The Name of the Rose Page #6

BERNARDO:
William of Baskerville must surely recall

the trial he presided over... in which a

woman confessed to having intercourse with

a demon in the form of a black cat.

WILLIAM:
I'm very sure that you don't have to draw

on my past experiences to formulate your

conclusions, Lord Bernardo.

BERNARDO:
No, indeed. Not when faced with such

irrefutable evidence.

A witch! A seduced monk! Satanic rites!

Tomorrow... we shall endeavor to learn if

these events are connected with the even

graver mystery that afflicts your abbey.

Lock them up that we may all sleep safely

tonight.

INT. NIGHT.

ADSO:
You said... You said nothing.

WILLIAM:
I said nothing because there was nothing

to be said.

ADSO:
You're ready enough to speak the truth...

when it comes to books and ideas.

WILLIAM:
She is already burnt flesh, Adso.

Bernardo Gui has spoken. She is a witch.

ADSO:
But that's not true, and you know it.

WILLIAM:
I know.

I also know that anyone who disputes the

verdict of an inquisitor is guilty of

heresy.

ADSO:
You seem to know a lot about it.

WILLIAM:
Oh, yes.

ADSO:
Won't you tell me... as a friend?

WILLIAM:
Well, there's not much to tell.

I, too, was an inquisitor, but in the

early days, when the Inquisition strove

to guide, not to punish.

And once I had to preside at the trial

of a man... whose only crime was to have

translated a Greek book that conflicted

with the holy scriptures.

Bernardo Gui wanted to condemn him as

heretic. I acquitted the man. Then Gui

accused me of heresy for having defended

him. I appealed to the pope.

I was put in prison... tortured...

and I recanted.

ADSO:
What happened then?

WILLIAM:
The man was burned at the stake.

And I'm still alive.

SALVATORE:
(crying lodly)

BERNARDO:
Brother Salvatore... these torments will

cause me as much pain as you.

But you can put an end to them before

we even begin. Open the gates of your

heart. Search the depths of your soul.

Search!

SALVATORE:
I search! I search. I search.

BERNARDO:
Then tell me... who, among your brethren,

is the heretic responsible for these

murders?

SALVATORE:
I don't know. I don't know!

I don't know anything! Stupid.

Stupid. Me don't know anything.

NIGHT:

ADSO (V.O):
Did I lie awake that night suffering for

the girl or for myself? I did not know.

With the dawn, came the envoys of the pope:

our adversaries in the forthcoming debate.

But it meant so little to me now.

DEBATE - DAY

MICHELE:
Your Eminence, venerable brothers...

at last we meet for this long-awaited

debate. We have all journeyed great

distances in order to put an end to the

dispute that has so gravely impaired the

unity of our Holy Mother Church.

Good people throughout Christendom are

directing their gazes at these venerable

walls anxiously awaiting our answer to

the vexed question:

"Did Christ, or did He not, own the clothes

that He wore?"

ENVOY:
Beloved brethren of the Franciscan Order.

Our Holy Father, the pope, has authorized

me and these, his faithful servants, to

speak on his behalf.

The question is not whether Christ was

poor... but whether the Church should be

poor!

You Franciscans wish to see the clergy

renounce its possessions... and surrender

its richness... the abbeys dissipate

their sacred treasures and hand over

their fertile acres to the serfs.

SEVERINUS:
(at the outside window)

I found the book.

I found it in the dispensary.

A book in Greek was behind one of my jars.

WILLIAM:
Don't touch it.

Return, lock yourself inside.

I'll be there just as soon as I can.

ENVOY:
Thereby depriving the Church of the

resources needed to combat unbelievers

and wage war on the infidel.

You forget that even the greatest monument

to our Lord is but a pale reflection of

His infinite Majesty and glory... far

outstripping the church...

GRANARY:

(Severinus is killed)

MALACHIA:
(to Remigio) Quick, Father, quick.

Salvatore confessed to his radical past,

and yours. You have but little time to

escape the flames.

REMIGIO:
Thank you, brother.

SOLDIERS:
Come with us!

INT. DEBATE

FRANCISCAN 1:
You call the pope's province "God's palace

on Earth"?

Answer that, your Eminence!

ENVOY 1:
These murders are a sign that reconciliation...

The gospels state categorically that Christ

possessed a purse.

FRANCISCAN 2:
It's a lie! You know it!

The Lord commanded his disciples on no

less than seven occasions: "Carry neither

gold..."

ENVOY 2:
Venerable Brothers!

BERNARDO:
Brethren, if you pleae!

A matter has occurred of the utmost gravity.

REMIGIO:
Let me go!

I swear, I didn't kill him!

I was at the granary taking the inventory!

I never killed anyone! I swear it!

BERNARDO:
Then explain to us the purpose of your

escape.

REMIGIO:
I was...

BERNARD:
I had already ordered your arrest on other

charges. I see now that I was correct.

(cont'd) Had someone else not chosen to look in

the wrong direction... several men of

God might still be with us.

WILLIAM:
"To use vulgar persons. Take pleasure

from their defects."

Please, dear boy. I am trying to think!

ADSO:
So am I, master. So am I!

WILLIAM:
Then try using your head instead of your

heart... and we might make some progress.

ADSO:
A book's more important than people to you?

WILLIAM:
Did I say that they were?

ADSO:
You never seem to care about anyone!

Couldn't you at least show a little pity?

WILLIAM:
Perhaps that is the style of my pity.

But pity won't save her from the fire.

INT. INQUISITION

BERNARD:
I remind all present that they are bound

by their vow of obedience and, on pain

of excommunication... to aid the inquisitor

in his painful struggle against heresy.

To sit with me on this tribunal... and

to share the burden of the verdict...

I will require the counsel of two fellow

judges.

My lord Abbot... and... Brother William

of Baskerville.

(Salvatore, Remigio and the peasant girl are

brought before the court)

BERNARDO:
Salvatore. Salvatore!

Salvatore, will you repeat your confession

of last night? That you and your accomplice,

Remigio de Varagine... were members of the

heretical Dolcinites?

SALVATORE:
Si, si, si.

BERNARDO:
Thank you.

SALVATORE:
You forgive me!

BERNARDO:
Enough!

Remigio de Varagine, do you deny the

confession of your accomplice?

REMIGIO:
No. I don't deny it. I'm proud of it!

For the twelve years I lived here...

I did nothing but stuff my belly...

shag my wick... and squeeze the hungry

peasants for tithes.

But now you have given me the strength

to remember what I once believed in with

all my heart, and for that I thank you.

BERNARDO:
To remember that you wantonly looted and

burned the property of the church?

REMIGIO:
Yes! To give it back to the people you

stole it from in the first place.

BERNARDO:
And did you not also slaughter many

bishops and priests?

REMIGIO:
Yes! And I'd butcher you people if I

had half the chance!

ADSO:
Holy Mary, Mother of God, hear my humble

prayer. I know that my sin was very great,

but I beg of you to not let her suffer for

my wrongdoing.

Blessed Mother, many years ago you granted

a miracle by saving my master. Will you

not do the same for this girl?

My master says that the simple folk always

pay for all. But, please, Holy Mother,

do not let it be so.

BERNARDO:
Guilty is that witch... who has seduced a

monk and practiced her diabolical ritual

within this hallowed place.

Guilty is Salvatore... who has confessed

to his heretical past and was caught in

flagrante delicto with a witch!

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