The historical story of Assassin's Creed II begins in 1476.
The game opens in Renaissance Italy with Ezio Auditore da Firenze as a young man in Florence. Its opening events establish Ezio's family, his rivalry with Vieri de' Pazzi, and the circumstances that lead him toward the Assassin Brotherhood. The main historical narrative then develops across several decades.
Assassin's Creed II uses a sequence of dates to show Ezio's growth and changing historical surroundings. Important locations include Florence, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Forlì, Venice, and Rome. The story concludes in 1499, with additional sequences extending Ezio's later life in related releases.
The year 1476 is sometimes confused with the dates of major events in the wider period, including the fall of Constantinople in 1453 or Columbus's voyage in 1492. Those events are not the opening year of Ezio's story.