GCGiovanni Cybo/Innocent VIII
(to the Cardinals, as he is dying) You are afraid to enter, but you must. (they enter) I am about to meet my maker, and I have confessed. And, I confess... I am very afraid. (acknowledges several of them, and they bow) Corlona. Sforza. Orsini. Borgia.
GCGiovanni Cybo/Innocent VIII
...Della Rovere. (Della Rovere bows) You will fight, like dogs... over this corpse I leave...for this throne, of St. Peter's. (Della Rovere crosses himself) But, it was pure, once. We have all sullied it, with our greed and... lechery. (Borgia and Della Rovere meet each other's eyes) Which of you... will wash it clean?! (Della Rovere seems about to speak, but Borgia speaks first)
It shall be cleansed, Your Holiness- with the tears we shed for you. I swear, before the living God.
OOOrsino Orsini
(sneering) You swear thus- a Spanish burano, a white Moor?!
(firmly) As Vice-Chancellor, I swear, before the living God. (kisses the Pope's hand)
And so do I, Your Holiness.
CVCardinal Versucci
And I, Your Holiness. (the Cardinals all gather around the bed, voicing their assurances)
Rest assured, Your Holiness, the glory of our Holy Mother Church will be restored- in my lifetime. (kisses the Pope's hand as Borgia watches him)
We must get you out of here, before they lock the doors.
(exasperated) Yes, Father.
Keep our family safe. Until the new Pope is elected, there can be anarchy in Rome- every faction fighting for its' own candidate. And, if, after the first vote, if the smoke is black-
(impatiently) As you said, Father- I know what to do. (he tries to walk away, but Rodrigo grabs his shoulder and forces him against the wall)
(quietly) I have waited a lifetime for this moment; we will go over it again. If we fail on the first vote, I will send word-
Names, of those Cardinals who need persuading.
With properties, benifaces, and if need be, gold. (pause) They call that simony, Father.
(waves it aside) God will forgive us, my son. (looks him in the eye) But I will not forgive failure. From you, or your brother. Am I understood?
(pause) We will not fail you, Father. (Rodrigo nods, then kisses him on the cheeks)
(playing cards with her two youngest children) Even Joffrey has heard, have you not?
JBJoffrey Borgia
The Pope is dead?
You know what that means?
I know there will be an election.
(enters after Cesare) And the city will be bedlam until it is over.
Do you think our father can win, Juan?
Are we allowed to dream, Mother?
Your father found ways to love and care for us in this house, but I'm not sure that, as Pope, he can do the same.
As Pope, he can do what he wants.
(gives him a direct look) Are you sure? Kings and Popes and Emperors belong to their people, not to their families.
So- we allow the election to run its' course, and he won't be Pope?
What other course is there? It's in the hands of God.
(smiles) It's in the hands of the College of Cardinals, Mother. Not quite the same thing. (gestures to Joffrey to play a particular card) This one.
(notices Rodrigo coming down the hall) Cardinal Borgia.
(bows mockingly and keeps walking) My Lord Cardinal.
Whoever wins this contest-
... If you were a different man, I might vote for you. You've performed your duties as Vice-Chancellor admirably. (Rodrigo bows his head again) The Church has need of your... organizational genius.
She has other needs, as well.
(sits near Della Rovere) And, they would be?...
Honesty. Probity. Goodness'.
You find me lacking in those qualities?
(firmly) Yes. And so, I shall fight you. To the end, and beyond that, if need be, with any means at my disposal.
(nods)... I do tend to win whatever battles I fight. (stands up) But what talk we of fighting? It is all on God's hands. (crosses himself) Goodnight, my Lord.
I ask to confess to you... Holy Father, because... I have sinned.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And how have you sinned, my son?
I have corrupted my soul. I have pledged estates, castles, benifaces to your brother Cardinals... and transferred the documents in the innards of beasts and roasted fowls. All, to secure your election as Pope.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And God will repay us, tenfold.
But, you must set my soul at ease, Father. Can a family such as ours survive such a prize? (chuckles darkly) We are Spaniards- they hate us. The enemies we have at present will be multiplied tenfold.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
God will protect his vicar on Earth, Cesare- and those dearest to him-
(sarcastically) Will you inform God, as to his duties in this regard?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
... Why this blasphemous tone, my son?
(grimly) Because, I swear- if God does not protect us, I shall.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sharply) You are a bishop, Cesare- you have no need of such temporal thoughts.
(angry) You placed this collar around my neck, Father. You made God my calling... but the sins I've committed for you must surely convince you that the Church is not my calling! (pause) I beg you, now, to release me of my vows- and let me live as a layman. As a soldier. I can then protect my family from the storm that surely must engulf it-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
You are my eldest son, Cesare. You were always destined to be a Prince of the Church!
I would be a Prince of State, Father, and I think you know that.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
The Papal Army is small, Cesare. The battles I will fight will be within these sacred walls. This is where I will need your help! (pause) Juan can bear arms for the Borgia family, and lead whatever army the Pope has, and I will not have my authority questioned further on this. Ego te Absolvo.
(observing the bodies) You planned this massacre thoroughly.
If I had planned it, my Lord, believe me, we would not be having this conversation.
Always. (removes a dagger from a body and throws it aside)
I know nothing of him. In this affair, I had but one master. (leans against the wall to catch his breath)
And now, I am like a stray dog- masterless. (glances at Cesare) Unless your kind offer still stands.
You could've... let things take their course, betrayed me. Most of your kind do.
My kind? (pause) I do not have a "kind". (glances at his bloody hands, then back to Cesare) And, I suspect, neither do you.
(sheathes his dagger, approaches) Your name, sweet assassin?
(straightens up)... Micheletto.
You must prove yourself worthy of my trust, then.
(gestures to the pile of corpses) This is not proof enough?
Perhaps... perhaps not. Can you dispose of these corpses?
You would keep them secret?
More than that- I would keep you secret. (pause) Dump them in the Tiber- meet me at the Vatican gates in two hours' time. We shall discuss your future service.
(dining in the House of Medici) The wealth of Florence astounds me, Don de Medici.
PDPiero de Medici
Banking. The Medici family are bankers to the world- to the Vatican itself.
Father Savanarola calls it "usury".
PDPiero de Medici
And what do you call it?
He may be wrong about the Medici bank, but he's right about the Borgia Pope. Alexander's great game is the investiture of Naples. He knows France has claims upon it; he knows Spain has claims upon it. He will play them both against each other, like a spider with two flies-
PDPiero de Medici
(impatiently) And you? What is your game?
(smiles) I have no game- but, if I am forced to play... I will head to France, and ask the French King to invade our beautiful Italy. (Medici looks alarmed)
(pretends to look bewildered) "Italy?" Is there such an entity?
There is a land, Signor Machiavelli, made up of many principalities. The Duchy of Milan, the Republic of your wondrous Florence, the Dukedoms of the Romagna, the Papal States-
And to their south, Naples.
Borgia has betrothed his daughter to a Sforza. He will marry his son to a Spaniard or a Venetian, his younger son to a Florentine or a Neapolitan. (to Medici) He will weave a web around this Italy that may not exist- he will swallow your Florence, your Venice, your Milan- and Italy then will exist, my Liege. Under him.
(sarcastically) Hmm- prophetic words. Are you... cousin to Savanarola?
No. But, I would meet with him- I've seen him preach.
PDPiero de Medici
Can you explain to me, Cardinal, why the King of France would muster an army and invade his neighbors?
So,you give France Naples, France gives you... Rome.
(folds his hands together)... I don't want Rome. I want to restore the glory of her Holy Church.
(smiles uneasily) As her humble servant.
(smiles thinly) Indeed. And... what do you want of Florence?
(chuckles) Well, then we will charge you nothing!
You misunderstand. I ask that Florence do... nothing.
... Ah. We, let those French... barbarians march through our Principality, and do...
Nothing. (Medici glances between them)
(coldly)... That's a different kind of nothing. That will cost you something.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(to his doctor) Go away! (to Cardinal Sforza) Do nightmares ever plague the Vice-Chancellor?
The very office is a nightmare, Your Holiness. Plots, petty intrigues and petitions... which I do my utmost to keep from your presence.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(nods slowly) I need your assurance... of the welfare of my daughter- in the castle of your cousin, Giovanni Sforza.
You suspect she's ill-used?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sighs worriedly) Our nightmares tell us so.
He will be... putty in her soft hands, Your Holiness. Yes, he inherited the Sforza name, the Sforza wealth- but none of its' vigor.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And the Sforza appetite for intrigue?
(shrugs) Yes, well...yes, that he did inherit. But... intrigue is no match for Borgia intelligence, as all Rome has discovered.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
So... I need your further assurance that... he, and another cousin, the Duke of Milan, will be constant in their support... for our Papacy. (Cardinal Sforza looks away) We have merged our fortunes with the Sforza name- the consequence of that trust being betrayed... would be most severe.
(pause) Do you speak to me as Vice-Chancellor, Your Holiness?
Rodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI': (coldly)...No. As a Sforza.
... Fool that I am, my son, perhaps I love him still.
No. It can be endured, embraced- and suffered. (pause) You are suffering, my son?
... I have met a woman, Mother(sits across from Vanozza, who smiles slightly)... who is married.
And she makes you suffer? (Cesare sighs) Well, perhaps she suffers, too.
She does. (pause) But, if I can rid her of her impediment-
(shakes his head) To endure life, like you did, Mother?
You could leave the Church (Cesare scoffs, she smiles humorously) And displease your father... if you dare.
(pause, leans forward) I fear nothing, Mother.
(having received a report from Micheletto) Della Rovere has left Florence.
RBRodrigo Borgia/ Alexander VI
With, or without satisfaction?
(dismissively) We have the Papal Armies, the Sforza armies, our allies in the Romagna, all under my command. (sits across from Cesare, slams his sword on the table) To hell with Florence!
(fiddling with a dagger) My fear is, the Cardinal might invite Apocalypse.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
He would open the Seven Seals.
No, Father, let us not talk in metaphors. My fear is, he would go to France, conspire with the French to invade us, and arrange free passage of their armies through the Republic of Florence and the Duchy of Milan.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
And, the French King would-
Depose you and march south, to Naples. (pause) His armies are hardened by a hundred years of battle with England- there is nothing here to match them.
Duke Ludovico Sforza of Milan- he is cousin to our sister's husband, Giovanni Sforza.
(scoffs) Lucrezia did not marry Ludovico Sforza, Brother- and they don't call him Il Moro for nothing.
(stands up, crosses the room) I hear he keeps his own cousin, caged beneath his castle floors.
(stands up, approaches the Pope) He would betray us in a moment, if he thought his Dukedom was in peril. What he fears... is that his nephew would wear his crown.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Well... perhaps we should threaten them, with just that possibility. (Juan smiles) And you should go to Florence- tease out their intentions. Those Medici bankers have a preacher, Savanarola, who accuses them of usury. (smiles) Perhaps we should offer them an excommunication- a public burning- if they support our just cause.
(concerning her husband, as she rides through the woods escorted by Paolo) Where does he hunt?
In the high mountain passes.
(sarcastically) He is brave, with those deer...
But, they suffer less than me, do they not? He kills them quickly.
(indignant) He must stop! It is a crime, against...
(looks directly at her) Against you. Your beauty. You're the Pope's daughter; how can he stand it?!
(looks away)... The Pope doesn't know.
If I could write, I would send him a letter.
(looks at him)... Am I beautiful, Paolo?
(smiles)... You're the most beautiful thing I've yet seen.
(smiles) Lift me down. (Paolo helps her dismount her horse)
... I could adjust his saddle.
(puzzled) You could adjust my Lord's saddle? (pause) He would fall. He would fright. (starts to smile) He would return home...tamed.
From a fall? He would never.
(smiles mischievously) What if I had you whipped, for wickedness?
(shakes his head) You would never.
(smiles) Yes- of that, I am sure.
NANeapolitan Ambassador
King Ferrante of Naples sends his humble regards-
(smirks) King Ferrante of Naples can neither hear nor see, I believe. (Alexander swats him on the shoulder)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Son.
NANeapolitan Ambassador
He nevertheless sends his every good wish. And, in the face of all the spurious claims upon his Kingdom- from Spain, from France, from the Duchy of Milan- he would remind Your Holiness of the justice of the independent claims of Naples. An independent Naples can only be to Rome's... benefit. (Cesare glances at the Pope) And I, as his Ambassador, am proud to present a suit for your consideration, of his last unmarried daughter, Sancha, Duchessa of Squillace. (reaches for the cloth cover to Sancha's portrait)
NANeapolitan Ambassador
(annoyed) In the Kingdom of Naples. (reveals the portrait; Alexander looks approving, while Juan is clearly drawn to Sancha's face; he stands up and takes a closer look)
(clearly jealous) My younger brother Joffre is all of thirteen years old.
NANeapolitan Ambassador
His Highness had understood the prospective groom to be the Gonfaloniere himself- the Duke of Gandia.
(offended) Me? Why, this is most irregular- I would never consider marrying the illegitimate daughter of the King of Na-
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(cuts him off, sharply) Would you convey our thanks, to our friend and ally King Ferrante- whose claim to independence we fully understand- for his most generous offer?! (Juan looks angrily back and forth between him and the Ambassador) You will have our response... shortly.
(looks into a spring-pool with Paolo) Look at you.
Like Narcissus, in the spring waters.
Narcissus? (Lucrezia looks at him)
You don't know Narcissus?
I can neither read, nor write, my Lady Lucrezia. (Lucrezia leans close to him and they look back at the pool)
... Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection, in the waters of a spring. Do not move. (she bends and kisses Paolo's reflection in the water)
It is impossible. (pulls her upright)
To fall in love with a reflection?
... And I thought I would never know sweetness. (they kiss again)
Your Royal Highness, may I introduce you to Cardinal Guiliano Della Rovere? (Charles continues eating) Cardinal Della Rovere, His Royal Highness King Charles of France.
(bows) Your Royal Highness.
And I of you, Your Highness. Your military renown has traveled far and wide-
(irritated) Enough of the pleasantries! You are the one who would give us the Crown of Naples. (gestures for Della Rovere to sit opposite him, Della Rovere does so)
The Kingdom of France has long had claims on the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples. I would-
I said, enough pleasantries, did I not? Just tell me, Cardinal (leans forward) How you would place the Crown of Naples on this ugly head of mine. (Della Rovere looks startled) And it is exceedingly ugly, is it not?
Your Highness bears all the vigor of the French race in his person.
(smirks, to his Generals) He's afraid to say it. Is my head not ugly, General?
(grins) I can hardly bear to gaze at it. (the Generals laugh)
So, admit it, Cardinal- I have all the graces of a carnival dwarf.
Those words would never pass my lips, Your Highness.
Well, then we may get nowhere. I appreciate only plain speech. (eats, pause) Tell us, then, what you want of us- plainly.
... My countrymen are accustomed to the show of war, not the reality. They could never muster the courage to sustain your French fury.
... You want me to march to Rome, depose that Borgia, give you the Papal Crown... in the hope that you will place the Crown of Naples on this ugly head. (indicates himself)
(firmly) I want to restore the universal Church to her former dignity.
Couldn't this Borgia do the same?
(bewildered) Restore the Church?
Charles VIII': Place the Crown of Naples on this ugly noggin?
Head. (his Generals chuckle)
(curlty) Either way, you must get to Rome, Your Highness.
(drinking wine with Della Rovere) You would entice me to battle- but, do you know what that means?
It means a just war in defense of Christendom.
(snorts) No war is just. War is chaos. Brute force, mustered against brute force until one side is destroyed, utterly. (pause) I have read of your Italian battles. Hired mercenaries on feathered horseback, prancing like peacocks one against the other, until one side retires... with something called honor? (stares at Della Rovere, snorts) But, there is no honor in war. (bitterly) The French learned that against the English. There is blood, death, armor against armor until one side... surrenders, in death or domination. (pause) Be careful what you pray for, Cardinal, if you pray for war. You will find yourself in a place... beyond prayer itself. (Della Rovere stares at him)
