Borgia

The peninsula of Italy is threatened by invasion from France

and the Muslim Turks.

Italy itself is divided into ten warring kingdoms.

At the center are the papal states

ruled by pope innocent viii.

Rome, its capital, is also divided into warring factions,

the orsini, the colonna and the Borgia.

This is for calling my uncle a Jew.

This is for calling my uncle a moor.

This is because I feel like beating the shit out of you.

Cesare, stop. You'll kill him.

I thought you'd never get here.

Mama.

Mama.

Mama!

Mama.

Mama, help me. Mama, I'm dying.

No, lucrezia. You are a woman now. Come, we will wash you.

Come on, ottaviano.

His holiness will not be receiving petitions today.

He is meeting with the college of cardinals.

Verbum incarnatum.

His holiness, pope innocent viii of that name

calls to order a meeting of the sacred college of cardinals

on this third day in the month of march

in the year of our lord, fourteen ninety and two.

The supreme pontiff will hear from vice-chancellor Rodrigo cardinal Borgia.

Holy father, I have received the joyous report from king ferdinand of aragon,

and his queen, Isabella of castile.

Their armies have driven the muslims from granada, uniting the country of Spain.

Bravo.

In honor of this momentous victory for the Christian faith,

I beseech your holiness to grant to ferdinand and Isabella

the title of most catholic majesty.

The supreme pontiff will hear from the Dean of the sacred college,

Will certainly anger all the other monarchs of Europe.

King Charles of France has been no less ardent in defending the one, true faith.

Vice-chancellor.

Your holiness has asked the French king to initiate a new crusade

to defend the Italian coast from the heathen muslims.

Yet his highness equivocates.

Though the army of France is the greatest military force in the known world,

he equivocates.

Why?

Perhaps his faith is not married to his passion.

What says the consistory? Assent?

16.

Dissent?

Four.

Vice-chancellor?

Now to a request from Lorenzo de medici regarding his son, Giovanni.

The highest being of consciousness on earth is man,

but our existence must have purpose.

God commands each of us to think, observe and create.

No, Alessandro. He commands us to perform unselfish service for the good of humanity.

That is the only way to save one's soul.

From his holiness.

It's for you. Giovanni de medici.

I...

I am named a cardinal.

Well done, old friend.

Congratulations.

Invasion by the French, the Germans, the Muslim Turks hangs above us like a noose,

and yet Italy remains fractured.

Ten independent countries squabbling.

20 points.

The threat of war between Naples and Milan grows more pungent each day.

You, orsini, have made things worse

by signing a contract with Naples.

You, colonna, tried to do the same, only we outbid you.

40 points.

You cheat.

Cheat? Me?

Orsini dog!

Colonna whore!

No.

Stop. In the name of almighty god, stop.

These petty rivalries endanger Rome. Rome!

Will you murder the eternal city simply to prove your family is the strongest?

No. These factions must end. We must work in unity.

Gianbattista, Giovanni, I want you to offer each other the sign of peace.

Our three families, we are the masters of Rome.

We can leave our children a legacy of plenty or of waste. Choose.

When the city is safe,

you can kill each other.

Lucrezia.

Lucrezia.

Lucrezia.

Lucrezia.

Did you not hear me call? Yes, mother.

Then why did you not respond?

I shall never have a husband.

Boys, wait for me downstairs.

My father is dead.

My brothers are off either fighting the muslims in Spain

or studying for the priesthood in pisa.

Or too young. Who will arrange a marriage for me?

Cardinal Borgia, your uncle, of course. When? Why does he wait?

Am I too ugly? Too plain? Too... no.

He wants to find you the right husband.

And besides, I have been married three times.

I advise you, be careful for what you wish.

Oh, mama.

Tell me about my father. I have done so a thousand times.

Was he handsome? Yes.

Was he brave? Oh, yes.

Did you love him so much that you thought you would die without him?

You read too much romance, lucrezia.

I'm sad to say, but soon you will learn

there is very little real romance in the world.

The weather has been so strange lately.

Brutally hot one moment, frigidly cold the next.

An augur of ill times to come? The death of the pope?

Or war between Naples and Milan.

That in itself will bring ruin to the entire Italian peninsula.

But, worse, to Rome.

In order for one to attack the other...

Their armies must march through the papal states.

I've asked the pope to intercede, but he procrastinates,

uncle! Unsure whether to shit on Naples or piss on Milan.

Juan, why have you returned from Spain?

I did not summon you... Uncle, Pedro Luis is dead.

He was the future of our family.

Ride to pisa at once, bring your brother cesare home. Go. Go.

Yes.

Is the pain too much? That's seven points to you.

Wine will fortify your game. Juan.

Back from valencia? What is wrong?

Pedro Luis has been assassinated.

By whom? I killed all of the assassins.

Was that wise? Wise?

Well, we'll never know who sent them. The moors, of course.

In retaliation for our brother's victory at ronda.

Come. We must to Rome.

God is punishing me for my sins.

Last year, he took my daughter, jeronima, and now Pedro Luis.

Though the two were not my children, I loved them as my own.

No man should bury a brother, a daughter and a son.

Vannozza, I am afraid of losing more. So I want lucrezia to live with me.

The death of my firstborn has been like a bell in a church tower awakening me.

I need my family near.

Will you finally acknowledge them as your children?

No.

The pope himself has legitimized his bastards. Why can you not?

He is the pope, above reproach.

I am merely mortal, and susceptible to slander, abuse, ridicule.

What about goffredo?

He stays here.

You said you wanted all of your children.

Exactly.

And I am hoping you will come to trust me as you do your own mother.

The room is lovely, cousin Adriana. Thank his eminence.

I will send in servants to unpack your belongings. Um, no.

I would like

a moment to pray.

Mama.

Eternal rest, grant unto your faithful servant, Pedro Luis,

and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Whom thou has called out of this world

and caused him to be joined to the fellowship of thy saints.

Through our lord, Jesus Christ, thy son,

who being god, lives and reigns with thee

in the unity of the holy ghost.

The just man shall be in everlasting remembrance,

an evil report, he shall not fear.

The just man.

Trusting in the lord, his heart is steadfast.

He shall not fear till he looks down upon his foes.

You are men now and I will talk to you as men

about issues which are important to us as a family.

Rome is in danger.

Pope innocent will not live long.

The colonna family and the orsini family,

each hoping to name the next pontiff,

will seize the bridges, the roads, the fortresses which surround us.

Our fortunes, our very lives will be in danger.

Unless...

Unless we keep the two families focused on a single enemy.

Am I right, uncle? Yes.

And that enemy is cardinal della rovere. Am I right, uncle?

Yes.

In my eyes, you are both of equal measure.

But only one of you can succeed Pedro Luis as Duke of gandia.

Juan, I want you to visit virginio orsini.

Listen to him, sympathize with his every complaint,

make him believe we Borgia side with him.

And you, to fabrizio colonna, to convince him of the same.

Poison their minds against della rovere.

You are the sons of the house of Borgia.

I have absolute faith in your talents and discretion.

Be gone with godspeed.

They're too young for such a mission.

I had hoped to have more time to school them,

but events are moving faster than the ideal.

I need to know which of them can lead

because I cannot leave gandia without a Duke for long.

The province is too wealthy and will soon be swallowed up by someone else's kin.

Either Juan or cesare must become Duke

and marry the Princess Maria Enriques de Luna.

Yes, I have not given up my hope of a Borgia on the Spanish throne.