ALEXANDER: Previously on The Borgias...
The sentence is banishment.
Cardinal Versucci will be stripped
and his property will be donated
to our Holy Mother Church.
CARDINAL SFORZA: Cardinal Versucci was the last person
in the room.
No one can find him.
LUDOVICO: May I introduce Francesco Gonzaga,
Duke of Mantua,
and his bride, the lovely Bianca.
Divine indeed.
You know what I want.
You wish your son to be acknowledged.
To separate a mother from her child -
Her bastard child.
My feelings on that matter
have already been made abundantly clear.
You sat there, meek as a girl,
[gasp] and said not one word.
IL CERIMONIERE: Catherina Sforza Riario,
Countess of Forli.
We had almost lost hope of having you kneel before us.
ALFONSO: You invite her here?
Into the heart of Rome onto the steps of the Vatican
for the whole world to see?
My invitation of Catherina Sforza
is a move in the game -
as is your marriage to the pope's daughter.
ALFONSO: My marriage is no game.
I love Lucrezia.
Who did this?
Only my brother would've -
Is this what I am to your brother?
A question mark?
Is this what I am to your family?
I would confound this pope.
Our little pack of wolves.
If they pledge their swords to me,
and the Borgia estates I'll divide among them.
What on God's earth?
Am I so hard to love?
Only a Borgia, it seems, can truly love a Borgia.
Why deny ourselves the pleasure
of which we're already accused?
[#]
# The Borgias 3x04 # The Banquet of Chestnuts Original Air Date on May 5, 2013
== sync, corrected by elderman ==
[#]
We hereby invest you, Alessandro Farnese,
with the dignity of Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church.
Receive this ring from the hand of Peter
and know that through the love
of the Prince of the Apostles...
[quietly] Who is he?
Your love towards the church is strengthened.
SFORZA: Remember Pope's whore, Giulia Farnese?
That's the brother.
God help us all.
You shall report to Cardinal Grimani
who is in charge of the Treasury.
We need a comprehensive account of all funds and outlays,
with each transaction recorded twice.
I am sure you are aware of the principle of double entry?
Tithes and taxes are garnered in the Treasury and deposited here;
these dockets record the amounts,
the various funds, sub-funds
and sub-funds of sub-funds to which the amounts are due.
You will make two books: one of credit, one of debit.
This is your desk.
MAN: Here.
[sighs]
I'm sure your sister impressed on you
the importance of counting the money
before the client has rinsed off and walked away.
[hammering, chatter]
What happened here?
Cardinal Versucci happened here.
[sheep baaing; dogs barking]
[man shouting indistinctly]
[#]
[water running]
Sister...
More water.
ABBESS: There, Brother.
The title deeds to the alum mines
so graciously transferred to the Office of Public Works
are now restored, in perpetuity,
to the Little Sisters of the Poor.
With all the income resultant.
You're a strange messenger to bring such good tidings.
You look like a man in a hurry.
What is it you are hurrying from, Father?
Oh, at first I thought I was hurrying from.
But now, I rather think I am hurrying towards.
Towards God?
Towards whatever destiny I have wrought for myself.
CESARE: So, Rome is well stocked
with cardinals once more.
ALEXANDER: With loyal cardinals.
When the garden is overcome with weeds,
it is sometimes best to burn it down and sow again.
CESARE: Are they competent?
Do any of them know their duties?
ALEXANDER: Their only duty is loyalty to us.
The rest they can learn as they go along.
Father, the envoy from Venice.
[sighs] What does Venice want?
An audience. He's been waiting three days.
[sighs]
Ah!
The new bride finally appears.
How are you, my dear?
Are you well? [chuckles]
Yes, Father.
Married life suits you?
Last night brought you everything you could desire?
[giggles]
[chuckles] Oh!
We brought a blush to your cheeks.
Look, Cesare. Your sister, the blushing bride.
[chuckles]
Well, there we are.
So...
What brings Venice so far south?
The price of indigo?
The illiberal duties charged on imports
from the Baltic states?
Or are mosquitoes in the lagoon getting too much to bear?
[chuckles]
It is the Turks, Your Holiness.
The Turks?
We have lost three trade convoys this year.
Uh-huh... Innumerable smaller merchant vessels.
The price of doing business.
This past month they've been raiding
the coastal towns along the province.
They've not done that before.
If trade suffers, we all suffer.
Rome as well.
So Venice's suffering is Rome's suffering.
Exactly so, Holiness.
Except with rather more mosquitoes.
Well, we thank you
for bringing our suffering to our attention.
We were not aware.
We will give this matter
the consideration that it merits.
FERDINAND: So our cousin has married the woman
all of Italy talks about.
Who would have thought, of all those suitors,
she would choose our little Alfonsito?
You've done well,
for our family and yourself.
Very, very well, I might say.
Lucrezia Borgia!
Even a king hears tales.
So tell me... What's she like?
She is, uh,
kind, and gentle.
[chuckles]
You idiot. Not like that.
I mean in bed. What's she like in bed?
She's everything you could wish for, I suppose.
You suppose?
Cousin, we're men talking here!
I mean, how does she like it?
Dog style? Up the back alley?
How?
The usual way.
"The usual way?"
What is it you're not telling me?
What happened on your wedding night?
Nothing.
Nothing? What do you mean, nothing?
Nothing happened. The marriage wasn't consummated?
Nothing happened!
Nothing happened? Nothing at all?
But it must happen.
For the sake of both our families, it must happen.
And it will!
Yes, it most certainly will.
Father. Your Grace.
Cardinal Farnese.
Your Holiness.
Hard at work, I see.
Yes, Holiness.
I am reconciling dockets, Holiness.
Ascertaining the true level of Vatican funds.
Please, don't let me stop you.
Your sister Giulia
requested that you be created a cardinal.
Yes, Holiness.
You did not put yourself forward.
No, Holiness.
[hammering continues]
Not even to her?
A suggestion, the merest hint?
No, Holiness.
It - it was her idea.
So, you are not like the others.
No ambition.
I am deeply honoured by the - Yes, yes, yes.
She told me that you have a felicity
for numbers, for accounts.
Which is why we have placed you
in a position in our Treasury.
Holiness.
[whispering] Now listen to me very carefully.
Yes, Holiness.
You'll not report to Cardinal Grimani.
You will not report to Cardinal Sforza.
To none of them.
You will detail the full extent of Vatican finances,
and your report you will place in our hands
and our hands alone.
Am I clear?
Yes, Holiness.
Good.
[gasps in fright]
Giulia! What brings you here?
A sister's devotion.
[sighs]
Is your head above the water still?
In truth - I fear the waves closed over me long ago.
What is this?
I no longer know.
Lies and confusion.
Would sisterly devotion go so far
as to help me make sense of it?
[sighs]
Are you awake?
Yes.
I wanted to say I'm sorry for last night.
I wish it never happened.
Can we pretend it never happened,
and start anew?
[struggling slightly]
I'm sorry.
I cannot. I -
We're married now. We're married.
[struggling slightly]
Last night...
something more happened
than just a question mark on a place setting.
What happened?
I don't understand. What else happened?
A cloud descended on me -
my heart.
Let me lift it then.
Can you feel nothing?
I feel your hand.
Help me... to love you.
Please - just -
[struggling slightly]
Maybe...
maybe our love has to be more of the soul.
Like...
brother and sister?
No. Not like that.
[sighs]
We've been stripped bare.
Yes.
Extraordinary, isn't it?
With such ease.
[chuckles]
You're laughing?
Where is the outrage? The fury?
Because...
we never would have thought he had it in him.
Oh, we'll replenish the coffers.
Meanwhile, seek him out, the old goat.
Teach him the error of his ways.
Find him.
[gasping; struggling]
Leave us.
Holy Father,
if you wish me to visit you,
you have but to say the word.
There is no need for Vatican Guards in the night.
Your handwriting on Vatican accounts.
Your notes.
Here and here.
Don't try and deny it.
Yes, I was helping Alessandro to make sense -
You told us he was capable!
That he had a felicity for numbers!
We took your word! He does.
That rat's nest of figures would make a saint weep.
You lied to gain your brother a position!
He is capable!
Moreover, we ordered him explicitly
to answer to no one but us,
and he runs straight to you!
I was merely helping him! [scoffs]
As I once helped you.
Give me one reason
why we should not have him defrocked this instant!
There is nothing underhand here.
He could not understand the numbers.
Could not understand the numbers!
That is all! I helped him!
No one else, nothing more.
Just a sister helping a brother to serve his pope.
But he is a man, is he not?
What do you mean?
Men are false.
We had thought to purge our Vatican.
As though the fresh blood of new cardinals
would wash it clean.
But it will not.
New cardinals become old cardinals,
and it will all begin again -
the plotting, the scheming.
We can see it all - as inevitable as the tide.
You are not yourself, Holiness.
But we are not mistaken either.
We are so utterly alone.
You are not alone, Holiness.
How can I prove it?
You can't...
unless you can ensure a loyalty of an entire Consistory.
If that will bring me your forgiveness,
and you some peace of mind, then I shall find a way.
[sheep bleating throughout]
ADVISOR: It does require your attention.
[clearing throat]
You wished to speak to us? In private?
It's a matter of delicacy, Holiness,
but a matter that can no longer go unattended.
Then speak.
The marriage of your daughter to our cousin.
It has come to my attention
that it is a marriage in name only.
Hm?
It is unfulfilled.
Unconsummated.
What? [chuckling]
It's only been a few days.
Still. A few days become a few weeks
and then come the lovers.
ALEXANDER: Do not speak of our daughter thus.
You are a guest here!
Forgive me, Holiness, but God himself tells us,
"Thou shalt enter unto her - "
Do not preach to us about what God tells us.
"...and thou shalt know her,
and she shall be to thee for a woman."
Now, unless this is done,
this marriage is a sham.
If it is unconsummated, then whose fault is that?
How am I to tell?
Well, you tell me, you seem to know everything else!
I will tell you what I know.
I know your daughter is married to my kinsman.
Now, he's an honourable man.
Meanwhile, your daughter -
You should -
- has a son already whose father is unknown.
You tread carefully, sir.
I am careful, my lord.
I am careful of myself and my family.
Now I will see this marriage consummated,
lest there be any doubt, any confusion,
weeks or months hence.
Then just tell your little cousin to get on with it!
No.
I will take no one's word on this matter,
do you understand?
There must be proof.
What do you mean, proof?
It is a petty revenge for the slight you gave him.
It is an insult to Lucrezia!
It is an insult to us!
Oh, quieten yourself.
On how many fronts would you have us fight?
And besides, there is a precedent.
I will see him burn for this.
There is a precedent!
It may stick in your gullet as it sticks in mine,
but when all is said and done, he is in the right.
Do you honestly think it matters one jot to me?
Well it should! It must!
Would you have this alliance soured with Naples
the moment it is struck? Huh?
[loud crash]
Naples was, and always will be, an infected swamp.
What about Lucrezia?
[sigh]
She must be told.
I will tell her.
No.
No...
I will.
What perversion is this?
You would put me on display
for every vile, lecherous creature to fondle himself to?
We had no choice.
You weak, shameless, pitiful excuse.
If I was a man I would have run him through.
I would have cut out his tongue
before I let him speak about my own sister in this way.
It was for the good of the family.
We had no choice. You had every choice!
Where is your honour?
Where is your strength?
Where is your love for me?
[sobbing]
I love you.
[sobbing]
I would have killed him where he stood.
I would have cut his heart out of his body.
But I stayed my hand for the good of the family.
[sobbing]
So the King of Naples is to watch me in bed -
for the good of the family.
Very well...
Very well.
When is it to be?
Tonight.
And from our family who is to bear witness?
Whomever you wish.
Then I want you.
[quiet conversations and music throughout]
Just tell us who is who.
Bankers, guilds, merchants. [applause]
[applause ends]
Dear friends.
We have invited you to break bread with us tonight,
because the news we bring affects you most of all.
God is our guide, but trade is our lifeblood.
[crowd] Hear, hear.
As bankers, as merchants,
you know this best of all.
But a dusky menace shadows our prosperity.
The Turk threatens our shipping.
Our cousins in Venice find their storehouses raided,
their cargoes stolen,
their lifeblood seeping into the sand.
But Venice is suffering.
And I ask you, if Venice suffers,
does not Rome suffer also?
[applause]
We must meet this menace head on.
With God's help,
we will raise a Mighty Crusade
to drive the Turk back into the desert whence he came.
[banging on table; applause]
And protect our homeland,
and to sweep the seas clean once more.
Christ walked upon the water.
If the Infidel would prevent us,
then we will consign him to the Gates of Hell!
[banging on table; cheering]
[applause]
Venice will do everything in its power
to be behind this Crusade, Holiness.
We could not have asked for more.
Then it is agreed.
In the name of Christ,
we thank you for your unhesitating
and unstinting support
for this, our Holy War.
[applause]
In order to fund the Holy Crusade
against the Turkish Menace,
the following papal levies are hereby enacted
upon trade goods outgoing from Rome to Venice,
and incoming from Venice to Rome -
More taxes? [murmuring in protest]
and also on assets in coin, note of hand,
drafts upon banking houses, promissory notes,
gold, silver, precious metals, and stones.
[quiet conversations throughout]
The matter of which we spoke before
needs to be set in motion.
Is he ready to join our cause?
He is.
He has many reasons to hate Rome.
And does he fully understand what will be required?
More than that. He relishes it.
I believe I have found a way, Holy Father,
to bring you some peace of mind.
Go on.
You fear treachery.
Now, a compromised man cannot plan treason.
The sword hangs above his head day and night;
he never knows when it may fall.
But if he's compromised, and weak,
that's when he's loyal.
Go on.
We are listening.
Let me ask you this.
What compromises a man more than anything else?
His prick.
And the horns of a cuckold are only sharpened by time.
My Lord Gonzaga.
My lady.
Please, join us.
GIULIA: They are men, Holy Father.
And as you said, all men are false.
And, because they are also weak...
I propose a night's festivities
that might expose just how weak they are.
It would need to be chronicled. Why?
For posterity's sake.
Ah.
Well, Master Burchard would enjoy that.
Now, if all goes according to plan,
that chronicle would, I believe,
ensure the loyalty of the entire Consistory.
If this succeeds, we would grant you a cardinal's hat.
Now leave us, if you please.
Our daughter's ordeal approaches.
Do I look pleasing?
You look beautiful.
Beautiful enough to satisfy a King of Naples?
One night, and it will be done.
It will soon be behind you.
The act may be done in a night
but I will have blood for this.
[bell tolling]
It is time.
[door closing]
[humming]
[door closing and latching]
[clicking his tongue rhythmically]
[blows kiss]
Dear God. God's sake.
My eyes.
Remember.
KING FERDINAND: Oh! Beautiful!
[gasping]
[sounds of lovemaking]
[kiss noise]
Hey, hey. Here with me.
Just me...
Just me.
[breathing heavily; gasping]
[breathing quickly]
[Ferdinand chuckling]
[panting]
[moaning]
Excellent.
Your sister's a lucky woman to have a husband
that can bring her to ecstasy on his very first time.
I didn't know the boy had it in him.
Now, you may tell your father
the matter has been dealt with to my satisfaction.
And you may get out of my house.
[#]
[knocking]
Father, a man has come for you.
Oh.
I have been expecting him.
Tell him he will find me at the old Roman baths at dusk.
Any French princess of your choosing?
I believe that was the ambassador's suggestion.
The French King must truly desire to be rid of his wife.
[sighs]
Look at me.
What happened before.
What all but happened again last night.
It belongs in the past.
It has no place in your future, nor in mine.
All is done now.
You can go off and love your husband,
and I can go off and find myself a bride.
Maybe we both can work our way to happiness.
Come back soon.
[lively conversations throughout]
Listen now.
There will be a dinner tonight here in the Vatican.
All the cardinals are to be invited.
You will not attend.
Why not?
Because your sister tells you so.
Become ill, stay at home.
Don't come to the Vatican.
Francesco Gonzaga, the Duke of Mantua,
requests an audience.
Has he brought the duchessa with him?
Oh well. Fit him in.
ALEXANDER: So, all set for France?
Now, before you give Louis his annulment,
look to our advantage.
Get him to renounce his claim on Naples and beyond that,
whatever else you can to strengthen our position.
I understand.
You hold the fate of Rome in your hands.
Go on.
[#]
GUARD: Rider!
[dripping water]
So...
You have found me.
Yes.
I have found you.
Now I would find the money you have stolen
from His Holiness. [chuckles]
How could I steal that which was already stolen?
[quietly groans]
From good men and bad, from rich and poor,
the pope steals from all Italy, regardless.
I have merely redistributed.
Where is it? Gone.
Where? Gone.
All gone.
[groans quietly]
I have wiped him clean away.
Did I hurt his Holiness?
Where it hurts most?
In his pocket?
You wish to know the truth? Yes.
He laughed.
[chuckles]
[water sloshes]
[splash]
Be seated.
Eminences, Sisters.
Now, the Holy Father calls upon us all
to give what we can
to support his endeavours.
Sister, please stand up.
Your name, please.
Sister Angela, my lady.
Step to the front now.
Don't be shy. Come on.
May I ask you to begin? [whispering]
But - my lady -
we have sworn a vow of poverty.
I have nothing to give.
All I own is the clothes I wear.
Then, they will have to do.
Who will give ten ducats to the Crusade
for Sister Angela's veil?
[cardinals murmuring]
Cardinals, this is your night.
Do not be shy.
I know you have gold.
Sister Angela only has her clothes.
Now let's exchange the one for the other.
Ten ducats!
Cardinal Grimani!
Please, Sister Angela, show us what you have.
[cardinals murmuring]
There we go.
Look at that.
Sister Angela, oh! [murmuring in approval]
Eminences, how much for Sister Angela's habit?
Fifty ducats! Fifty ducats.
Anyone? Sixty!
GIULIA: Sixty ducats! MAN: Eighty ducats!
BURCHARD: Item.
Twenty-one nuns' habits,
from the Carmelite convent in Trastevere.
Item.
Twenty - one decent prostitutes
from the best Roman establishments.
And as chronicler to our beloved Vatican,
it is my sad duty to report
that the said habits did not remain on the comely maidens
long beyond the first course.
GIULIA: Mm. Sister Angela.
BURCHARD: They divested themselves
for gold and silver
of garment after garment
till they were naked as the day they were born.
[cheering, leering]
They flaunted their nakedness for the cardinals
with the abandon
for which Roman prostitutes are renowned.
And as they auctioned their clothes,
soon they auctioned their bodies
to the considerable delight of the cardinals assembled.
Who's there?
SERVANT: Guards!
BIANCA: It is a friend, Your Holiness.
[exhales in relief] [running footsteps approaching]
Who means you no harm.
Leave us!
How did you get past the guards?
They know me well enough by now.
Ah.
My Lord Gonzaga had business in Rome.
I know. He requested an audience.
As do I.
RUFIO: Knowing this pope,
I'd say he's entering your wife...
just about...now.
Consider the bitch's insanity
my contribution to your lady's war on Rome.
BURCHARD: Item: 200 candied chestnuts.
GIULIA: Dear sisters,
Eminences, please follow me.
BURCHARD: The festivities began at ten
and descended into debauchery around midnight.
Go at it!
[Cardinals and women laughing]
BURCHARD: La Farnese distributed the chestnuts on the floor
and challenged the valiant damsels
to pick them up using only their nether regions -
in which enterprise they showed considerable invention.
Prizes were offered for those cardinals
most successful with the prostitutes.
Cardinal Constanzo was awarded six silken doublets.
Dear Lord.
Who would have thought that youngster had it in him?
Cardinal Pertucci... Oh.
...seven pairs of shoes.
Seven? Enough for a lifetime!
Cardinal Grimani...
...three feathered hats.
Master Burchard, we will spare you further elucidation.
We will keep this record - under lock and key -
for posterity.
BURCHARD: For history, Your Holiness.
Well, you think future generations
will be interested in such shameful antics?
No, no, no, no.
This will be for our own eyes...
alone.
[bell tolling; conversations]
You request from us a decree of annulment.
You heard me, Holiness.
But annulment can only be granted with a papal brief -
in the gravest of circumstances.
The circumstances are grave - and gross -
and constant.
Infidelity.
With whom?
With His Holiness the Pope of Rome.
[cardinals murmuring]
The night before the battle of Fornovo,
where I spilled my blood for our Holy Mother Church,
and subsequently.
The very implication is outrageous.
Indeed it is.
It would scandalize the whole of Italy.
Where is this wife of whom you speak?
Your Holiness, I presume, has no idea?
No idea.
Well, if you happen upon her,
please inform her of my desire.
And of your decision.
[murmurs continue]
== sync, corrected by elderman ==