The Borgias (2011–2013): Season 1, Episode 8 - The Art of War - full transcript

- Fire!

- We are facing a battle
for our very survival.

- The French King has laid waste
to Lucca.

But their goal is your fair city of Naples. Father.
- The French King

demands that Florence be opened
to the passage of his armies.

- That will need to be voted by the signoria.
- The answer is yes.

- We will excommunicate
that heretic apostate,

Cardinal
Giuliano Della Rovere.

We will bear no more opposition!

- Cardinal Della Rovere has
one end in view:

the deposition
of our Holy Father the Pope.



- I myself voted
for the Holy Father.

- So we can count
on your continued support, then?

- Yes, of course.
- The French army has passed through Florence.

Your father's days may be numbered.
- I do believe the Sforza armies

pledged to his cause.
- The Sforza armies

may march with France.

- There was a reason
for my marriage, brother.

Remind me of it.

- Give me control
of the papal armies.

I will do what is necessary.
- You have no experience of battle, my son.

- Does Juan?
- The French King would

see me deposed.
Now,

if that is God's will, should
I just allow it to happen?

- The role
for which God chose you,



you cannot fail in that.

- I wake up, nauseous.
- You are with child.

We must leave this castle
at first light.

- Are you the one?

- Yes, my lady.

I knew I would be whipped.

- If you speak
of your affections, Paolo,

I will see you hanged
after you are whipped.

Do you understand?

- Yes, my lady.
- And it would be

a shame to maim that body
of yours.

For all the pleasure
it has given her.

You will prepare us 2 horses
at dawn,

already saddled.

- I had a dream, my son.

Or a nightmare.

that all of Italy had
deserted us-

Sforzas, Colonnas.

The French armies swarmed
through Rome

like a cloud of locusts.

On my feet...

...were the simple sandals
of a Spanish peasant.

Summon
the Spanish ambassador.

He may be
our last hope.

- You must come
with us.

My lord will kill you.
- No. He will whip me.

But it will
have been worth it.

- When will I see you
again?

- When you return
from Rome, perhaps.

- When horses fly,
as we must now.

Before Lord Sforza awakes.

- We granted your King Ferdinand
and your Queen Isabella

the title
of Most Catholic Majesties.

We delivered

a solemn papal bull,
granting them

everlasting rights
over that vast new continent-

- But, with respect,
Holy Father,

what you ask is impossible.

- The involvement
of Spanish forces

in the protection
of St. Peter's

and the head
of Christendom-

- Would amount to a declaration
of war between France and Spain.

- I warn you, Ambassador,

favours granted can be
rescinded.

- And I would beg
Your Holiness's forgiveness

that I cannot meet
his full demands.

- Must we face this...

...French apocalypse
alone?

The populace is
already fleeing Rome.

Please thank
Their Royal Catholic Highnesses.

And tell them...

...our Saviour was kissed thus
by Judas Iscariot.

We would review whatever
forces we have at our disposal.

Where's your brother?

- I know not,
Holy Father, but...

...I suspect.

- Well, then,
seek out the Gonfaloniere

of the papal forces from whatever
whorehouse he's seen fit to rest his head!

- You know this man?

- No, Father.
He had no name last night.

- Brother.
- You have a priest for a brother?

- A cardinal.
- A cardinal?

I should have charged you double.
- I imagine you did. Ah!

- Your father would review the
forces at his command, Gonfaloniere.

- I am out of sorts
this morning, brother.

- This afternoon.

- Ah!

Ah!
- You know me, brother.

I disapprove of lechery,
debauchery, drunkenness.

- Which is why our father made
you the cardinal.

- Why, then, did he make you
a duke?

- Because lechery and debauchery
are the very marks of nobility.

- Most of Italy has galloped
to the French side.

They have heard a sound that is
new to their Italian ears:

the sound of cannon.

And the Gonfaloniere has
other duties besides lechery

and debauchery. There is
the tedious business of war.

- Slow your horse, my love.

You were ill, remember?

And your condition needs
nurturing.

- Once out of that gloomy castle,
my health seems to improve.

- We did doubly well
to flee, then,

and your father needs us both
at this perilous juncture.

Now, you tell me
about this Paolo.

You mean Narcissus?

What would you know?

- Everything.

- Where are they heading?

- The horses were gone, my lord,
at dawn. I know not where.

- You mean they saddled them
without you stirring?

They must have, my lord.

- You sleep
very soundly.

- Like a babe in arms,
my lord.

- You lie.

- Would it be in my interest
to lie, my lord,

when my back is at your mercy?
- Your entire being is at my mercy.

The truth, peasant!

Where are they heading?

- She is headed as far from you
as possible, my lord.

She can no longer stand
the sight of you.

The smell of you.

The thought of you.

And nor, my lord, can I.

Peasant.

- We have pikes
for 2,000 footmen,

lances for 1,000 horse,
bows for 1,500 bowmen-

if we can find the soldiers
to wield them.

- What about cannon?

- Nobody worthy in the art
of war ever uses cannons.

- I have heard it rumoured
that the French do.

- And I have heard that they are
vulgarians, my lord.

- Their cannon was vulgar, indeed,
when they brought Lucca to its knees.

- I have a stratagem,

Holy Father,

to outwit their cannon.

- Would you be so good
as to... share it with us?

- Indeed.

Just give me some time
with my condottieri.

- Time is
what we do not have!

The barbarians are
approaching.

Rome has been sacked twice
in her past.

We would spare her
a third such indignity.

Cardinal.

- There are precedents,
of course, Your Highness,

for the deposition
of the Pope of Rome.

The Council of Constance,
for example.

There were 3 popes
with claims upon the papacy.

- Three?
- It was a schism, Your Highness, a state to be avoided

at all costs.
Pope John XXIII,

Pope Benedict XIII,
and Pope Gregory XII.

- One of them held court
in Avignon.

- Yes, Your Highness. Commonly
referred to as the Avignon Captivity.

- And what was the outcome
of the Council of Constance?

- Well, Pope John XXIII was
accused of various indiscretions.

- And of what do you accuse
this Borgia pope?

- Simony, usury,
public lechery,

and poisoning, perhaps.

- So, your brother has
a stratagem.

- Dreamed up
in last night's whorehouse.

- You will cease,
Cardinal Borgia,

in this constant denigration
of your brother,

the Gonfaloniere.
His leadership

of the papal forces is
at present our only hope!

- Which is the source
of my concern, Father.

- We have summoned an assembly
of the College of Cardinals.

Now, we are aware-
painfully aware-

how readily they would
abandon our papacy

in this hour
of greatest need.

But you, Cardinal,

shall be our support
in this crisis.

You will express
every confidence in the arms

at our disposal, under the
leadership of your beloved brother.

They are like rats, my son,
deserting a sinking ship.

Thus our Saviour was abandoned
by his Apostles,

in his hour
of greatest need.

- ...without protection,

everyone moment we stay here is
at our peril.

- Holy Father,
it is rumoured

that the Colonna arms are
rushing to join the French side.

- Cardinal Colonna could
perhaps answer that.

- They are in danger of being beaten
to the race by the armies of the Sforza.

- Cardinal Sforza?

- Holy Father,
we should abandon Rome.

Half the populace already has.

- The Holy Father forbids
any talk of abandonment.

We have all of us taken our vows
as cardinals

to spill our blood in defence
of our Holy Mother Church.

- We wait like lambs
to be slaughtered?

- The Holy Father has reviewed
the papal forces.

He has every confidence

in their ability
to defend the Holy City.

As have I!

- Too often
has this city been abandoned

at a time
of intimate threat.

We have all of us been

chosen by God...

...to represent

his Holy Church.

And who knows?

Perhaps God
in His infinite wisdom

has sent us this trial,

this... test

of our faith in Him.

The Pope of Rome shall stay
in Rome,

in the Vatican,

in St. Peter's.

And he has
every confidence

that the College of Cardinals
shall do so too.

Each one of you shall be called
to account.

Do not let the Most High God
find you wanting.

It is settled then.

We shall stay in Rome.

- See, up ahead.

Who is it?

We must turn back.

They are French,
are they not?

- These are dangerous roads,
fair ladies.

- So it seems.

- And you are heading?
- To Rome.

- Well, then.

You have an escort
of French arms. Bring them!

- Yes, Captain!
- En allez!

On the way!

- What is cannon for,
Holy Father?

- For destroying fortification,
surely.

- Exactly.

The French cannon may be useful
to batter the gates of Rome,

or to blow the walls of Lucca
to the heavens,

but meet them
in the open field,

and what use are
their cannon there?

- My son.

- And I propose
our armies do precisely that.

Meet them far from Rome
in the open field,

where the advantage of their cannon
is like blowing thistles in the wind.

Our cavalry can feint
around their rear,

our bowmen target
their gunners.

The Roman genius is
for strategy

and rapid movement;
let us use it to the full.

And annihilate those

French barbarians

with their lumbering
metal cannon.

See how fast
they can turn them round.

Do you agree,
brother?

- I know little
of the art of war.

- Well, thank God someone
in this family does.

We shall outwit them

before they even get sight
of our fair city, Rome.

And like Julius Caesar,

like Mark Anthony,

we will chase
those barbarian invaders

back across the Alps,

dragging their cannon
with them.

Am... I... correct,

Father?

- Well, we can breathe again,
my son.

The air is almost sweet
with relief.

You...

...will be the saviour
of Rome.

- Will the good Lord see the
justice in our cause, Micheletto?

- Where warfare is concerned,
Your Eminence,

our good Lord will take
a holiday.

Have you ever seen
such an army?

Not since Hannibal
crossed the Alps, my lady.

- That is
what my brother faces.

- Your brother is
a Roman soldier?

He is to be pitied, then.

- You must introduce us
to your Hannibal, Captain.

- And your names are?

- Tell him
that Lucrezia Borgia,

daughter
to the Pope of Rome,

and Giulia Farnese request
the pleasure

of his company.

How many times
have I had to tell you...

- We have a captive, my liege.
- What kind of captive?

- Quite a prize, I am told.
A Borgia.

- A Borgia?

- The pope's bastard daughter,
fleeing her husband,

Giovanni Sforza.
Ran into our hands.

- A hostage, then?
- If it pleases you.

And the pope's own mistress,
Giulia Farnese.

- This pope has a mistress?

For shame.

Then he must surely
be done away with.

Why have I no mistress,
General?

- We need a stratagem,
Giulia Farnese.

- How to achieve our freedom.
- We are quite

uniquely situated
to use what...

...weapons we have
in our father's cause.

- And what weapons are those,
my love?

- As you told me
when I first met you:

our beauty.

Our wit.

- Cardinal.
- La bella.

I trust the French soldiery
caused you both no disquiet?

- Are we hostages, Cardinal?
- On the contrary, Madame,

you are being detained for your own protection.
- Good! I would not like

to be imprisoned.

It would so displease
my father, the pope.

As, I am afraid,
would your presence here.

No longer a man of God?

A soldier now?
- I serve still God, my lady.

- That would please my father.
He would not like

to see blood
on a cardinal's hands.

So why are you here

with the French armies?
- I am in your presence

to invite you both to dine with His
Royal Highness, King Charles of France.

- Which invitation
we graciously accept,

do we not, Lucrezia?

- But you have not yet told us, Cardinal,
why you are here with the French armies?

- I am travelling
with the French king

to institute the deposition
of your father as Pope of Rome.

- Oh, dear.

That is certainly a reason.

On what grounds?
- Simony, bribery,

and if you will both forgive
my mention of such indelicacies,

fair ladies,
public lechery.

- Public lechery?

With whom?
- With your good self, my lady.

- So a pope cannot be lecherous,
Cardinal,

in public
or in private?

- He cannot, my lady.

- But is a pope's daughter
allowed to be hungry?

If so, I would gladly accept
the king's invitation.

Because
this pope's daughter...

...could eat a horse.

- We are unused to kings
in Italy, Your Highness.

We do have dukes,
duchesses,

principes, cardinals.
We even have,

as you must know,
a pope.

But kings are
in short supply.

- I have novelty value,
then.

- No more wine
for the moment.

- Why not?

- I would tell
Your Highness's fortune.

- His fortune?
- Yes. In the cup.

My mother taught me.

She was a courtesan,
Your Highness.

- Really?

- The prettiest in Rome.

And she knew her runes.

I see...

...one great army...

...meet another.

- Is there a winner?

- There.
And I see his face.

- Is it handsome,
this face?

- No, I would not

call it handsome.

- Is it... ugly, then?
- No.

- No.

- But there is a great...
blemish upon it.

- What is this blemish?

- Come closer, my liege.

I would have you see it too.

It looks alarmingly

like a nose.

A nose!
Is it ugly, this nose?

- It is exceedingly ugly, Your Highness.
- Like mine?

- No, not at all
like yours.

The visage I saw in this cup
was not yours, Your Highness.

It has none
of the grace,

the valour,

the openness.

And now...

Pah! It is gone.

More wine for His Highness.

- And the winner that you saw
in the cup, Lucrezia...

- Was not as handsome as you,
Your Highness.

Nor as gracious.

Nor as kind.

- Has he a name?

- Nobody.
- Oh...

- There was no winner.

No loser either.
- And no battle?

What a pity.

- Your Highness likes
battle?

- Mmm.
Longs for it.

Let me show you,
fair Lucrezia,

our ways of battle

tomorrow.

- My God.

- So our stratagem was,

Gonfaloniere,

a feint to their left.

- But I can see no left.

Or right.

Their army fills
the whole horizon.

The pikes of our
infantry are 12 feet long.

Can you see them there,
my dear?

- Why are the blades hooked so,
my lord?

- So they can tear out the guts
of their opponents.

But we begin battle
with the cannon.

- The cannon?
- Yes.

Never risk a man until you've
used your artillery.

Learned that
against the English.

- I thought cannon were
for purposes of siege,

to break down walls,
and such.

- Ah,
but in the open field,

we have our own invention.

Chained cannonballs.

- Chained cannonballs?
- Cuts through a front line

like a scythe
through butter.

Cannons!
Man the cannons!

Cannons!

Soldiers!
At the ready.

Man the cannons!

Prepare to load!

Cannoneers
to your guns!

- Who gives the command
to charge?

- You do, my lord.

Load the cannons!

Load powder!

- Is the cannon loud,
Your Highness?

- Exceedingly.

I would cover your ears,
my dear.

Back in positions!
Target ready!

Cannon ready, Captain.
- Central cannons, fire!

Fire!

Run!

Fire!

Fall back!
Fall back!

Stay in line, men!
Back to the front!

Back, men,
to the front!

Stand fast, men!

Formations!
Stand fast!

Central cannons reload!
Reload!

Check the distance! - Your
Highness? - Yes, my dear?

- Could you halt the cannon
for a moment?

- Pardon?
- Could you halt the cannon for a moment?

- But why?
In position!

- You were right.
They are exceedingly loud.

Take aim!

Ready, Captain!
- Your Highness?

- Wait.

Stand fast, men!

Stand fast.
- Is it the white flag?

A parlay?

- It's my sister.

Hold the line!
Form up!

- We are in danger of losing
the initiative, Your Highness-

- Shh!

- Your Highness,
I strongly urge you to take-

- You will wait.

I will not harm her.

Lucrezia. My God.
- They hold us hostage, brother.

- Us?
- Giulia Farnese and I.

We were riding to Rome.
- Ride on then.

- Would you survive this day,
dear Juan?

- We have a battle to fight.
- Believe me,

you have lost it already.
- It has hardly begun.

- I have heard one roar of cannon. A
hundred more and your whole army will be dead

and bleeding. And you have yet to see their pikes.
- I will not

accept defeat!
- Then do not call it that.

Ready!
- Call it common sense.

Say the French King got asked
for terms. You offered...

- What did I offer?

- His safe passage to Naples
in exchange for...

...his bloodless entry
into Rome.

- Lucrezia,
he will pillage the place;

depose our father!

- Leave that to me.

- Yah!
Ready!

Target ready!

Target ready!

- It was my brother,
Your Highness!

- Your brother?
- The Gonfaloniere of the papal armies.

He thought
you meant to sack Rome.

Like the Goths
and Vandal hordes.

I told him
you were a gentleman.

You had no such idea.

You had no such idea,
had you?

- No such idea.

- Your goal is Naples.

- Naples.
Of course.

- So,

my brother,
the Duke of Gandia,

the Gonfaloniere
of the papal armies,

bids you welcome
to Rome.

Forward!

- Why the hurry, Cardinal?

- You have heard?

- We have heard the sun rose
as always this morning.

We have heard a lark singing
through the casement window.

But the Sistine choir at matins was silent.
Perhaps they have heard what you have heard.

- Your son's army is
in retreat.

The French plague is
almost upon us.

- Did you not swear
a solemn oath,

when you first donned
that cardinal's red, to spill

your blood in defence
of the Christian faith?

- My cardinal's oath is
not the issue here.

- Then what is?
- You, Holy Father!

The French King has but
your deposition.

- I understand.

You would protect
yourselves

and not us.
- You could ride with us, Holy Father,

to the safety of Ostia.
- Our place is here.

As is yours,
Cardinal Sforza.

- You should leave,
Holy Father.

- We will stay here.

And we shall be here

when you return.

IF you return.

- You may need those tomes,
Burchart,

in whatever haven
you are fleeing to.

- I would preserve these books
for posterity, Your Holiness.

- For posterity?

- They have survived
many invasions.

I will do my best
to ensure they survive this one.

- Take care, then,
you preserve this book

on the Council of Constance.

You may need it
in the near future.

- Why, Your Holiness?

- For the proceedings
of our deposition.

And if you are asked
for an opinion, you will state-

as I know you will-

that a College of Cardinals
which elected a pope

deemed to be iniquitous

can itself depose
said iniquitous pope.

Must you all desert me?

- I would preserve these books,
Your Holiness.

- I know, I know.

For posterity.

Do they look
victorious, Micheletto?

No, Your Eminence. They are
merely tired and exhausted.

- The exhaustion
of battle, surely.

- The exhaustion
of retreat.

Is that why
I see no prisoners?

- You see no prisoners
because there are none.

Where are the French?
Are they coming?

- And Rome is
like an old whore,

waiting once more
for her ravishment.

What will happen
to Rome?

- Father.

- Do not blame him,
Cesare,

for retreating
before the French hordes.

- They have Lucrezia as hostage.
Have you heard?

If they harm her...

- Cowards.

Vermin!

Rats deserting
a sinking ship!

You're like lemmings running
to your doom! Do you think

a golden chalice will
save you?

- Your brother did not fail,
Cesare. Your father did.

Your father, who placed that
responsibility upon his shoulders.

Who was blinded...

...by paternal fondness.

Your father, who has been abandoned
by all that once supported him.

Your father, who...

...faces his dark night
of the soul.

Alone.

- I will not leave you,
Father.

- Father.

- My son.

- We had no choice
but retreat.

There's not a moment
to lose.

- So we believe.

- The guards will take you
to safety in Ostia.

- No, we will stay
here in Rome, my son.

- The Castell St. Angelo then.
- We will stay here

in this Vatican.

The papal guard and yourself
will take your mother to safety

in Ostia. - But Father... -
Would you see her defenceless

before the French invasion?

Go.

GO!

At times such as these,
Brother Raphael...

...one needs old friends.

We have been called

to trial.

We hope
we will not be found wanting.

- Your very presence here,
Your Holiness,

attests that you have not.

- Attests.

I like that word,
good friar.

It speaks of fortitude

in the face of threat.

It speaks of bearing witness

in the face of falsity.

It speaks of...

...courage.

Your clothes.

- My clothes?

- Your humble tunic.

The cowl you wear.
Those unadorned sandals.

- But why do you need
my clothes, Holy Father?

- We would wear them.

- You would disguise yourself?
- No, not at all.

I would face this trial
that approaches,

against which the entirety
of Rome has fled,

without the trappings
of Holy Office. I would

face it as our Saviour faced
His great trial:

in a simple robe,

sandals on our bare feet,

with nothing but our faith
in God to adorn us.

- Why are you here?

- I want you to leave.
- I cannot. I have taken vows.

- You will be defenceless
when the French army arrives.

- I must put my trust
in Jesus, then.

- No. You will put your trust
in me.

I will not have you
without protection.

- Do you not understand?

I cannot have you
near me, Cesare.

I would betray our Saviour
in a moment.

- You said my name.

- I have...

...made a promise.
A sacred vow.

I am sorry.

- Will you allow me

to at least afford
the abbey protection?

Place guards
on the gates?

- You are our benefactor,
Cardinal.

- Well.