"April 1494 "Peace be with you"" "The great gates to the city have been closed." "A messenger is sent to the monastery to escort Domenico and Savonarola here." "Your escort awaits downstairs." "Then the ordeal by fire will commence." "You could still withdraw." "I'm not afraid of death." "I always thought mine would come with a quick thrust of a sword." "Not a slow burn." "The Pope implores me to devise a way of saving my life... whilst also saving our cause." "And you can?" "Ah, Francesco." " You asked to see me, Eminence." " Yes." "Last night I kept vigil, kneeling before the altar in the Duomo." "During those long quiet hours, the voice of St. Francis spoke to me in a whisper." "Saint Francis?" "What did he say?" "He asked why this battle for Florence was not fought between Florentines." "He asked if his brother Franciscans have greater faith than the Dominicans." " Of course we do." " Yes." "But St. Francis wants you to prove that you do." "How?" "Cardinal Borgia, I will stand in your place." " Savonarola will refuse." " How can he?" "When Fra Domenico stands in his place?" "The baby was stolen from the home of Adriana da Mila 24 hours ago." " Yes, Holiness." " And your search has found?" "Nothing, Holiness." "I suggest you redouble your efforts." "Does Lucrezia know?" " How does she fare?" " How indeed?" "Her brother is in Florence, about to burn, and her firstborn child is missing." "She is sick at heart and inconsolable." "Rise, oh Lord." "And let your enemies be scattered." "Rise, oh Lord." "And let your enemies be scattered." "Let his foes flee from him... as smoke is driven away, so drive him away." "As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before the Lord." "Arise, oh Lord." "And let your enemies be scattered." "Fra Domenico will hold the Eucharist." "This is sacrilege." "We will not allow the body of the Redeemer to burn." "You, Franciscan, are not the arbiter of what Fra Domenico may hold." " Like hell, heretical scat." " Don't touch me." " Give me the Eucharist." " I will not, Franciscan savage." "Then you will burn in this world on..." "I am a true believer." "I am a Prince of the Church and the son of a Pope." "I will hold the Eucharist." "Take your places." "Bow your heads and pray in the presence of Almighty God." "Hear this." "He who survives the flames, demonstrates true faith." "Rise, oh Lord." "And let your enemies be scattered." "The same rains that cursed Rome... now baptize Florence." "John Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury..." "Chancellor to Henry VII, King of England, Ireland and Wales." "Welcome to Rome, Eminence." "We trust the city agrees with you." "Holiness, if only I could abandon my life in London... to the wiles of this most beauteous country." "The English always have an irrational love for Italy." "It is the food." "You have gnocchi and ravioli... in England we have mutton." "What brings you to us?" "Besides your love of pasta." "His Majesty King Henry VII sends his unwavering allegiance... and word that his son, Henry Tudor, Duke of York... humbly begs for the honor of Lucrezia's hand in marriage." "His firstborn, Arthur, is engaged to Caterina d'Aragona..." " daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella?" " This is so." "And Henry is second in line behind Arthur to the throne of England?" "Henry is only three years old." "As was Arthur, when he was betrothed." "We wish to convey our deep affection for King Henry." "Please present him this sword of honor as he battles pretenders to his throne." "We will consider His Majesty's generous offer regarding our much beloved Lucrezia." "Tudor wants this marriage to keep his wobbly crown from toppling off his head." "Holiness, sound policy would be for your daughter to marry an Italian... and thus unifying our peninsula." "Say, Prince Alfonso di Calabria." "Alfonso yes, but not di Calabria." "Alfonso d'Este would make a fine suitor." "That grape has been plucked." "He married my cousin, Anna Maria, not a week ago." "In fact, they make their way to Rome with my cousin Giovanni and his new bride." "Both couples seek a papal blessing on their recent nuptials." "Has Giovanni already overcome his affliction?" "Agapito has arrived." "Agapito Geraldini..." "Secretary to His Eminence Cesare Cardinal Borgia." "Have Lucrezia brought here from my mother's villa." "Holiness." "I have a report from Cardinal Borgia in Florence." " A rainstorm?" " You've got to admire God's theatricality." "The Florentines now believe Savonarola can survive any ordeal." "At each and every step that water bug evades us." "Cesare seems to be convinced that the monk is touched by the hand of God." "Agapito, bring me Cardinal Lanzol." "'The whole world knows that Christ's glory has not been spread by force or weapons... but by a poor fisherman.'" "Yet Savonarola now has an armed guard protecting his monastery." "And: 'He who defies me, defies God.'" "This monk equates himself with Christ." "His bonfires have burned every vanity but his own." "He does not see his pride leaves him exposed." "Like the soft underbelly of an unsuspecting animal." "Is it pride?" "Or true righteousness?" "Did not the high priests of Jerusalem crucify Christ?" "Savonarola doesn't commit simony, he has no mistress and hasn't killed." "Not yet." "No one is incorruptible, Eminence." "A town with no taverns is like a woman with no pussy." "Cousin, why are you here?" "Is that how men greet family in Florence?" "My father doesn't think I'm capable of handling Savonarola." "After everything I've done for the Pope, he now questions my loyalty." " No Cesare, the Holy Father..." " His doubt in me is contained within your presence." "I am not a fool." "Do not come closer." "The Supreme Pontiff demands that Savonarola be silent or excommunicated." "If the wrath of Christ's Vicar does not change the monk's mind, he must die." "I see now my place in God's plan." "I am a Pharisee." "For that, I do not need the help of either of you." "We have the Papal Guard searching around Carbognano for your son." "Why?" "So that you can send him away again?" "Whether stolen or not, my baby is not mine." "We sent the child away for your own benefit, so that you could remain in the eyes of the world virgo intacta and be married." "The King of England's son, Henry, longs for your hand in marriage." "And you command me to marry this Tudor prince?" "No, Lucrezia." "We..." "I wish to know what you truly feel about this proposition." "Proposal." "Why do you pretend that I contribute to my own fate?" "I do not pretend." "In the past when you were a girl I have made, as a father does, choices for you." "But now your role in this family is as valuable as that of Cesare." "You don't ask him to marry women he doesn't know or love." "We've demanded of Cesare a sacrifice far more precious than marital vows." "What of Alfonso di Calabria?" "He believes we are engaged." "He left for Naples to receive a princely crown from his uncle." "Tiny Bisciglie, a blotch on the Neapolitan map." "Henry Tudor brings us England, Ireland and Wales." "If you wish to know my true thoughts, then I too wish to know them." "Savonarola." "Savonarola, open the door." "Savonarola." " Bring me to the friar." " You're a brave one to come here without your bravi, Borgia." "Let him step forward, Salviati." "You have a small army, friar." "I'm a shepherd, not a sheep." "I will not be led to the slaughter." "Oh no, you will walk, head held high, to the slaughterhouse." "Let me guess why you're here." "The Pope has banned me from preaching." "Either of my own free will or by more persuasive means." "Disobey and face excommunication, or worse." "Be at ease, Salviati." "I beg of you, do not force my hand." "You beg of me?" "I pity your ignorance, Borgia." " Mercy is for God to give." " Still, you choose to incite this turmoil." " And within you lies the power to stop it." " My words and actions aren't mine, but God's." "He will decide when I must stop." "Not me, not you and certainly not a corrupt pope." "Corrupt or not, he is the Pope." "You're not." "But you have reached a crossroads, yes?" "Who do you love most?" "God?" "Rodrigo Borgia?" "Or yourself?" "Those who were desperate to inhale the smoke of our burning flesh... were left unsatisfied when the will of God descended upon them in little drops of rain." "You may ask:" "Friar, why are your brothers in Christ... hell bent to make war upon you?" "Because I dare say to a false pope:" "May God split this Earth in two and engulf you." "The whole world is awash in the blood of innocents... yet you and your sty of piglet priests lift not one hair of your eyebrows... your faces buried deep in the trough of Rome." "Let the fire of my words burn its way into the anti-Christ's ears." "Let the fire of my words burn its way into the anti-Christ's ears." "Savonarola just condemned himself." "Let the fire of my words burn its way into the anti-Christ's ears." "Alfonso d'Este and Anna Maria..." "Giovanni Sforza and Ginevra, bless you." "Amen." "Gentle guests, on behalf of my family, I'd like to express my gratitude... to His Holiness Pope Alexander for this marvelous feast." "I ask you to raise your glasses in honor of my cousins..." "Anna Maria and Giovanni... and their exquisite new spouses Alfonso and Ginevra." " Salute." " Salute." " What's the matter?" " I'm exhausted." " I have a long journey back to mother's." " Stay here tonight." "In your old room." " Papa..." " I understand." "You're embarrassed being in proximity to your former husband and his new bride, as well as Alfonso d'Este with whom you shared a flirtation, and his new bride, while you are alone." "Giovanni and Alfonso almost came to blows over me." "And now I'm of less interest to them than an empty bottle of wine." "Do you blame me for my algido (coldness)?" " Come along." " I want to go to bed." "One moment and then you may sleep." "Giovanni, your wife is a work of art." " Do you not agree, Lucrezia?" " Yes." "Thank you, Holiness." "I am well loved by the Gonzaga family." " As is your bride, Alfonso." " You look beautiful, Anna Maria." " Thank you, Lucrezia." " Enjoy." "Enjoy." "We will not be satisfied until you go to bed drunk, fat and happy." " Now you may retire, Lucrezia." " Why do you humiliate me?" "On the contrary." "None of them deserve to know what is wrestling in your heart." "Be your own greatest ally." "Have you given more thought about marrying young Henry Tudor?" " Savonarola will not see reason." " The insane rarely do." "Eminence, my men are famous for their powers of persuasion." "I wish to speak openly to Niccolo." "Please leave." "You may speak openly." "We are family." "You're my father's eyes and ears before you're anything to me." "Go." " Savonarola is obstinacy personified." " Yes." "He begs for the full force of papal wrath to come crashing down upon this city." "The Pope proposes an interdict, excommunicating every Florentine." "And he asks Emperor Maximilian to move German troops through the Alps." "I cannot reconcile how Savonarola can preach about morality... knowing that he would sacrifice the lives of his people to retain his position." "I repeat, no one is incorruptible." " I may be taking a liberty in a way that displeases you." " Say anything you wish." "You strike me as a man who is naturally resolute." "If this friar were any other fellow, I imagine he would be dead already." " But you hesitate." "Why?" " He allures me." "I see God in him." "Who am I to kill God?" "One must be careful not to mistake true divinity for mere theatrics." "Alright then." "To silence Savonarola I need only to discredit him." " By making him confess." " To what?" "Fraud." "If he admits that he has lied, that he does not bask in the sunshine of the Holy Spirit" " Florence will have no choice but to hang him." " He will not confess to lying." "He will, if Soderini's men are given a chance to persuade him." "I will not subject another man to torture." "I myself have suffered gross injury." "Nor will I lay the deed at another man's feet." "I studied Aquinas in Pisa." "Aquinas?" "The patron saint of platitudes?" "'No one can be called a good prince unless he is good in moral virtues and prudent.'" " You laugh at morality, Niccolo?" " No, I laugh at fantasies." "Aquinas was not concerned with the reality of our world." "Look at what is around you." "Italy is an eternal blood-soaked massacre." "Will you follow the good princes who have ruled before you?" "Rising and falling as quickly as the moon disappears each dawn?" "I know the only means by which my family can retain its place is to propagate order." "And yet, I believe in the monk." " More than I ever did in my own father." " I will never repeat that." "I believe in Savonarola..." " but his own lust for martyrdom will kill him." " Then your hands are clean." " Like Pontius Pilate?" " Your mind is extreme." "You must train it to be otherwise." "Morality is fine, but when compelled... you must know the ways of evil and have the mettle to employ them." "Giovanni, you dare to come to me?" "Please, Lucrezia, I want to make peace." "I am sick of heart." " Oh, for a knife to plunge deep into your poor-sake heart." " Why do you injure me this way?" "Me injure you?" "After all the lies you spread saying that I fornicate with my father?" "I was angry." "You forced me to announce to the world that I was impotent." "My heart..." "Your heart, which you bemoan so much, has the depth of a puddle." "Go." " I still love you." " Go to la Gonzaga." "Alfonso..." " Did you receive my letters?" " I keep them on my person always." "The parchment is nearly transparent, worn down by my finger-tips, reading each word over and over." "How could you wed that Sforza woman?" " She has a pig's snout." " I had no choice, Lucrezia." ""All I refuse, and you I choose." You forgot your pledge." "Not so." "Not so one bit." "You have not left my mind's eye for a single moment." "I confess that I'm responsible for our sweet affection faltering." " Do you forgive me?" " I love you." "But as long as there's a wife waiting in another bedchamber, you're not welcome in mine." "Go to la Sforza." "My heart leaps again." "Lucrezia seems more distressed about the presence of Alfonso d'Este than the disappearance of her child." " What are you implying?" " I imply nothing." " I merely observe." " Lucrezia is bewildered." " Her son is now her brother." " In either case, she should show concern." "When she thought Cesare might die, Lucrezia was bereft." "I worry less about Cesare's physical death than that of his spirit." "You enjoy that drug?" "Enjoy?" "No." "Medicine." "May I try?" " It spoils the taste of the wine." " Even so." " You work late, friend." " I work when I'm inspired." " Inspired?" "By God?" " By myself." "Ah yes, an artist must be consumed with his own world." "Every man should be obsessed by the art of being." "His inborn glory makes him mighty." "If not, he is a twilight man, wavering in spirit." " You do not wear the white garments of Savonarola." " No." "I do not believe in uniformity, nor in hell beyond my lifetime." "So what do you believe in, other than yourself?" "This marble?" "I admire the men who mine the quarry and cart this marble here." "What of great men?" "Savonarola, France's King Charles, the Pope?" " I have no interest in politics." " But politics control your life." "The tax you pay on tools." "The roads which carry the marble to your door." " Savonarola tells you whom to love." " No." "I'm the master of my head, my heart and my dick." "No man holds the power to judge me." "And yet they will." "Then I will do what is outrageous." "I too must be outrageous." "God the Father sent His only Son to Earth to relieve mankind of suffering." "Yet Savonarola pretends that he knows better than God." "He says that solely through misery can one serve the Lord." "Deny yourselves the joys God gives." "And if you fail, you are wicked." "Bound for hellfire." "Why must it be wicked to want your children eating squab instead of stale bread?" "A sin to dress your wife in silk instead of sack cloth?" "God the Father created us in His image." "When we seek what is best for ourselves, for our families... we are seeking what is best for Him." "We celebrate our Savior's generosity." " He's right." " Savonarola would have you believe... that your earthly concerns are unworthy of our Lord's consideration." "My fellow Christians, I do not see throngs of unworthy sinners before me." "I see the living, breathing children of God." "Your hopes, desires and tribulations are felt by Him." "Embrace yourself." "Embrace the world and you embrace salvation." "Throw off your shackles and lead your lives... free of guilt and shame." "Rodrigo Borgia, you are an abomination." "The foul stench of your prostitute Church offends." "Whosoever seeks to undermine God's will... whether he be a tyrant or the son of one yet to fully blossom into his own tyranny let him be accursed by the Lord forever." " Is this your father's will, Borgia?" " Yes." "And yours?" "Is this your will?" "This is your confession." "Read." " Will I not receive a trial?" " Oh, this is your trial." "With all of you as my judges?" " You find this humorous?" " Yes." "Farce always has a dark soul under the most ridiculous scene." "Fra Girolamo Savonarola, the charges against you are thus:" "One:" "Heresy." "In your sermons you have repeatedly abused Holy Mother Church." " Do you deny this charge?" " I do." "I spoke against the man in the Vatican, not the Church of Christ." "Two:" "Your repeated claims of visions of God are intended to defraud the public." "You wish innocent hearts to believe that you possess divine inspiration, all in the service of your vainglorious pride and hunger for power." "You hold this trial, pretending to be just and dare to call me a fraud?" "I am no fraud." "I am no fraud." "Three:" "The ordeal by fire." "You committed an act of sacrilege in trying to send Fra Domenico..." " Have you arrested him?" " into the flames carrying the Eucharist." "Was the Host consecrated?" "Was the Host consecrated, Friar?" "No." " He lies." " I do not lie." "Fra Domenico has sworn on the Bible that the Host was consecrated." "Will you swear on the Bible?" "I do not lie." "I do not lie." "We will continue when you've had a chance to contemplate your sins and agree to confess." " Come, wait with us upstairs." " I cannot hide from that which I have set in motion." "My spirit is stalwart... my body is..." "Holiness, we thank you deeply for your graciousness." "We can only hope to open our arms and our homes to you... when you bless us with a visit." " Oh, my God." " God." "Oh, God in Heaven." "My leg." "Bring him inside." "Fetch the bonesetter." " I will see that he is cared for." " Yes, do so, daughter." "Your followers and your protectors will not dare to show their faces." " You are alone, Girolamo." " I am alone." "Do you confess?" "Again, gaoler." "No." "Stop." "I beg you, hurt me no more." " Are you willing to confess?" " If he will stop, yes." "Yes." "Do not torture me anymore, please." "God, thy stroke has reached me." "Do you, Girolamo Savonarola, confess to illegally organizing a political movement and amassing arms to expedite its mutinous aims?" " No." " Do you confess to being heretical and schismatic in your preaching?" "Interrogate the Pope, your father, with these questions, his heresy, his simony, his debauchery." "What of your prophetic visions?" "Do they not come from your rapacious desire for glory rather than God?" "No." "The Lord is with me." "Give him the rope." "I implore you, confess and sign and the pain will end." "The agony I now feel is no more than a speck of dust... to the torture you feel in your black perverted heart." "You implore me to confess in order to end your suffering, not mine." "You dare to stand in judgment of me?" "You misconstrue my nature, Friar." "I can remain here until the day of Doom listening to your screams." "Pull the blasphemer up." "No." "I beg mercy." "Do you, Girolamo Savonarola, confess to illegally organizing a political movement?" "I do." "I confess." "I'm guilty." "I'm guilty." "God." "I have denied you, God." "I am a weak and fearful man." "Jesus, help me." "This time you have caught me." "No, you, Borgia, suffer for riches and power." "If I must suffer, I will suffer for the truth." "I recant my confession." "I recant all that I have said." "Fascinating." "What do you put on his skin?" "Feverfew, comfrey and knitbone to encourage rapid healing." "You cannot move until the clay has dried and hardened." " How long must he have this setting?" " I will return in 30 days time." "30 days." "This is impossible." "If he moves before his time, the leg will limp." " I thank you for your service." " This is a disaster." " My poor darling." " You must return to Ferrara." "Why must she leave?" "My brother, Duke Ludovico, is en route to Alfonso's father in Ferrara." "An official state visit, months in the planning." "You must be there." "To do otherwise would shame us." " I will be well cared for." " No one will care for you as attentively as your wife." " My duty..." " Dear lady, I could never hope to equal you in attentiveness" "But I will see that Alfonso wants for nothing." "Yes, you Borgia are known for your boundless generosity." "Love, you would do me a great service... presiding over the affairs of our house while I am unable to." "You are most beautiful." "This is your confession." "One can hardly see, Eminence." "I've been weeping for my sins." " Could you read my words aloud?" " Why?" "Surely you remember to what you confessed." "Legally, his request is valid." "I have betrayed God, I am evil, I am a sinner." "Doomed to spend an eternity in the dung heaps of Hell." "I just wanted to hear you say it." " Sign." " I would, Your Eminence... but I cannot move my arm." "Would you sign for me?" "You asked me whom I love." "God, Rodrigo Borgia or myself?" "Well, how can I love God... when, if He exists, He has abandoned you?" "And you have abandoned your father." "Savonarola has signed his confession." "Now you must sign his death warrant." "Is everything in order?" "Killing a man with a pen is no easier than using a sword." "You've sent many men to their deaths." "But not this man." "Are they gone?" "I have you to myself for a month." " Help me remove this setting." " No." "We must maintain the illusion that you are hurt so that we may in secret enjoy ourselves freely." "Lock the door." "Lift up your skirt." " Alfonso..." " Lift up your skirt." "Higher." "Higher." "Do not tease me." "Above your belly." "Come here." "You are most beautiful." "How am I to believe you?" "You said the same words to your wife." "Sleep, little Laura." "Yes?" "I came here to leave a new dose of vitriolo for the Pope." "Put the bottles anywhere, please." "Lady, my concern grows for the amount of vitriolo the Pope is using." "I will watch carefully." "Unholy impostors, you are condemned this day as heretics... schismatics and contemners (?" ") of the Holy See." "You're divested of the instruments which were bestowed upon you by God at the time of your ordination." "I separate you from the Church Triumphant." "From the Church Militant, but not Triumphant." "That lies beyond your power, lackey." "God does not forsake us, Borgia." "We forsake Him." " The sentence is death." " Forgive me, brother." "Had I remained silent, we may have averted this." "You made the choice our Almighty Father intended you to make." "I will see you in Heaven shortly." "I die willingly for Him who died so willingly for me." "Lord... into Thy hands I commend my spirit." "Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae." "Borgia..." "I hear the voice of God." "He curses your family." "Your father, your sister, your future..." "Ah well..." "God has finally told Savonarola to stop." "Let no one claim his ashes." "Dump them into the river Arno." " How fares Alfonso?" " He sleeps." " And his wife?" " Gone to Ferrara." "You quiver like a blade of grass." "I do not..." "I do not want to marry Henry Tudor." "He is three years old." "I cannot wed a child, not when my own baby is missing." "I will marry any man you deem worthy, but I beg of you, let him be a man." "An Italian." "Come to me, my child." "A brave ancestor of the Pazzi family... returned from the First crusade with a stone from the Holy Sepulcher." "The custom here in Florence is to extinguish every fire in the city on Holy Saturday." "Come Easter, during midnight Mass... a leading citizen strikes a light from that stone... and rekindles the columbina." "Then the people rekindle their hearths... from the flame it provides." "This year the Signory has chosen me to strike the first spark." "I do so, humbly." " Pax vobiscum." " Et cum spiritu tuo." "Pax vobiscum, Cesare." "The peace of God no longer interests me."