Borgias

Sarah Dunant’s Borgias novels reconstruct the rise and collapse of Pope Alexander VI’s family in Renaissance Italy. Beginning with Rodrigo Borgia’s election in 1492, the sequence follows Alexander, Cesare and Lucrezia as papal office, dynastic marriage and military ambition turn family loyalty into an instrument of government.

Across Rome, Ferrara and the contested states of central Italy, the novels strip away later legends of poison and incest to examine documented power, reputation and survival. Lucrezia’s growth from political daughter to independent duchess balances Cesare’s campaigns and Machiavelli’s study of ruthless rule, placing private relationships inside the Italian Wars.