The Borgias

Plot

The name of Borgia symbolizes all that is considered corrupt in the Church of the fifteenth century. Why the Borgia family has been singled out from among other families who produced the Renaissance popes (few of whom were models of moral rectitude) is one of those chances of history. One reason is probably that they were Spaniards - a much tougher and rougher race than the Italians who committed their sins and conducted their intrigues in a manner that other Italians were accustomed to. Above all, however, the Borgias' notoriety seems to lie in the fact that they were all - or nearly all - strong and colourful characters. They caught the world's attention whatever they did. The crimes and sins - and there were plenty of both - of Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, his children Cesare and Lucrezia, and the legends of poisoning and incest that surrounded them, have fired the imagination of playwrights, poets, painters, novelists and historians of all subsequent generations.
Marion Johnson plots the dramatic rise of the Borgias from their beginnings in Spain to their occupation of the highest position in Renaissance society, at a time when Italy was the centre of the European stage, both culturally and politically. She explains why history has shown the Borgias as fallen men and women in a bad era, but considers the condemnation to have been too absolute ; behind the gaudy horrors lie people of real talent and achievement, possessors, even, of moderate virtues.