RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(storming into Vanozza's villa) Vanozza!... Vanozza!...Vanozza! (Vanozza enters the dining room at the same time as him) Did you know of this?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
That our daughter, betrothed to one, gives herself to the brother?!
(sarcastically) Lucrezia? It's not possible- how could she be so foolish?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(impatient) With the help of those around her, perhaps? What advice did you give her, hmm?
(sits down) I merely said, that if she married to please you, she may yet love to please herself.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sighs in exasperation) And you thought that wise?!
(curtly) I married one of your choosing, to be free to love you.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
But you are not the Pope's daughter!
Rodrigo, she will love whom she chooses- she is a Borgia. (Lucrezia enters, Rodrigo angrily turns on her)
I hear the Palavacini boys have gone. (walks past him)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
Yes- because you would marry a pauper with a paintbrush! (Lucrezia kisses her mother,then turns to face him)
(coldly) I would have married Calvino Palavacini, as you bid, dear Father- but, if I had followed my heart, I doubt I would have married either of them.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(sarcastically) Oh- so the future of this family is enthralled to your heart, hm? (Lucrezia's expression softens just a fraction)
(strokes her father's chin)...If it is, it needs mending. Like my heart.
These people trust their fates- their fortunes- to the power of spells. Come. (they follow the growing crowd) Savanarola understands that what haunts a man's mind in the night, is what rules him. He trades in the fear of Hell.
WWoman
Untie me! Untie me! Please, I've done nothing!
(grimly)... Here is a different kind of bonfire.
WWoman
God will punish you!
(sickened)... What is her crime?
(shrugs, pretending it is obvious) She is a witch. People believe she has the power to cast them into Hell.
Fear of damnation. And, the hope of a better life in the next world. (they observe as the stake is affixed to the ground and wood piled around the shrieking woman) That is what Savanarola promises- he trades in miracles. Show him to be wrong... the man will burn. Just like the witch.
If Angels can fall, from Heaven into Hell... then, so can we all. The Demon waits to devour us.
... Then we must go wrestle with the Demon.
Girolamo Savanarola, I am Cardinal Cesare Borgia- and I come bearing the authority of His Holiness Alexander the Sixth, Pope of Rome!
(points degradingly at him) Here is the Pope's messenger: his bastard son! (smirking) One of many, we hear- Father across the nation! (the congregation laughs and applauds, Cesare advances through them)
Brother Savanarola, you stand accused of defying Papal orders to cease your heretical preaching, and of refusing to present yourself in Rome to bend your knee to our Holy Father!
I recognize no such power! My authority comes from a higher being than your Godless Pope in Rome! (the congregation cheers)
(smiles dangerously, draws level with Savanarola) Then we must put it to the test. (Savanarola looks confused, Cesare lifts his torch) A trial by fire; the whole of Florence can be judge and jury. (the congregation begin to mutter, shocked) I challenge you, here, in this temple of God- as Christ our savior walked on water, if you can walk through fire untouched... then I will follow you through the flames.
(fiercely, but more hesitant than before) God speaks through me. I am not afraid. I will walk through the fire... and he, he that follows me... will burn!
(limps into Lucrezia's room after her son's baptism) Sister. So, finally the bastard has a name. (Lucrezia glares at him as the maid leaves) Blessed by our Holy Father, and saved from damnation.
(coldly) And you, dear Brother- will you be saved from damnation?
(puts his hand on the crib) The angels smile on me-
(swats his hand away) Please don't! (Giovanni starts to fuss)
(leans malevolently close to her) One day, you'll realize that everything I've done has been for your own good. If you had tried to marry that waster from Genoa, the one with the paintbrush... I would've taken good care of him.
(sarcastically) For the good of the family, no doubt?
(stares at her for a moment) Always. (limps across the room and sits)
(angry and sad) Like you "took care" of Paolo- a stableboy- for the good of the family?!
(stares at her, indifferent) Exactly so. Everything I do is for the family. (Lucrezia looks nauseated) Were it not for our father's affection for your bastard son... I would've tossed that piglet into the Tiber at birth. It's the only baptism it deserves.
We are all bastards. You, me, our brothers- we are all bastards!
Yes- perhaps. (stands up, limps menacingly close to her and Giovanni) But, we... are Borgia bastards. And there, dear Sis, lies the difference. (limps around the cradle, sets down his cane and picks up Giovanni) Hello, little piggy- time for a little dance, I think. (he walks onto the second floor the main hall, Lucrezia comes after him, frantic and enraged)
Leave my baby! Juan, leave my baby alone! No, No!
Leave my baby alone! (she finally manages to wrestle her son back from Juan's hands and flees back to the nursery)
(high from the opium) Brother. (limps towards Cesare) Have you come to beg forgiveness for your insult?
(claps him on the shoulder) You are already forgiven.
Imagine... that you're sitting on the edge of a vast well, your feet dangling over the edge. Moving slowly around the walls of the well, like smoke, there's... a world of wonders reaching down, as far as the eye can see.
You see, these wonders... are your life. (pause) I glimpse us, Cesare. Two brothers in harmony, walking together. (smiles) All these visions are the work of tears.
... No. (stops) Tears of the poppy. Everything is there for you to see. Your birth... and, of course, your death. But... but the miracle is, that there's no pain. (laughs shakily) I've been in pain, Cesare, for all my years. (pause) And, you... you are in pain, Brother. I can feel it.
(face contorted with emotion)... Yes. I am in pain.
... You would end your pain. (embraces Cesare)
... Yes. (pause) And I would end yours.
My Brother... what is this? (Cesare's face hardens again)
Only God forgives. (stepping forward, he stabs Juan twice more in the stomach) We're Borgias. We never forgive. (He and Micheletto both grab Juan, holding him upright)
... I stand in awe, Your Eminence.
...You killed your father.
And still, I stand in awe.
AAAlfonso of Aragon
(smiles pleasantly) I'm Prince Alfonso D'Aragona, Duke of Bisceglie and Prince of Salerno.
AAAlfonso of Aragon
(not realizing who she is) I'm suitor to the Lady Lucrezia, daughter of His Holiness Alexander VI, Pope of Rome.
(annoyed) Indeed. Lucrezia Borgia? (Alfonso nods, she decides to toy with him)...Poor boy. Come! I will take you to her. (she leads him away from his entourage into her apartments) So, you are suitor to the Lady Lucrezia?
AAAlfonso of Aragon
I am.
A great responsibility for one so young. Take off your cloak. (Alfonso looks puzzled then smiles slightly)
AAAlfonso of Aragon
If I remove my cloak, what will you remove in return?
You'll see. (gestures for him to take off the cloak) The Lady Lucrezia has a great many suitors. Some are wheat... some are chaff. And it falls to me, to separate the one from the other. (Alfonso smiles and removes his cloak)
AAAlfonso of Aragon
I am neither wheat, nor chaff. I am Alfonso D'Aragona... and I am flesh and blood.
(sizing him up) Turn around.
AAAlfonso of Aragon
(shrugs) If it pleases you. (slowly turns in a circle)
(smiles slightly)... It pleases me.
AAAlfonso of Aragon
Now, you must do the same in return. (walks slowly around her)
(turns slowly in a circle) If it pleases you.
AAAlfonso of Aragon
...It pleases me. (smiles) So... What now? How far, does your Lady Lucrezia care for this game to go on?
(shrugs, approaches him) There is no limit. Just as one would have one's groom break in a new horse...so it is, with my Lady's lovers and me.
(sarcastically, approaching the cage holding Savanarola) Yes?
I have had your kind stoned to death, and their corpses... dragged through the streets.
(kneels in front of the cage, so they are eye-to-eye)... My kind?
Men... who lay with men. (disgustedly) Sodomites, who corrupt young, innocent boys- who artists use as angels. I have cleansed Florence... of her sin.
(calmly) And yet, here I am. (Savanarola grunts noncommittally) Your last chance. Will you confess?
To you... to you, never! (Micheletto stands and walks over to the rack) To your master... yes. And none else.
(triumphantly, brandishing the forged confession) Holy Father, I bring you the signed confession of the heretic Girolamo Savanarola of Florence! (he sees Juan's body and stops) What happened?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(gestures to Juan tearfully) He was... dragged from the Tiber. Dogs, cats... the stillborn offspring of prostitutes... and our son. (turns away)
Leave us, Cardinals. (Sforza, Piccolomini and Versucci exit)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(embraces Cesare) Who would do such a thing? Who would dare?! Who had cause to wish him harm?
(coolly, staring down at her brother's body) Any one of the many he harmed. (Julia and Vanozza stare at her)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(spins around) What? (Cesare releases him and moves towards Lucrezia) What did you say?
(looks away) Nothing, Father.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(angrily) What do you say?!
(finally meets his eye) You asked, "who would do such a thing?" The answer is many people, Father. Many people.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(shocked and offended)...That does not stand! (gestures at Juan) Here lies your brother- murdered, in cold blood! And, you speak as if... (looks in disbelief at Cesare, Julia and Vanozza) "Many people?!" Many people, you say? Do you count yourself among that number?!
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
LET HER SPEAK!
(steps forward, tearful and angry) What would you have me say?! You know what he did to me! What he took from me- you all do! And you stood by, for the honor of the family. (pause) I have wished him dead a thousand times. And now, you want me to mourn him? I'm sorry, Father, I cannot. (she steps back, next to Cesare)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(stunned, hurt and angry, to Cesare)... And you? He was your brother- you show no tears? Are you stone?
... I wept them all out for him, long ago. Over and over, I watched him fail, and I wept. (resentfully) You should know- you were there. And still, you- you granted him your every favor!
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(quietly, but with barely-contained rage) Take... yourselves, both... away from our SIGHT! (Cesare leads Lucrezia out)
So- Lucrezia is to be married.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(turns around, smiles feebly) The brightest and- bleakest of days.
They say you're not eating.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(turns away, paces) We fast... We abstain. We scourge our flesh- we take all mortification- and still, we are punished.
This is not God's doing, Father.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(tearfully) Everything is God's doing! (gestures at Juan) Until we find his murderer- until we scour all Italy- Juan shall not be buried!
There must be a funeral. It is arranged-
RBRodrigo Borgi/Alexander VI
NO! We will not send him to purgatory! He will have no rest, until we find who did this! (to himself) There can be no hiding place so deep we could not seek them out!
... There will be no need of that. (Rodrigo turns around, stunned)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
... Do you know who did this?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(moves towards him) Well, then tell us!
... You truly wish to know?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(looks confused, then hesitant; sits down in front of Juan) Ahh... Well, we... must.
(walks around Juan) Then first, I ask that you hear my confession.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
... Your confession?
And, I further ask that you release me, from my vows as Cardinal, and- and I ask for your forgiveness, of my sins.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(stares at him) What... sins have you committed?
I have protected the Papacy against its' enemies, when none other would stand its' ground. I have made my family strong, in the face of those who would weaken it. I have brought low the heretic Savanarola and outwitted the French King, and all this, Father, all this- I've done for Rome, the Church, and for you.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(confused and frightened)... T-tell me your sins. (Cesare kneels next to him)
It is this, and only this: That I have taken upon my head... the act that none other would dare commit... though its' commission, benefits all. (Rodrigo realizes what he means and looks horrified) I swore a vow, long ago, that I would put an end to anyone who brought dishonor on our family, dishonor on our own, dishonor on you.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(horrified) Ohhh. Ohhh. OHHHH! (stands up hastily and clutches at Juan's shoulders)
(shaking with emotion) So, you see, Father- the robes of a Cardinal no longer sit easy on my shoulders! (raises his fist) A Cardinal's ring makes it harder, to grip the hilt of a sword! I beg, that you will release me of my vows, and you will grant me your forgiveness! (long pause, Rodrigo stares tearfully at Juan's body)...Father?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(wearily) ...We release you from your vows.
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(to Antonello) Bring us some wine. (Cesare drinks, Antonello brings over the wine-pitcher, pours some into a cup, and drains it)
AAntonello
(pause)... It is good, Holiness. (Rodrigo nods and gestures for him to pour; Antonello fills his goblet, then takes the tray across the room)
(staring at the earth coating Rodrigo's hands and robes) What's happened to your hands, Father?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(glances at his filthy hands)... We have buried our son. (Cesare stares at him in disbelief) And, we realize now... that, we have brought this... upon ourselves. (takes a drink)
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(shrugs) You, are our own doing. What you've done, is our doing also. We brought you to this. (Cesare looks away angrily) You say, we granted every favor to him... but, our favors fell on him so easily. Of their own accord! (sees Cesare is still resentful and sighs sadly, smiling) You are too much like me. A man feels less favor, for his own image, reflected.
(long pause, trying to form the words) If I cannot have your affection... can you at least grant me, your forgiveness?
RBRodrigo Borgia/Alexander VI
(conflicted expression) I...
Father? (Rodrigo staggers towards him) Father! No- Father! (Rodrigo begins to convulse and bleed from the mouth as he grabs Cesare's arm) HELP! (He cradles Rodrigo as the Pope collapses)
(runs into the room with Vanozza, Julia and several others) Father!
CPCardinal Piccolomini
Holy Father-
