

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to amass and retain power, influence and enormous wealth for himself and his family.
S02: Having survived the French invasion with his Papacy intact (just barely), Alexander VI containues to advance his agenda. But the Sforza family continues to thwart him, leading him to make physical war upon them. Nor has Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere given up trying to rid the Vatican of Alexander. Having failed to depose the Pope legally, Cardinal della Rovere plots to assassinate him.
S03: Alexander VI survives Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere's assassination attempt, because his daughter Lucrezia knows how to treat catarella poisoning. Alexander's war with the Sforza family continues and escalates. Alexander now plots to turn the Papacy into an explicitly hereditary office.
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Premiere DateApr 3, 2011
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Cast
- Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia
- François Arnaud as Cesare Borgia
- Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia
- Joanne Whalley as Vanozza Cattaneo
- Colm Feore as Giuliano Della Rovere
- Peter Sullivan as Cardinal Ascanio Sforza
- Sean Harris as Micheletto
- Lotte Verbeek as Giulia Farnese
- Thure Lindhardt as Rufio
- Vernon Dobtcheff as Cardinal Versucci
- Joseph Macnab as Prospero Colonna
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References
S02E03 The Beautiful Deception
Alexander VI refuses to allow a Catholic burial for Paolo, despite his doubts about the stable boy’s suicide, causing Lucrezia to embark on a hunger strike that threatens the life of her infant son; the French army heads back to Rome, allied with Sforza; Della Rovere slips back into the city unnoticed to launch a plot against the Pope’s life.