The Borgias: Power and Fortune

By Paul Strathern

'A wickedly entertaining read' The Times

A Daily Mail Book of the Week

The sensational story of the rise and fall of one of the most notorious families in history, by the author of The Medici.

The Borgias have become a byword for evil. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice and vicious cruelty - all have been associated with their name. But the story of this remarkable family is far more than a tale of sensational depravities, it also marks a decisive turning point in European history.

The rise and fall of the Borgias held centre stage during the golden age of the Italian Renaissance and they were the leading players at the very moment when our modern world was creating itself. Within this context the Renaissance itself takes on a very different aspect. Was the corruption part of this creation, or vice versa? Would one have been possible without the other?

From the family's Spanish roots and the papacy of Rodrigo Borgia, to the lives of his infamous offspring, Lucrezia and Cesare - the hero who dazzled Machiavelli, but also the man who befriended Leonardo da Vinci - Paul Strathern relates this influential family to their time, together with the world which enabled them to flourish, and tells the story of this great dynasty as never before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Release date: Jun 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781786495457

Paul Strathern

Paul Strathern is a Somerset Maugham Award-winning novelist, and his nonfiction works include The Venetians, Death in Florence, The Medici, Mendeleyev's Dream, The Florentines, Empire, and The Borgias, all available from Pegasus Books. He lives in England.

Reviews for The Borgias

[drmaf-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Its generally believed that the reign of Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503) represents the absolute nadir of the papacy. In fact, there have been far worse popes, however Rodrigo Borgia and his family have become infamous for their greed, violence, lust for power and insatiable sexual appetites. This was not always the view however, in the centuries afterwards many expressed admiration for Alexander as a "strong" pope, who brought glory and power to the Church. Rodrigo Borgia came from an obscure Catalan family with alleged royal links in its past. Fiercely ambitious, he chose the Church as the best vessel for improving his family fortunes, but had little time for its moral strictures. By the time he arrived in Rome and became a cardinal he had already fathered illegitimate children, and would end up with at least 8. The most famous and influential of these would be the one he produced with Vanozza de Cattanei. Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Joffre would become as notorious as their father. Borgia served as Vice-Chancellor to five popes while he learned the dirty secrets of the Vatican and learnt how to play its power games. Finally after the death of the spectacularly unmemorable Innocent VIII, he made his move, trumping his fierce arch rival and lifetime enemy Guiliamo della Rovere by simply bribing his way into the papacy. Once there, he turned the Holy See into purely a vessel for enriching his family and increasing the temporal power of the church. His mercurial and violent son Cesare was his main tool for achieving this, while his daughter Lucrezia became a marital pawn in his game of thrones. Over a period of just 11 years Alexander and his family became legendary for their greed, violence, lust and political machinations as they stripped the Church bare for their own aggrandizement. In the end it all came to nothing though, as after Alexander's death his bitter enemy della Rovere became Pope as Julius II and he set about vigorously destroying the Borgia legacy. This book is a searing look into the corruption and violence of Renaissance Italy, the never-ending dynastic squabbles and outbreaks of war as rival city-states fought for advantage, with periodic interventions by France and Spain. Some of it sounds completely incredible but there is no doubt it is all true. A fantastic read.