College of the Four Nations

The College of the Four Nations (French: Collège des Quatre-Nations), also known as the Collège Mazarin after its founder, was a college of the .
==History==
The college was founded by Cardinal Jules Mazarin, who had amassed a large fortune in the 18 years he had governed France. He left 2 million livres to build the college, in addition to an annuity to house 60 fellows selected from "four " which had recently come under French rule: , , , and the town of . Considered one of the finest monuments in Paris, the college was located on the northern bank of the Seine.Assassin's Creed: Unity – Database: Collège des Quatre-Nations
During the French Revolution, the college was used for a public experiment on electrically induced flight. Knowing that high electrical charges were deadly to the test subject, the scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace attempting to stop the experiment, only to be put under house arrest. After being freed by the Assassin Arno Dorian, Laplace had the former sabotage the experiment by replacing the Leyden jar used with one that held a non-lethal charge of electricity.Assassin's Creed: Unity – Flying Boy
In 1793, the college was turned into a prison, its first detainees being the Jacobin Jacques-Louis David, advocate of painless death Joseph-Ignace Guillotin and the governess to the royal children, . The college chapel eventually became a sugar store reserved to the upper classes of Paris. Today, the college houses the and the . The latter holds 275,000 volumes, many of which were recovered from victims of the guillotine and s, as well as from King Louis XVI.
==Behind the scenes==
The database entry for the College incorrectly states the eponymous four nations were "Flanders, Alsace, Piedmont and ". In fact, the contiguous regions of Artois and Flanders were counted as one and the fourth nation was actually Roussillon. Artois and Roussillon had been acquired in 1659 following the , while Alsace had been acquired in 1648 with the . Finally, France had acquired only the city of Pignerol from Piedmont, not the entire region, in 1631 after the and returned it in 1696.
==Appearances==
*Assassin's Creed – Assassin's Creed 1: Desmond 
*Assassin's Creed: Unity
==References==
Category:Schools
Category:Prisons
Category:Landmarks in Paris