristocracy of power and giving it to the rising middle class, it would be far easier for the Templars to gain control of the populace. Once the King was beheaded, Germain proclaimed that Jacques de Molay had been avenged, then made his escape, leaving Arno to deal with his subordinates. With the death of Louis XVI, Germain entrusted the control of the newly founded French Republic to one of his followers, Maximilien de Robespierre. Robespierre would enforce Templar subjugation over the people in France through the Reign of Terror, carrying out mass executions of those accused of treason and moderatism.
François-Thomas Germain (1726–1791) was a French silversmith who was often commissioned by European royalty and inherited the title of royal silversmith and sculptor to the King of France. In 1765, Germain broke guild regulations by working with financiers to receive some debts owed to him, as he was only allowed to enter into partnerships with his fellow smiths. For this he was forced to resign his position and declare bankruptcy. Germain died out of the public eye in 1791, the last member of his distinguished family to serve as a royal smith. Many of his works are now held in museums and private collections. Curiously enough, due to the French Revolution and other hazards of history, the biggest portion of his production now belongs to countries other than France namely Portugal and Russia.
Trivia[]
According to Bishop, Germain was the second known Sage who became a Templar Grand Master, following Jacques de Molay, as Abstergo Industries suggested.[3] Shaun Hastings claimed to have one of Germain's silver antiques in his possession, which he used as a paperweight. During the execution of King Louis XVI, Germain exclaimed "Jacques de Molay, you are avenged." A recurring real life Templar legend states that during the execution, a French Freemason either dipped his hand in the king's blood or held the king's head and yelled "Jacques de Molay, thou art avenged!" Germain is only partly based on the French Silversmith. His character, profile and nature as the Sage derives from the Comte de Saint Germain, a courtier whose tall claims and urban legends made him popular in the 19th Century occult as a supposed immortal, who was formerly the Wandering Jew and who prophesied the French Revolution. Germain's plot to usher the French Revolution to unleash vengeance on the royal family for the purge of the Templars, to manipulate the people to chaos and violence by instigating hatred against Church and Crown derives from a real-life book by Augustin Barruel.