Ivanhoe Page #7

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lying dead on a pallet.

Above him crouched this evil spirit...

...speaking in a soft tongue...

...and lo, the knight stirred

and came back to life again.

Can you name this knight?

The name Sir Wilfred of lvanhoe

was spoken...

...and he rose and replied as alive as me.

You may go.

Forgive me, milady! They made me say it!

The words of Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert

to the accused were these:

"I confess to living under a spell.

Who could cast it so well as you?

Who could bind me so fast

except a sorceress?"

Did the witch reply?

Only by the use of her evil powers...

...which cast a palsy

into the knight's hand...

...and drove him from her presence.

My lord, he lies. This woman

is no more a witch than you or I.

What further proof do you need than that

of the knight's bewitchment?

I lent my sanction to this inquiry

with a heavy heart...

...but a duty seen must be discharged.

Like a plague passing from hand to hand...

...so the scourge of witchcraft

spreads across this land...

...even to men in other lands.

Aye, even to my brother Richard.

- No!

- No!

Aye, Richard, long sought by me

and long thought dead, has been found.

But better by far that he had died...

...for he has fallen into the hands

of sorcerers and idolaters.

Consider this:

If one of their tribe can so deprave a man

like the Saxon lvanhoe...

...and a man like the Norman

Bois-Guilbert...

...what has the whole tribe done to Richard,

who is also a man?

They found him,

and with their accursed gold...

...they bought his freedom and his soul.

Now he will try to return to these shores,

but he is no longer the Richard who left.

He is a man seduced and bewitched,

in league with the infidel against England.

Never was a king more cheaply bought.

- No!

- No!

I say save England without spilling

one drop of English blood.

For as the servant of the Jews,

who would call Richard English?

I say burn this infidel!

And with the same torch, drive her people

into the sea and Richard with them.

- No!

- No!

Justice of this court

allows the prisoner...

...to speak in her own defense.

I was taught healing

by Miriam of Manassas.

That is true.

But I have always sought

to use that skill...

...in the service of man, to relieve his pain.

If this convicts me of witchcraft,

and with me, my people...

...then may God pity every man...

...who seeks mercy and justice

from his fellow men.

For the only merciful power

in this world is death...

...and the only justice is beyond the grave.

I am innocent.

Milords, before the prisoner

convicts herself out of her own mouth...

...I demand the right to address her

before the court.

- Shall I refuse?

- No. Let him speak.

Your request is granted by the court,

sir knight.

This court long ago closed its eyes

and ears to your fate, Rebecca.

You will be found guilty...

...and you will be burnt at the stake...

...and the ashes of your body

will be scattered to the four winds.

I pray my people will not be ashamed

of the way I die.

The trial cannot be halted,

but the sentence can.

When charged, confess.

To what? Crimes I have not committed?

No matter, confess and ask for pardon.

They must grant it on one condition:

That you renounce the faith of Israel.

I would not live in the world you offer.

It has neither sun nor moon,

nor air to breathe.

It has no faith, no love, no honor.

When you leave it,

I think it will have no life.

Enough. You waste the time of the court.

Proceed.

It is the solemn judgment of this court...

...that Rebecca of York be pronounced

a witch...

...infected with satanic powers

and guilty of demoniacal arts.

For this, we abandon her

to her punishment:

Death by fire.

Hold, milords!

I, Wilfred of lvanhoe,

do challenge the judgment of this tribunal.

I demand that her guilt or innocence...

...be determined in the eyes of God

by wager of battle.

Instruct me if this wager of battle

is mandatory upon the court.

It is, sire. An appeal

to God's judgment...

...cannot be denied by common

or canon law.

Unless the accused rejects the offer

of championship.

What says the accused?

I accept the offer with all my heart.

- May the court choose its own champion?

- It may, sire.

Sir Brian De Bois-Guilbert, you shall accept

this challenge on behalf of the court.

I do humbly accept

the honor bestowed upon me...

...to uphold the mercy and justice

of my prince by wager of battle.

Court so orders.

On the third day hence,

let the wager of battle be fought...

...in the lists at Ashby...

...to the death.

As master of the lists,

I hereby charge ye...

...that if either combatant violate

the laws of chivalry...

...I will cry, "Foul craven!" And upon

the casting of my truncheon to the ground...

...the offender shall instantly be slain

by the royal bowmen.

Rebecca, once I enter these lists

in combat...

...I must maintain my name in arms.

And if I do so, lvanhoe dies quickly...

...and then you in such pain as they say

is in store for the guilty hereafter.

If I withdraw now, lvanhoe wins by default,

and you both will live...

...while I shall fall from grace, a degraded

knight without fame and without honor.

All this I would endure if you would say:

"Bois-Guilbert, I turn from lvanhoe to you."

We are all in God's hands, sir knight.

Then count your life by seconds,

and the Saxon's life as well.

Since you ride for the court, Bois-Guilbert,

choose first.

- What arm do you elect to bear?

- I bear mace and chain this day.

Your foe declares for close combat.

This denies to you the lance.

Therefore, elect from ax or blade.

I choose the ax.

Arm you, then, valiant sirs,

and to your stations.

May God defend the right.

May God defend the right!

Beware, Saxon, lest you strike horse!

Lvanhoe, God spare you.

Rebecca.

You must blame the Fates that it was

I who loved you and not Sir lvanhoe.

But you were always mine...

...and only mine.

God keep you.

Milady, in death he spoke the truth.

You still love lvanhoe?

No, milady.

I stole a little happiness, perhaps...

...but not from him or you...

...only from my dreams.

His heart was always yours.

Before me kneels a nation divided.

Rise as one man,

and that one for England!

Long live England!

Long live England!

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