"Pope Innocent VIII." "In nomine Patris, et Filii... comprised of ambitious men, sons of Rome's ruling families." "Orsini dog!" "Colonna whore!" "The Pope's most powerful advisor is Vice-Chancellor" "Rodrigo Borgia." "I have not given up my hope of a Borgia on the Spanish throne." "I ask Your Holiness to replace me as Bishop of Valencia with my sainted nephew, Cesare." "There is a question of Cesare's dubious birth." "No Spaniard, no Borgia bastard will ever again be Pope." "He draws support from his married lover, Giulia Farnese..." "Why are you so good at this?" "And his family." "Juan..." "And Rodrigo has even greater plans for me." "Cesare..." "But I do not want to be a priest." "I do not have the soul for it." "And Lucrezia." "Who will arrange a marriage for me?" "Cardinal Borgia, your uncle." "Still, Rodrigo is determined that none shall forget the name..." "I have this sense of foreboding." "That I will soon die." "You will not die soon." "But five will die before the summer heat cools." "Deaths that will change you." "Who is going to die?" "That I cannot say." "Tell me." "No." "I have not the power." "You are Bishop, yet you ignore Church dogma." "Pope Innocent..." " Pray for us." " What are you doing?" "Cesare, he has the fever, do not touch him." "Use this to see a doctor, not for wine." "Pope Innocent has condemned witchcraft and all Christians who associate with witches." "Besides, you make us late for your uncle's banquet." "A toast." "A toast to our guest of honor, our newest Cardinal, Giovanni de Medici." "Giovanni de Medici." "between the Borgia, the Cibo, the Medici and the Orsini families." "By marriage, by blood, we are all one family." "Salute." "Salute." "And I toast my dear sister Clarice, who is in Heaven, celebrating the elevation of her son, Giovanni." "As she also celebrates her daughter Maddalena's marriage to Franceschetto Cibo." "Bravo." "Maddalena, how is it having the Pope as your father-in-law?" "Tell us, in Florence, are women allowed to eat with men?" "No." "Well, when I am Countess of Oliva," "I will insist that I sit at the same table as my husband." "Uh, about that." "Your betrothal to Cherubin de Centelles has been nulled." "Oh, no." "He does not want me?" "Your uncle has made a better match." "Don Gaspare de Procida." "Son of the Count of Almenara and Aversa." "Twice as handsome and twice as rich." " Oh, my God." " She has the fever." "Friends." "Dear friends." "As many of you know, Papa has taken ill, exhausted from working day into night, keeping the peace between Naples and Milan." "Wait in the library." "I toast my father, Lorenzo the Magnificent." "Lorenzo." "A song." "Written by Lorenzo." "The civil war which has raged throughout the Turkish Empire is over." "Bajazet has defeated his brother Djem." "A united Muslim army means those heathens will once again attack Italy." "Yes, but according to this report, after Djem was defeated, he surrendered to the Knights of Rhodes." "Ironic, huh?" "A Muslim feeling safer with a Christian than his own kin." "What do the Knights intend to do with the Shahzadeh?" ""Hold Djem at our fortress in Auvergne" ""until such time as a new Crusade is launched."" "Djem, hidden away in the hinterlands of France?" "Wise." "Hardly wise, Brother." "Keeping him out of public view diminishes his usefulness." "Instead, he should reside here, in the Eternal City." "The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil." "He shall preserve thy soul." "God will protect us." "We stand before You, Lord, here where so many pontiffs rest in eternal peace, aware more than ever of our own mortality." "We are all going to die." "We are all going to die." "His Royal Highness, the Shahzadeh Djem." "Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Church, I have brought a gift." "People of Faith, I give you the Lance of Longinus, the very blade that pierced the chest of our Savior, Jesus Christ." "The Holy Lance." "The Holy Lance." "My name will be carved in history." "Thank you, Rodrigo." "I do not bite." "Come in." "I asked to see you, the nephews of my benefactor Cardinal Borgia, because, as a stranger in your city, I thought you could be my guides." "And, perhaps, even my friends?" "Join me?" "No." "Thank you." "I am on a fast." "Hmm." "A health precaution?" "A penance." "Well, I am in search of a sin for which to be penitent, so..." "This fabric from Milan is absolutely gorgeous." "Lucrezia, you cannot wear Milanese cloth the first time you are presented to your fiance." "Don Gaspare de Procida is cousin to King Ferrante of Naples, and, given the current tension between Naples and Milan, a dress made from that material would cause a war." "Show us another." "Do you constantly disagree with me out of malice or mere habit?" "Lucrezia." "Your brother Goffredo, is here with a message which he will speak only to your ears." "Goffredo." "Goffredo." "How are you?" "How is Mother?" "Boiling with fever and begs you come at once." "Absolutely not." "Lucrezia is busy preparing to meet her future husband." "I've been denied the sight of Mother since moving to the Cancelleria." "If she's fevered, I must run to her." "We've only just cleansed this house." "You shan't expose yourself to more ill humors." "But, Adriana, the link between mother and daughter is sacred." "If my mama were dying, I would fight the Devil himself to be by her side." "You see, I'm not so disagreeable." "You encourage me, knowing that such a visit would enrage my uncle." "I'm sorry." "Tell Mama I cannot." "I will not visit her." "Mama will die." "Goffy." "Cultivate this friendship with Djem." "It will frustrate della Rovere." "Eminence, word from Florence." "Lorenzo de Medici has succumbed to the fever." "The first death." "Are the streets of Florence quiet?" "So far." "Where is Giovanni?" "He is here, in the study." "I knew how infirm Papa was." "I should have stayed by his side." "He wanted you in Rome doing God's work, as he did his entire life." "I will go say Mass to pray for his soul and pray as well that peace within the Italian states will not perish with Lorenzo." "May God bless you and your brothers, Giovanni." "Grieve, my friend." "There is no shame in a broken heart." "Just before my father died, the monk, Savonarola, refused to grant him absolution." "The thought of Papa burning in Hell until the end of time..." "A monk cannot condemn a man." "Only God can." "God is just." "He will open His arms to Lorenzo and say," ""You made Florence a paradise on Earth." ""Come, dear one, and rest."" "We must forget our priestly intentions for tonight and celebrate the genius of your father's living." "Sweet love of Jesus." "We should have gone with Giovanni to Florence, for his father's funeral." "He did not want us." "You mean he did not want me." "I will be honest, Rome casts a strange spell upon you." "Not Rome." "Wherever I am." "There's always two elements struggling within me." "Beast versus Archangel." "More often than not, the beast wins." "A beast has no soul." "You do." "My soul is empty." "Alessandro, I have a confession to make." "To me?" "Have you forgotten?" "I, like you, am not yet a priest." "No, but you are a drunkard and will therefore keep my confidence." "More likely, I will simply forget." "So speak freely." "I am consumed by the fever of envy." "My brother." "Our friend de Medici." "Their lives are in motion." "Mine is as stagnant as the garbage in Montesarchio." "You are Bishop of Valencia." "But that is not enough." "I yearn for what Juan has." "His dukedom?" "Or Rodrigo's affection?" "Both." "More." "Something else." "What does Professor Decio teach?" "Unlike lust but much like gluttony, envy becomes a sin only if you act upon the impulse." "But how can I not be envious?" "Juan will achieve greatness in his life." "So will you." "By a different route." "Cesare, contemplate the other side of your instincts." "You comfort the sick, the afflicted." "When your emotions are in check, your presence is calming, nurturing, spiritual." "Regardless of your desires, perhaps you are a priest." "And if your soul is empty, replenish it." "Make restitution to those you have sinned against." "Marcantonio, we must talk." "Fucking turd." "Remove yourself from Colonna property or I will put the next one through your skull." "Marcantonio, I've wronged you." "Forgive me for my wretched sins." ""Who can forgive sins but God alone?"" "Am I correct, priest?" "Run or die." "I am ready to die." "If my dying ends the feud between the Colonna and the Borgia, then go ahead and kill me." "Enjoy your freedom, Catalan, for when Pope Innocent lies in his tomb your entire family shall be shackled to the walls of the lowest, darkest dungeon inside Castel Sant'Angelo." "So much for replenishing my soul." "Madonna, I bring you some small tokens of my deep affection." "Pearls from the sea." "Gold from the mountains." "Perfume from the air." "And yet, I see that all the elements pale beside your loveliness." " Brother, we must talk." " Hurry, this is important." "Yes, Juan." "I'm sure you're on a mission of utmost urgency." "There." "Christoforo Castanea, Count of Castel Leone." "Last night, he had a secret meeting with Mustafa Pasha." "An impoverished count shares a drink with the Turkish ambassador." "So?" "Padishah Bajazet is offering 300,000 ducats to the man who kills his brother." "Castanea has a title, but no property." "I believe he plots to assassinate Djem." "You will help me discover the truth, foil the conspiracy." "Since when have you been interested in Turkish politics?" "Or the truth?" "Cesare, I know your value, even if our uncle does not." "Together we can triumph." "Rodrigo will bless us both." "Djem is more valuable to Rome, and to us Borgia, alive." "Then quickly devise a plan." "Simple." "We must befriend Castanea." "When Innocent expires, we fear the next pope will bellyache for another Crusade." "And use Djem as a rallying point against Bajazet." "We Borgia would do anything to keep Djem from gaining power." "That is why we have him under lock and key." "Worry not." "Go on." "Go." "Why do you say worry not?" "The Padishah has hired me to..." "Dispose of his brother." "Excellent." "How?" "I am to poison the well which supplies the water to the Apostolic Palace." "Poison the well." "But then would you not also be poisoning the Pope and all the clerics who live and work there?" "His Holiness is almost dead anyway." "As for the rest, good riddance." "Good riddance, indeed." "The hour is late." "No." "The room belongs to you." "You have already paid for..." "We pay nothing." "Our mother owns this inn." "Thank you." "For everything." "The ale, the women, the friendship." "Christoforo, we thank you doubly for taking us into your confidence." "We know that your fortunes are low, but no nobleman should be without a valet." "Our man Rudolfo will serve you till the end of your days." "For what reason could you possibly be wearing that frown?" "Well, go on." "Were the flowers not to your satisfaction?" "The wine not to your taste?" "Don Gaspare..." "His demeanor, his arrogance." "His interest in me is purely as a mirror of himself." "Boys mature more slowly than girls." "But I am now a woman and I want a real man, not a preening child." "I refuse to wed Don Gaspare." "Silly girl, you must." "The documents have been signed by your uncle." "I will not be forced into wedlock with that self-loving peacock." "I am a Borgia." "I deserve better." "No." "You deserve whatever blessing His Eminence gives you." "That is not the face of La Bella." "That is the face of Hell." "Your niece." "She refuses to marry Don Gaspare." "For what reason?" "She finds him undesirable and demands a more handsome husband." "Don Gaspare is one of the finest-looking young men in Europe." "More importantly, this match has been sanctioned by King Ferdinand of Spain." "My love, I do not have time for trivialities." "Please, solve this problem." "Use your wiles to convince the girl." "Beg pardon, Your Eminence." "Word from the Vatican." "His Holiness is mere hours from death." "The fever accelerates." "As do the pains in his abdomen." "An old scar on his right leg has broken open." "I have done all I can." "I've heated the room, sealed the windows to sweat the fever out." "There is no hope." "You are absolutely certain?" "When Innocent dies, the peasants will go on a rampage." "Shall we fortify our palace?" "Definitely." "Whichever cardinal controls the treasury controls whichever cardinal sits next on Saint Peter's throne." "If Orsini does, then Borgia does." "Orsini must double the Papal Guard at Castel Sant'Angelo." "No." "It would be better to have our own men in place." "We must also station our Bravia around the Vatican." "Tell Juan to arm the consigliere and move Djem to the secret room above the Sistine." "I want a shooter on every window." "You, take five men to the roof." "I am in charge, brother." "Go, Goddamn you, now." "Yes, sir." "She says I carry myself with an air of importance?" "Of course, I do." "I am a de Procida." "I shall rule Almenara and Aversa one day." "Yes, but do you wish to share your throne with a woman who abhors you?" "As my mother does my father." "A romantic gesture will warm Lucrezia's heart." "I gave her pearls, gold..." "Wealth is not romance." "Romance is for fools and poets." "Romance is the precursor of seduction." "Have you yet tasted a woman?" "I assure you, Lucrezia is ready to become one." "But a woman needs romance, a woman craves seduction." "For the sake of your own desires, woo her." "Lessen your swagger and you will find yourself with ample reason to swagger." "You are to go to the chapel at once." "No." "Forgive the intrusion." "The city is in turmoil, yet I could not stop thinking about you." "No, this is improper." "Please, only one moment, signora, the length of a heartbeat." "Until the wondrous day when I may kiss your lips." "We must defend this wall, here." "This wall is more..." "Look who I found skulking about." "Cricket, what brings you here?" "You two must come." "Mama is dying." "We cannot both go, not now." "Look, our defenses are in place." "There's naught to do but wait, and you are more the healer than I." "When Castanea makes his move against Djem, you will let me know?" "Of course." "Do you want me to come with you?" "No." "Make sure the Bravia on the roof are not drunk." ""We bequeath the 148,000 ducats in the papal treasury" ""to our beloved son, Franceschetto."" ""We bestow unto Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere" ""the keys to the Castel Sant'Angelo."" ""My dear brothers, I beseech you all to elect someone better than me" ""as my successor."" "Signed Innocent VIII, of that name, July 19th," "1492." "July the 19th." "He changed his will five days ago?" "What difference does that make?" "For the past five days, he has barely known his own name." "There are witnesses that will confirm his healthy state of mind." "I, for one." "If we do what Innocent asks, the papal treasury will be depleted." "He begs us to elect someone better than him yet does not leave the poor soul a single ducat." "Borgia is already imagining himself wearing the tiara." "There will be no money for whoever is next, you fishmonger." "Be silent, Catalan." "You want the Castel Sant'Angelo ruled by this Genoan sodomite?" "Giuliano." "Stop it." "What is this?" "Such behavior in the presence of the Pope?" "Desist!" "Each of you has benefited from my father's reign." "If a man's last request is sacred, then a Pope's must be doubly so." "If della Rovere takes possession of Castel Sant'Angelo, we Borgia are doomed." "We must keep Innocent alive until this will is broken." "And we must secure the papal treasury." "How?" "By moving the gold and silver from the Castel Sant'Angelo to a secret location." "You spoke to Lucrezia?" "She refused?" "Yes." "Excellency, help me." "Mama." "Cesare, save my family." "You need fresh air." "Has the doctor..." "They say we're too far gone." "Where is Lucrezia?" "She will be here soon." "Rodrigo?" "Goffy, I need you to fetch someone." "Yes, sir." "I do not wish to impose but you sit alone, as if lost." "We've had our disagreements, but the difference in our ages is not great." "And more importantly, I know the joy and, yes, fear of a wedding engagement." "I am lost." "At first, I found Don Gaspare repulsive." "With his head held so high I thought he might topple backwards." "But now, part of me is taken by him." "But I'm so ugly, how can Don Gaspare possibly be proud that I will be his wife?" "No." "He agreed to marry me solely for my dowry." "Nonsense." "You are a beauty in the making." "And we women, though we have no rights or privileges, can use for high purpose our virginity and later, our sexuality." "Oh, Lord, what a thing to say." "Are you shocked because you've never heard such words, or do you pretend to be shocked because you know deep in your heart that I speak true?" "Perhaps we shall be friends." "Papa, food will restore you." "What can we do, Dottore?" "I have a way to nourish His Holiness." "What better cure than mother's milk?" "Castanea, he's on his way to the Vatican?" "Yes." "I will go tell your brother." "No." "I will take care of Castanea myself." "Signor, help me." "There will be a place for you, by my side in Heaven." "Grazie." "Grazie." "If I save your family, Excellency, you must swear that you will use your influence with the Pope to lift the ban on witchcraft, which is not Devil worship, but natural, God-given remedies." "Yes, yes, I will speak to His Holiness." "But if my family dies, you will die as well." "Juan?" "No." "Judas." "We are a planet of Judases." "I've hired a doctor, an expert in the latest medical methods." "A Jew?" "A Jew inside the Vatican?" "Borgia, this is a sacrilege." "Whatever can be done must be done." "What in the name of the risen Christ are you doing?" "Curing your family." "Excreta?" "From swine." "You're covering my mother in shit?" "You ignorant cunt." "My family should be treated with potable gold, with aqua regia, ambergris, not the feces of pigs." "If your high-brow cures work, why send for me?" "Excreta pulls the toxin out and has many other healing powers." "I, myself, bathe weekly in shit and my skin is flawless." "You will cure them, witch, or I will feed you to pigs." "There you are, one ducat each for the use of your son's blood." "No!" "No!" "God have mercy on me." "No, I do not think He will." "Down here, you are as far away from God's mercy as any man can be." "But you may yet be blessed by Borgia mercy if you reveal who else is involved in this conspiracy." "Please." "Let me go." "Let me go, Juan." "Give me a name." "Juan." "Juan." "Juan." "Juan." "Juan." "Juan, let me go." "Give me a name." "Juan." "Juan." "Tell me who is involved!" "I will." "I will." "Come back, I will." "All three boys are dead." "But did the cure work?" "Oh, well." "Pay the Jew in full." "Guardian of our souls and bodies, healer of the sick, helper of those in their agony, pray for us." "Saint Michael the Archangel, guardian of our souls and bodies, healer of the sick, helper of those in..." "Cesare." "Mama." "Goffredo." "The fever has been broken." "Thanks be to God..." "And to you." "You have worked a miracle, Cesare." "Miracles are myths." "This was the magic of science." "Ottaviano?" "Brother?" "Why will Ottaviano not wake?" "The second death." "No." "No." "I beg you." "No." "You were to cure all three." "I warned you." "Guards, seize the witch." "When you looked into the future, did you see yourself as the third death?" "A curse on you." "Eternal damnation." "Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name." "Thy kingdom come." "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." "Amen." "Blessed Joseph, patron of the dying," "I recommend the soul of this faithful servant, Pope Innocent, in his agony that under thy protection, he may be preserved from the wiles of the Devil, and that he may be found worthy to enter everlasting joy." "Through the same Christ Our Lord." "Amen." "Water?" "No, thank you, Eminence." "Drink." "I said no." "No." "Stop." "Stop." "Stop." "The water is poisoned." "Now how would you know that?" "Old friend." "Rise, Franceschetto." "Such behavior is unbecoming for the son of a Pope." "I beg you, Juan, save me." "You must tell your uncle that I was working in secret with you to uncover the conspiracy, pretending to join Mustafa Pasha and Castanea." "Of course." "I would be happy to lie on your behalf." "Especially if the 300,000 ducats you received from the Turkish ambassador found its way into the Borgia bank account." "I will send the money over at once." "And your father's previous will?" "Restored." "May I go?" "Mmm." "Franceschetto." "There is one more insignificant item." "Your wife." "Maddalena de Medici." "I will be away from my home tomorrow evening." "Excellent." "Who knows, Franceschetto, your father may yet recover and then you can cut my throat." "I want you there tomorrow to watch Castanea die." "A terrible crime has been attempted on the Blessed Person of our Supreme Pontiff and a foreign prince, who is a guest in our city." "A crime made worse, for the perpetrator conspired with the heathens who defile the name of Christ in the Holy Land." "Let Christoforo Castanea be damned for an eternity." "And Juan Borgia, praised by all true believers." "Die, die, die." "Die, die, die." "The fourth death." "Witches." "Heathens." "This sickness is a curse, which a witch has put on me." "Destroy..." "Advocate, where is the will?" "Destroy..." "No." "No, no, stop, you imbecile." "Eminence?" "According to legend, this lance gave supernatural power to Constantine the Great, Justinian, Charlemagne." "The Colonna have placed their Bravi on the Ponte Adriano and move towards Ponte Sisto." "We must depart at once or we will be trapped this side of the Tiber." "Today is the anniversary of my brother's death." "I am haunted by the thought of him dying alone, in exile, whilst I remained in Rome." "How often will you torture yourself?" "If you had left the city, you'd never have been allowed to return." "I will not leave here now until I have seen that the Pope is dead." "I am surrounded by flames." "I am surrounded by flames." "Surrounded by flames." "Innocent VIII of that name, Supreme Pontiff of the one true church, the first among men, the height and summit of the human race moribundus, mortuus." "Giovanni Battista Cibo, Giovanni Battista Cibo," "Giovanni Battista Cibo." "The fifth, the final death." "No, not the final one." "The peasants, believing they, as the children of God, are the heirs to the wealth of their Holy Father, will steal whatever they can." "Since Roman lust for plunder is never satisfied, the mob will attack the palaces of every cardinal in Rome." "Soon they will come here." "As has been true since the beginning, the value of a human life is worth far less than its weight in gold." "We must depart."