" Who shall I announce?" " Move!" "Messer!" "Messer!" "Where is he?" "Don't get up." "I couldn't stop them, I'm sorry." "This is for you." "A letter from the Pope." "Read it." "His Holiness's business must account for what?" "Sixty, eighty percent of all your profits?" "Tithes and taxes from every parish in Europe." "How much income must that be a month?" "But he won't be banking with you any longer." "And I wouldn't be surprised if others follow the Pope's lead." "You'll find that most merchants don't like to do business with murderers." "You think I don't know who had Bredani killed?" "I employ men for their ability with numbers." "Not knives." "And you'll find every one of them has an alibi for that night." "Now shall we discuss the details of the transfer?" "My accountant will need access to all your records, of course." "Your accountant?" "Yes." "My accountant." "You see" "Florence is going to change." "No more fake republic, manipulated by the Medici." "No more hard-earned money wasted on depraved artists and the common rabble." "Not when I run this city." "I need three days." "To draw up the necessary documents." "I suppose we are talking about moving the vast amount of money from your bank to mine." "I'll give you three days." "Madonna Contessina." "Please forgive the intrusion." "I'm sure your husband will explain." "So this is art, is it?" " And you paid good money for this?" " Yes." "I was discussing it with the Pope last night." "See, I'm just a banker." "Unlike, Messer Medici, I don't claim to understand art or know the mind of a sodomite sculptor, like, ehm..." "Donatello." "Donatello." "Yes." "Is it true he intended this to represent Florence?" "The boy David's victory over Goliath." "It could symbolize the triumph of our republic." "I asked the Holy Father where in the Bible it says that Goliath was slain by a naked boy" "who looks like a girl." "The Pope was as nonplussed as I was." "This is your Florence." "Not mine." "What's happened?" "Florence is being taken over by Philistines." "I must see the Pope at once." "Forgive me, Your Holiness." "I needed to see you in person." "For confession perhaps?" "Business." "Ever since I gave you sanctuary in my home you began to doubt me." "Seen up close I am small and weak, and my wealth seems repellent." "But my architect and engineer" "Filippo Brunelleschi, he he is a giant of a man, a true genius, and he has this theory he calls" "perspective." "Something small may seem enormous depending from where you view it." "And vice versa." "I may not be a man you wish to view across your dining table." "But in the wider world you need my wealth and power." "Your position is under threat." "Duke Visconti and his allies in Rome are plotting to install a new Pope." "I know all about the Duke and his plots and I have every faith" "that the Lord will provide a solution." "And he has." "He's provided me." "I know Visconti." "I loaned him money in the past." "He has to be defeated and you return to Rome." "And how?" "How do you propose to do that?" "Bishop Vitelleschi." "Valiant." "Vitelleschi, the soldier-bishop, he is brave and loyal and he is ready to fight for you." "His army is camped outside of Rome, but they need more men." "And weapons." "I can fund that." "Tomorrow." "Pazzi would take weeks, by which time it would be too late." "You want me to retain you as my banker so you can equip an army?" "To keep the church united behind you." "The Papal banker must be devoted to God and the teachings of Christ!" "I may be an insignificant sinner but my wealth can help bigger and better men, men like Brunelleschi, men like you." "You're no smaller than your fellow men." "But to God's all-seeing eye your sins may be monstrous." "Are you sure there isn't anything you wish to confess?" "Pazzi convinced you that I was behind the murders of Albizzi and his son?" "Do you not see it in his interest for you to believe that?" "Murder is a mortal sin, Cosimo." "I showed them mercy." "I let them go and they were killed by bandits." "And a mortal sinner's soul burns in everlasting fire unless he confesses and truly repents!" "If there is any truth in these rumors one day you will have to confront that fact!" "You know that, don't you?" "God may be merciful." "But it is absolutely inconceivable that a murderer could ever be the papal banker." "Have you seen Maddalena be sick like that before?" "Not Maddalena, no." "Do you think it had something to do with Marco Bello leaving?" "May I speak freely, Madonna Contessina?" "Of course." "I'm the oldest of fourteen children, and my poor mother." "God rest her soul lost a few too." "I know all the signs." "You think she's with child?" "With Marco Bello's child, yes." "And you can take my word for that." "How can you be so sure?" " If I may speak freely." " Yes, speak freely!" "Believe me, there are no secrets in the servant's quarters." "Messer Cosimo stopped visiting" " the slave girl weeks ago." " Yes, I'm aware of that." "The same time she started making cow eyes at Marco Bello." "But now that he's gone she may try to protect herself by claiming her mongrel's a Medici but your husband is not the father." "Come in." "I've come to say goodbye." "Why?" "I was wrong to accuse you of father's murder." "Or that you could even think it for a second, Cosimo." "I don't think that I can ever forgive you for that." "The Pope is withdrawing his account and giving it to Pazzi." "That's unfortunate." "Unfortunate?" "This could mean the end for our bank." "I need you by my side, brother." "Then perhaps you should have thought about that before." "Hear him out, Lorenzo." "Your brother has done you a great wrong But he needs your help." "We all do." "Leave us to talk, Contessina." "I am truly sorry, brother." "Will you forgive me?" "You accept that I did not kill our father." "And yet you do nothing to pursue the man who did." "Marco had no motive to kill our father." "Unless someone paid him." "Albizzi." "Pazzi." "He paid someone to kill Bredani." "He means to destroy this family this republic our entire vision for Florence." "Your entire vision for Florence, Cosimo." "I will search for proof that Pazzi was behind Bredani's murder." "If you can prove that, it would turn the Pope against Pazzi." "Save this family." "He wouldn't have dirtied his hands by doing the deed himself." "He admitted as much this morning." "He boasted all his men have alibis for Bredani's death." "Then I'm looking for a professional." "Thank you." "For doing this." "I'm not doing this for you." "When you were asked to marry Piero, do you remember how you felt?" "Excited." "Was that love?" "Or the prospect of joining such a powerful family?" "Be honest." "I may be his mother, but I was also a bride once." "It was both." "I suppose." "And I count my blessings every day." "My wedding was a transaction." "But I grew to like him admire and even love my husband sometimes." "His--his sheer power." "He'd make any woman proud." "And now I find myself wondering about some other things he may have done." "What is it?" "His concubine is pregnant." "She's pregnant?" "For some women falling pregnant it's all too easy." "Emilia thinks that Marco Bello is the father." "And it's true Cosimo hasn't lain with her for weeks." "But the baby could change the way he feels about her." "He looked at me very differently after I'd given him a son." "Sell her." "Sell her in Genoa, and no one need ever know." "I am sorry." "All this talk of children." "I've upset you." "You know what must be done." "You always do." "You want me to start preparing for the transfer?" "No, you're coming to Rome with me." "With a bill of exchange for forty thousand Florins." "To bribe Visconti?" "To buy an army strong enough to retake Rome from Visconti and get the Pope back where he belongs." "This is no ordinary man." "This is St. Peter's successor." "Popes come and go." "New alliances are made." "Are you sure we're backing the winner this time?" "Sometimes it's not about backing the man most likely to win." "It's about backing the right man making sure he does win." "Do we have any guarantees he will change his mind if this new army succeeds in re-taking Rome?" "We'll do the right thing." "Let him decide." "If we lose the Papal account, we could survive." "We'd be small, but we could re-build." "Live to fight another day." "But spending so much on this army." "I have left instructions with Piero." "And he will speak tomorrow at the Signoria persuade them to raise a one-off tax to reimburse us." "I know it is a risk." "But we are not only fighting for the Medici legacy." "We are fighting for the future of the Christian faith." "Father is leaving me in charge, but last time I spoke at the Signoria I made a complete fool of myself." "You won the vote." "Only because of yours and my mother's bribes." "And there'll be no chance of bribery tomorrow." "The future of the bank could rest on the power of my rhetoric." "And I don't even know if they'll allow me to speak." "You'll speak." "And you'll speak magnificently." "This is a chance for you to prove yourself and you have to seize it." "Now more than ever." "I know." "Maddalena might be carrying Cosimo's child." "What?" "Why are you telling me that now?" "If she has a son and we remain childless, he may grow up and be regarded as a potential heir." "Do well tomorrow." "Prove your father is right to give you this extra responsibility." "And you will establish yourself as the indisputable heir apparent." "You get off." "You're not having any more!" "Push off!" "What do you want?" "Wine." "And information." "Wine's cheap." "The other thing it depends." "Any strangers staying here last week?" "It's an inn." "Ah, the man I'm looking for killed someone." "I don't judge my guests." "I think you know the type that I mean, Bruno." "Big, ugly bastard from Milan." "Dangerous cut-throat." "It sounds like it might be him." "My neck's worth a lot more than that." "How do I know that your information isn't as bad as your wine?" "Because, my friend, you get what you pay for." "Sorry I couldn't help you." "His name is Ferzetti." "And he left for Rome yesterday." "Rome?" " You sure?" " Yes, I'm certain." "Any other information that you can give me?" " He wasn't very pretty to look at." " You mentioned that." "Beautiful horse, though." "White stallion." "He ran up quite a big bill." "And I thought he's not going to be able to pay this and I had my eye on his horse." "Then yesterday he comes back from the bank money bag full pays his debt, off he goes." "Was there a crest on this bag?" "Let me think." "Oh, come on." "You're a banker." "Act like one." "My income versus expenditure doesn't add up." "It was..." "It was the Pazzi." "You're a Medici." "The blood of your father and your grandfather runs in your veins." "And today they will speak through you." "Hm?" "You can do this, Piero." "Go on." "Good luck." "Can we get started, please, gentlemen?" "Got a lot of business to get through today." "Piero de' Medici will speak on behalf of the de' Medici bank." "Thank you, signor Guadagni." "His father is too embarrassed to show his face." "He leaves what's left of his business to a boy." "Gentlemen" "I'm here to propose a new tax." "A new one-off tax to pay for an army" "to get His Holiness, the Pope back to Rome." "Quiet!" "Have you not had enough of these games?" "!" "This is another desperate attempt by Cosimo de' Medici to curry favor with the Pope." "When it's an open secret that the Holy Father has washed his hands of him." "And he expects us to pay for it?" "Florence is better than Rome." "Let the Pope stay here." "We're already taxed up to our necks." "The families and merchants of the city cannot afford another tax." "Would you please let him finish what he came here to say." "It won't be paid by the families and merchants." "No!" "He wants the poor to pay for it!" "If Cosimo de' Medici wanted this to be taken seriously" "he should have come here to propose it himself rather than humiliate his son." "This new tax will not be paid by the families or merchants or the poor." "The new tax will be paid by the banks!" "Is this the force that will conquer Rome?" "You there!" "Where is Bishop Vitelleschi?" "Bishop Vitelleschi?" "I'm sorry, there were no guards." "Cosimo de' Medici, banker to the Pope." "You took your time, didn't you?" "Signor Guadagni my father isn't here, because he's gone to Rome." "To donate 40 thousand Florins to Bishop Vitelleschi." "And that money will enable him to recruit and equip an army" "capable of taking back Rome." "If if this assembly votes against the tax on our banks" "then we Medici will cover the entire cost ourselves." "Bishop Vitelleschi's conquest of Rome will take place with or without the support of the other banks in this city." "But I have complete trust" "that the men of my much-maligned profession will follow the Medici lead and prove they're not just profit-hungry usurers but God-fearing men of faith." "Men willing to make sacrifices for the Holy Father and the future of Christianity." " Bravo!" "Bravo!" " Well said!" "And you think this man can defeat Visconti?" "He is a well-trained and brutal soldier." "So Rome will burn." "And many innocent people will die." "I wish there was another way, Ugo." "I wish with all my heart." "Ready?" "We just need the signatures, your Excellency." "With this money" "I can annihilate the traitors of the Papal Council once and for all." "By the time I'm finished" "Rome will look redder than that." "But" "I've lost many good men made many personal sacrifices." "Is there something else you want?" "To retain control of the Papal army afterwards." "If you're victorious, no one could argue with that." "And also I expect your bank to secure all my future ventures." "Both holy and secular." "Do we understand each other?" "You will be afforded every economic advantage the Medici bank has to offer." "Good man." "No." "Stopped off to spend some of Andrea Pazzi's blood money, did you?" "Go." "You've got the wrong man." "I don't know any Andrea Pazzi." "And why do you have this letter with his seal on it?" "I'm a messenger." "I was given that to deliver." "I didn't ask the man's name." "He hired you to kill Bredani, didn't he?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "Why is he writing to Visconti?" "I never killed anyone in my life." "And then again maybe I have." "Me too." "Step back." "Why did you follow me?" "To find out if you were loyal to your brother." "Why didn't you just let him kill me?" "Because you were." "What will you do now?" "I'm not going back if that's what you mean." "Not with these false accusations of your father's murder." "You have been a true friend to my brother." "And to me too, it seems." "We were wrong to accuse you." "You were loyal to the family." "Thank you." "I want you to tell me the truth." "I wouldn't lie to you, Madonna." "Do you know who the father of your child is?" "Maddalena, you can't hide it forever." "Do you?" "Yes." "For certain?" "Yes." "Emilia, leave us." "If it's my husband's, you may think that you can keep your position here." "That your baby will never go hungry." "If it's Marco Bello's you seem to have been abandoned." "How could it be Marco Bello's?" "I know what goes on in my own household." "And it's no secret that you and he were close." "If it was his, I would have told him." "And he would have taken me with him." "But I could do no such thing." "Because he always treated me with respect." "Thank you for your candor." "But if you ever speak to me like that again you'll be on your way to the slave market in Genoa." "Now get back to work." "Isn't it wonderful?" "Piero has just prevailed in the Signoria." "That is wonderful." "And it's down to your faith in him, Lucrezia." "Me?" "No, it is you who got him this far." "And he'll need you now more than ever." "I doubt that." "Of course he will." "We both need to persuade Cosimo to let him take his proper place in the family." "He's ready now." "It passed unanimously." "That's him." "I was magnificent." "No one dared be seen voting against the Pope." "Even Pazzi himself had to vote in favor." "I am so proud of you, Piero." "And your father will be too." "You are?" "Yes." " You are." " Yes." "The likes of Pazzi will never defeat the Medici." "We are invincible." "You found him." "And more besides." "Enough to finish Andrea Pazzi for good." "Rinaldo Albizzi once had my brother locked up in this very cell." "But he prevailed in the end." "And Albizzi was a far more worthy adversary than your paymaster will ever be." "When Andrea Pazzi is in here with you tell him from me that it doesn't do to underestimate the Medici." "Tell him yourself." "Have you ever killed anyone else for him?" " Apart from Bredani?" " I'm just a messenger." "Confess and your soul may be saved." "Did you have anything to do with the death of my father?" "No." "Who ordered it?" "I don't know anything about it." "Pazzi and Albizzi were in league together." "It was one of them." "I don't know." "I swear to you." "I don't know." "It doesn't do to underestimate Andrea Pazzi." "A successful journey?" "What's done is done." "A lot has happened while you were away." "Piero has won the vote in the Signoria." "Lorenzo has tracked down Bredani's killer." "He's in the cell." "So despite Pazzi's best efforts, this family remains strong." "You always get what you want in the end." "You're not wearing your necklace." "I took it off." "This morning." "I was going to leave you, Cosimo." " Why?" " Do you really need to ask?" "After you lied to me about your father's death your affair with the slave girl the deaths of Rinaldo" " and Ormanno Albizzi." " Contessina." "And now to discover that your mistress" "is going to bear your child." "And yet you did not leave." "Messer Medici." "I'm so sorry." "I bring terrible news." "Your brother, Messer Lorenzo." "I just found him lying dead in the cells of the Signoria." "He's been stabbed." "And the killers have escaped." "I'm so sorry." "It will all be worth it, Lorenzo." "It will be worth it." "What's happened?" "Bishop Vitelleschi has the funds to re-take Rome for you." "I understand there was more than just your money involved." "I made it happen." "Many will die." "Blood will run in the streets and your position will be secured." "I can only pray that it will be as swift and painless as possible." "But war is always painful, Cosimo." "Even if sometimes it is justified when waged for the right reasons." "You have something else to say, Cosimo?" "Everything I have ever done has been for Florence, for you for the greater glory of God." "I know what lengths you've gone through to get me back to Rome." "How devout your motives are, I can't say." "But you mistaken if you think it will make me reverse my decision to give signor Pazzi the Papal account." "My brother Lorenzo was stabbed to death last night." "I know Pazzi is responsible, though I cannot prove it." "But this letter proves" "that he has been in league with Duke Visconti all along." "My brother died for this letter." "Unfortunately, for his assassin he had already given it to my wife." "And as you will see." "Pazzi tells Visconti that you have handed him the Papal account and asks him to postpone replacing you until the bank transfer is complete." "He also brags of having the olive oil merchant, Bredani, killed so he could take his seat in the council." "Now, as it is inconceivable that the papal banker should be a murderer" "this letter proves you need a new banker." "And I, of course, will be glad to offer my services." "Vitelleschi has prevailed in Rome." " We are victorious." " That is a good result." "A result obtained in blood." "He slaughtered his way to the heart of the curia council." "You had no choice but to support him." "A man always has a choice." "If he is willing to lose." "That man has never been you." "My father said it is sometimes necessary to do bad in order to achieve good." "Now, as Albizzi predicted, I am more my father than he ever was." "That is why God is punishing me." "By taking my brother." "Cursing me with this bastard child." "Lorenzo died fighting for this family." "And bringing new life into the world is never a curse." "I know what I said." "But perhaps this child is an opportunity for both of us." "Speak plainly." "You shall raise this child as your own." "We both shall." "Just as Lorenzo would have raised Rosa's child if he'd had the chance." "I don't understand." "I do not excuse your sins, Cosimo." "It is not my place to do so." "And I have sins of my own." "But as long as we can breathe there is a chance that we can atone for them." "I don't know if I can, Contessina." "I will help you." "Mastro Ugo?" " May I speak with you?" " Yes." "What is it, Maddalena?" "I know they think that Marco Bello killed their father." "But he couldn't have." "The so-called evidence, the bill of sale for the poison was found in his saddle bag." "But he only acquired the bag a fortnight ago." "If you were a murderer, would you be so foolish as to transfer the proof of your guilt from an old bag to a new one?" "Someone put it there to make him look guilty." "Someone from this household." "You mustn't breathe a word of this." " But..." " Listen to me." "Marco Bello has left." "And nothing, not even his exoneration, will bring him back." "But your place here is tenuous at best." "Trust an old man who has served this family for many years." "This matter is best left alone." " Father was murdered." " You know who did it?" "Power brings enemies." "Your father had many." "The bill of sale of Master Tancredi." "I need the name of your customer and proof that he bought it." "I don't have it." "Find it." "Surely he would never admit to such a crime." "No." "I'm not afraid." "Alerting the killer will only make him harder to catch." "I will have justice." "Once I know who did it." "There is nothing to argue about." "You will no longer be a Medici if you marry a girl who sells oranges." "I will marry her!" "You will not!" "The young girl." "Rosa and her child they're dead." "It's probably for the best." "I judge the whole vineyard by this one vine and when it's ready" "I know it's time to harvest." "This is good." "Tomorrow, better." "The day after that, perfect." "I thought that I was taking her to a place of sanctuary." "But it was a place of punishment." "Hell." "This is God's will, Ugo." "God's will." "Not mine." "You gave me the order!" "I carried it out!" "What will God's judgment be on us?" "A stallion may mount a donkey and get a mule." "I like mules." "Ugo, I ride mules." "But there will never be a mule in the Medici family." "Do you understand?" "Of course." "Remember your place." "Who's there?" "Who's the?" "!" "Excuse me." "Messer Cosimo, Madonna Contessina." "The ceremony is about to begin." "And Florence cannot have its procession of the Magi without the Medici." "Thank you, Ugo." "Forgive me, Cosimo." "I heard some of what you said through the door." "You have not become your father." "You're a better man than he ever was." "That mule isn't the only thing carrying precious cargo." "You're with child?" "Are you sure?" "It will be a boy." "We're sure of it." "And we'll call him Lorenzo."