Medici: Masters of Florence (2016) s03e05 Episode Script

1 Now, over here.
Thank you.
So, this trip is for Giovanni and Giulio.
Not because of the election.
I represent Florence.
It's for the good of the city and the new Pope sees us well.
- Maddalena - Down you go.
There you are.
I've heard Riario seeks to influence the outcome.
That he's bribing the cardinals to do his will.
I've heard the same.
It's hardly surprising.
Since Sixtus' death, his situation is precarious.
Less protected.
He wants a new Pope in his pocket.
So, this is your chance to show God who you can truly be.
Make Riario stand aside.
Let the Curia vote with their hearts, not their greed.
Let a good man be our Pope.
Not someone bought and sold by Riario.
Well, if that's what you wish then pray to God that he shows me your good man.
Close, close, close! Thank God you're safe! There's no order here since the Pope passed away.
Where's Clarice? She's gone to the chapel, for the boys.
And you did not wish to be there? No.
You and I have a great deal of work to do.
Come.
There's no time to waste.
Oh my God It's a surprise there's any gold left in Florence Well, it's necessary.
It will be paid back, by our candidate once he is elected.
This is my chance to defeat Riario once and for all.
- Carlo! - Oh, Clarice.
You look well.
It's done and you would have been proud of them both.
I'm glad.
- They missed you.
- I'll see them later.
If we secure this election, then the boys will be safer here in Rome.
How does it stand, Carlo? I would say it's rather evenly divided.
Neither camp can command a clear majority.
Some favor Cardinal Nardini some favor Cardinal Raffaele.
It's close.
It's very very close.
In the past, when the choice has been clear the Curia has made its decision within an hour.
I think this may take them days.
Cardinal Raffaele is Sixtus' nephew.
And Nardini is supposedly another puppet.
Raffaele though, is a good man.
- He's honorable.
- Yes, but Riario is not.
And Riario is already bribing cardinals to bend this election to his will.
We need a truly independent candidate.
We'll drive a wedge through the center of Rome and when the dust has settled Nardini will be one way Raffaele will be the other.
And our man will be left standing.
Dare I ask who our man is? Giovanni Battista Cybo.
Messer Peruzzi! How was the Council? I would have thought as Lorenzo's deputy you would have been there.
I was detained.
Bank business.
And besides, I imagine they just spent the whole session arguing over whether it will be Nardini or Raffaele to take the throne They don't know whether to plan a parade or fortify the city.
Perhaps they could do both.
Is there a sense of which of the candidates they favor? I think there's a sense that they'd favor who ever the Medici told them to.
You've trained them well.
Good.
Don't you ever grow tired of politics? And what else is there? And besides, can you imagine a more political moment than selecting a new Pope? It needn't be.
We could leave it up to the will of God.
Well, let me guess.
Friar Savonarola? He says that we should leave matters of God in the hands of God.
Set politics aside completely.
- He said that? - Yes.
And you think that was not political? Why are you backing Cardinal Cybo? Because he was a a soldier, before he was a priest.
And of all the Curia, he offers the best combination of credibility and common sense.
Lorenzo encouraging a vote here or there I-I'm not naïve.
I know how these things work.
But if you want to win this for Cybo you would have to buy the election.
Look, the-the Pope is Christ's voice on Earth.
You cannot buy the voice of Christ.
All I want, Carlo, is peace for Italy.
Why would God wish it otherwise? I thought your soldiers were supposed to protect men of the cloth.
I was jostled and jeered at in the street and the Papal guards were no where to be seen.
Well, the people are frustrated.
They look for stability and leadership, and they find none.
So put them in order.
The army's not been paid since our uncle's death.
Once you accede the throne, we will put everything in order.
You make it sound certain.
Are you not forgetting Nardini? Not in the slightest.
As it stands, you and Nardini are neck and neck with four votes to the play.
All I need do is secure you three of them and your victory is assured.
And what do you want in return? Nothing.
Well Nothing apart from the continuation of the protection that Sixtus offered myself and my family.
Of course as Commander of the Papal Armies, it would be my honor and duty to serve you in whatever ways to whatever ends, you shall desire.
Your name must be put on the ballot, Cardinal Cybo.
I appreciate your coming to see me, and I'm flattered, but it can't be done.
You were a military man weren't you, your Eminence? I was.
And also a father until I heard the call of God and renounced my past life.
You understand tactics and strategy still Yeah, enough to know when a battle is already lost.
Forty percent favor Nardini, forty percent Raffaele.
None favor me.
Well, there's a middle ground that can be persuaded.
Persuaded? Some people may listen to Lorenzo de' Medici because he's Lorenzo de' Medici, but others will require a more bankable incentive.
Which I can provide.
And if news of that becomes public Riario would turn it against us.
So would Nardini.
The Medici reaching out from Florence to influence an election in Rome So use an intermediary.
The cardinals will believe that they owe their loyalty to you personally.
And in due course well, that influence can be repaid.
Signore there is something that I feel I should say, and you should hear.
If this works it will be because God also wills it.
Through you, perhaps, or through me but it will be God's will.
Well, we should strive to be worthy.
Your Eminence I'm supposed to be visiting cardinals and you're supposed to be at your devotions.
I looked everywhere for you.
Forgive me.
Clarice? Clarice Sandro - It's good to see you.
- And you.
It's good to see you creating such wonders.
Thank you.
Giovanni Giovanni! What's all this? I'm to be a priest.
So you are! Well, the better for us all, I should think.
Welcome to my workshop.
I had heard you were coming to Rome.
It's so beautiful.
Well, when you follow God's path you will be surrounded by such beauty.
Indeed.
Which would you rather? Be surrounded by beauty or be allowed to create it? Well-well, your father and I had a similar conversation once.
If you become a powerful enough man you can tell an artist what you want, and he'll paint it for you.
It's a kind of creation, isn't it? And you will become a very powerful and very great man.
Of that I have no doubt.
Like my father, you mean.
Order must be restored.
I want examples made.
Find me twenty deserters and have them flogged to death at the Campo de' Fiori.
Sir! Come on, men! Follow me! Ah, two Medici priests.
You do your family great credit.
And I'm sure you'll continue to do the same in the future.
There are cooled drinks in the great hall.
Go along.
Thank you, Eminence.
You must call me Latino.
We're family, after all.
Has your husband lost his mind? I really do not believe so.
As it stands, no matter which way the election falls Riario will have his hand in how Rome is governed.
Not anymore.
Riario is backing Raffaele.
It's not public yet, but it's the case.
Nardini is furious.
Now, we could be the first to move to his aid.
When he's elected he'll remember who his friends were.
Do-do you trust him to do that? Do you trust him at all? I have delivered Giulio and Giovanni, my own son, to the Church here in Rome.
Is the best we can hope for a Pope that we may or may not trust? That may or may not betray us all? Please please speak to the family and see if you can change their minds.
Alright.
I'll do what I can.
You should speak with Cardinal Bianco.
He's always been a friend to us.
Start there.
Send her out.
What is it? What's the matter? Nothing that need concern you.
But it does concern me.
All the time I spend licking the asses and greasing the palms of the Curia and my army falls apart behind my back! They haven't been paid in weeks! And without that army everything is lost.
That is what is the matter! Did you know Lorenzo de' Medici is in Rome? Of course I know.
Then you'll know his wife, Clarice Cardinal Orsini's niece is with him.
Lorenzo talks to one cardinal she to another.
He to some bankers she to her cousins and family friends.
She's very graceful and charming so I've been told.
"So you've been told?" I like to know what's happening in the city.
Sometimes I hear things about the cardinals.
What one likes that he shouldn't like.
What little secret one has that would much rather not share.
Some of it's quite scandalous.
And I was thinking why pay for what you want when you can just ask? Together we can defeat Lorenzo.
Well? You wished to speak about Friar Savonarola? He's saying the hand of God should choose the next Pope.
Do others feel the same? Judging by the crowds who come to hear him speak, yes.
Greater and greater numbers.
He's having trouble fitting them all in San Marco.
Or so I've heard.
And I've heard these are not just the common throng.
Men like Messer Peruzzi now attend the congregation.
Is this a problem? I'm not certain, but I think it could become one.
Depending on who is there and where their sympathies lie.
You understand me? I thought perhaps you could go along see for yourself.
Of course.
Nico? A list of names may prove convenient.
Not everyone, you understand.
Just those of interest.
Uncle? Giulio What are you doing here? Looking for you.
I'm sorry I was not at the ceremony Sometimes one can't do everything that one wants.
Oh, you were busy.
Suits you.
I didn't think it would.
No.
Nor did I.
I'm surprised, I think.
That you've chosen this path.
I'm surprised myself.
Why did you do it? I don't know.
But when I pray I feel close to my mother.
And my grandmother.
When you were young you asked me for a knife for the man that killed your mother.
Do you still want one? I was a child then.
Now what I want is for God to take away that anger.
Thank you for your time, Cardinal.
Always pleasure, Madonna.
Madonna de' Medici we haven't met but I know you, of course.
I'm Caterina Sforza-Riario.
It would seem we are both disposed on similar business.
I suppose so.
It would seem also that I'm too late.
I was going to offer his Carmelite brethren a donation, but not much point trying to contend with the Medici fortune.
And not much point fluttering my eyes at Cardinal Bianco either.
Best I think, to save my efforts for where they'll do more good.
Your husband came to my wedding.
I remember thinking him very dashing.
I was only a child.
Of course.
Too young.
Really.
After I heard you were married, I thought to myself, perhaps one day I'll be to my husband as Clarice de' Medici must be to hers.
More than just a wife, I mean.
Well it's been an honor to meet you.
Please give your husband my kindest regards.
If that's allowed, of course.
We find ourselves in a different church today.
Not as comfortable.
But more spacious.
You may think it a poor church.
A church of bare brick and stone where beggars come to pray.
Where are the glorious frescoes? Where is the golden chalice for the sacrament? And yet we are all welcome.
Do you think our Lord Christ drank from a golden chalice? At a gilded alter looked over by stained-glass saints? I tell you a true man of God would drink from a cup of wood melt down his gold and with it feed a hundred beggars.
Savonarola's audience, of course not all of them agree with him.
Some come to criticize, some just for curiosity.
But whatever the reason, they come.
His words drip in their ears go home with them spread throughout the city.
Tommaso Peruzzi would seem to be in regular attendance.
What about you? Were you convinced? Did you find yourself wavering? It's simple stuff.
Too simple for my taste.
He's either dangerously naïve or dangerously clever.
Then either way, he is dangerous.
So Bianco will follow the Orsini lead and vote for Cardinal Cybo.
That's what he said.
Caterina Sforza-Riario was there to see him also.
Don't worry, she left without speaking to him.
- She asked to be remembered to you.
- You spoke with her? - She did most of the talking.
- No, you mustn't.
She'll find a way to twist your words and your sympathies.
You must keep away from her.
The gold we brought Is Cybo putting it to use? Yes.
Not directly, but through an intermediary, as we decided.
And when the election is done, he will pay it all back? You think of it as a loan drawn out on the Papal account This is how a Pope is chosen.
You call it God's will, working through us Is that how you see it? Well you have a very long way to go.
We.
Latino has invited us to dine with him this evening, and I'll see to it that a number of undecided cardinals attend.
We must lay ourselves out to be accommodating.
All of us.
Tell me you have good news.
We should be ahead.
By how much? One vote.
One vote? A breath of bad wind could change that to a loss.
We need two more.
It is one vote more than you had yesterday.
Give me time.
We don't have time.
I went to the Curia to see Clarice de' Medici.
Why? It's important to have looked your enemy in the eye.
What? A message, Messer.
Go.
What is it? Cardinal Latino Orsini is having a party.
A chance to look my enemy in the eye.
Well, it's tighter than I would have liked, but I believe we've made good progress.
In large part thanks to you.
Do you think we'll win? - We've spent so much.
- I know, I know.
But yes, I do, I think we'll win.
You know, I have to confess that when my mother died, I feared for the future of the bank, but you've done so well.
Really.
Lorenzo Your mother What is it? Lorenzo? Your uncle lied to you.
- I'll talk to him.
- No, no, it won't do any good.
He's made his choice.
Orsini's betrayed us.
Come with me.
I'll talk to him.
Leave me the carriage.
Madonna.
Are you alright? I'm quite well, thank you.
Please, excuse me.
- Uncle - I'm sorry.
Sorry is not enough.
It's all I have.
Cybo is losing votes left and right.
- Raffaele has support.
- Yes, Riario's support.
Yes, and it's going to make him Pope.
We cannot afford to make an enemy of this man.
He's already our enemy and you've given him this election.
Go back to Florence.
You'll be safe there.
I'll look after the boys.
- I'll put them under my protection.
- Your protection? Well, what a threadbare cloth that is.
To think I trusted you You're back so soon? Orsini has turned his back on us.
He's thrown in his lot with Riario and Raffaele.
Stop the horses! Vanni! - Out you get! Move! - Let me go! There's not enough to buy one cardinal, let alone twenty.
Lorenzo, go to Raffaele, please.
Say that you made a mistake backing Cybo.
He will listen I will not tie my fate to that man's family! Do you understand? Well, how else do you intend to buy your own fate if you've got no money? Vanni! Vanni! What? It's your wife.
- She's been taken.
- I'm sorry.
Search the city.
Every street, every alley.
Please.
Drink some wine.
- You'll feel better.
- You can kill me if you like but I will not betray my family.
No-one is going to kill you.
You have nothing to fear.
These men are loyal to me alone.
When we met before, it seemed to me that we were in some ways alike.
That perhaps, did this feud not stand between us we might have been friends.
This is not how friends usually meet each other.
These are not usual times.
It's strange, isn't it? Being a woman in a world of men.
All the things you can lose.
Your home your family your body.
And you cannot console yourself with notions of glory, or hope of high office.
You must ask yourself, I think what's truly important.
What truly matters.
Nobody saw where they took her.
She could be anywhere by now.
I've failed her.
Lorenzo, come home.
We can regroup reassess what we know we can keep watch and we do not give up hope.
Alright? Come home.
Come.
If my husband wins this election for Raffaele will our families then be at peace? No.
He would use his power and come for us.
You know that.
Well then, if you and Lorenzo de' Medici win the election, what then? Would that bring us to peace? Or would it leave Riario like a wounded dog with nothing to lose, and twice as dangerous for it? Tell me why I'm here.
Because we are both clever and we are both strong.
And because as things stand no matter who wins our husbands will drag all of Italy into a war through their hatred.
I told you I was a child when I married.
And that I dreamed of being to my husband more than a wife.
I also dreamed of love.
Of finding love growing between us.
That dream was ground out of me.
I no longer look for love.
What do you look for? Power.
Your candidate is Giovanni Battista Cybo.
Yes.
That's clever.
And some of the cardinals you've approached can be bought.
Not with the sums that we have.
Forget gold.
There are other currencies.
The secrets the cardinals keep.
They are guilty of all sorts of misdeeds.
Some have mistresses kept in secret.
Some have bastard children sequestered in the countryside.
And some are covering debts.
With funds stolen from their benefices.
Everything is there Names, dates places, amounts It must have taken months to accumulate all of this.
Years.
That's how long I've been waiting for my chance.
- But he's your husband.
- He lives for war.
He lusts after war more than he lusts after me.
And I will not bring my child perhaps my daughter, into that world.
Not when I have a choice.
And I do.
We both do.
Vanni! Gather all our men.
We're going to the Castel Sant'Angelo.
Yes, Messer.
Are you alright? I'm fine.
What is it? The way to win.
These are the men running our Church.
Telling us how to lead our lives when they themselves are steeped in filth.
The question is, can we trust any of this? Caterina Sforza has played people false before.
If-if she had come to you to bargain with my life in the balance would you have relinquished the election for me? Yes.
Of course.
I think she knew that.
But she let me go therefore she does not want us to relinquish the election.
She wants us win it.
And I think we should do so.
We must tell the cardinals what we know immediately.
I will draft the letters.
Where's my wife? Waiting, my lord.
Cardinal Raffaele won't talk to me in public.
Only behind closed doors.
Now he has Orsini in his pocket, he snubs me as if I am not honorable enough for him.
They'll see.
When you win.
And you? With your plots and plans and schemes? What of them? Everything is in hand.
Everything? My plots and schemes.
Believe me.
The election is already decided.
I will have my Pope.
I will command Rome, its armies and all of Italy.
I will leave the Medici in the dust.
And you you will be my queen.
Yes.
The Curia will vote any minute.
This is where the gold is to go.
In these quantities.
Very well.
But not all the cardinals can be persuaded by money alone.
I can be very persuasive.
You're an interesting man, Messer.
You consider me a friend? Of course.
And yet I hear you favored Father Girolamo Savonarola's election as Prior of the San Marco convent.
You have very good hearing.
He believes the papacy is corrupt.
It's good to have friends with different opinions Forgive the intrusion, Eminence.
You're called to conclave.
Well, let's win this election.
Good day, Messer And God be with us both.
They've been called to the conclave now.
We'll know soon enough.
What is it? Something I have to tell you.
That, uhm I should have told you long before.
What? You said that I've done well with the bank.
And you have.
Even mother could not have done a better job.
But your mother did not do so well.
There were There were gaps in the books and she found these ways of filling them.
How? A little from here, a little from there.
The city funds mainly, and Well, I helped her.
The money is not ours to give, and we've given all of it to Cybo.
Listen.
Listen to me.
Had we not spent it, we would have stood no chance of winning.
We did this we did this to secure our city and our place.
All we have to do is get the money back, and no one will be the wiser.
Do you understand? No one will know.
He'll be the Pope of Rome and I'll speak to him after he's won.
It will be alright.
Madonna de' Medici.
I wonder, could you convey to your husband a message? Of course, your Eminence.
Having considered at length, I find my conscience no longer directs me to favor Latino Orsini's candidate.
I find instead that I favor Cardinal Cybo.
I'm delighted to hear it, your Eminence.
Who would have thought so fair a face could conceal so cold-hearted a witch? He has my vote.
Tell your husband.
- Well? - It's done.
Cardinal Cybo has won! Men, with me! Go back! Messer de' Medici my lady, Caterina Sforza, wishes you to see that justice is served.
If you'd care to come with me.
Ricci? It's Cybo.
Cardinal Cibo has won.
Go! Return to your posts! Go! You see? Already they disobey me.
Get the horses.
Stay with the horses.
Caterina? Caterina! Open the door.
Open the door! It's fallen to Cybo.
To Cybo! The one thing the one thing I asked of you, the one simple job! And you've failed me.
You failed! I trusted you.
That was your mistake.
I would have made you my queen.
But I would have been your queen.
Sir, you have to surrender your sword and follow us.
Riario, stop! The castle is surrounded! We must hurry! I could never forget your face.
You've been in my nightmares for years.
Our future is in good hands, I would say.
Thank you, father.
You both make us very proud.
And you both look so handsome.
Excuse me, boys.
Are you going back to Florence? But we'll see each other very soon.
And until then? What should we do? Be true to each other.
It's over.
Yes.
It's over and we've won.
And you've made your peace with the cost? I'll see to it that the money comes back to us.
I did not mean the money.
Have you seen the way that Giulio looks at you? Giulio, take good care of your cousin.
Will you? He's safe because of me.
We all are.
My family Florence.
- All of Italy come to that.
- Yes How have you done that? Through bribery and blackmail threats and murder.
And we have won.
Messer Medici you are most welcome.
Holy Father.
On behalf of my family, may we offer our sincere congratulations? What can we do for you? The Papal accounts with which we are honored to be entrusted It would be of great convenience to me and to my family if we could settle those accounts.
We understand you perfectly.
But Messer Medici, you too must understand the Papal armies have not been paid.
The upkeep of the city has not been attended.
His Holiness, my predecessor left behind him a lamentable rat's nest of debt and deferment.
In short our absolute priority at this time must be Rome.
But Holy Father We shall not forget, Messer.
But our first loyalty must be to our own people, here.
Surely, you have coffers full of gold back in Florence.
That is what a bank is is it not? Of course, Holy Father.
Then let us hear no more of this.
We thank you for your kind attendance Signore de' Medici.