The Borgias is an historical drama television series created by Neil Jordan. It ran for three seasons from 2011 to 2013, when it was cancelled. Set in Renaissance-era Italy, the series follows the Borgia family in their scandalous ascension to the papacy. It stars Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI with François Arnaud as Cesare, Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia and David Oakes as Juan. Colm Feore also stars as Cardinal della Rovere.
The Borgias premiered on April 3, 2011 on Showtime in the US and Bravo! in Canada. That June it received its major television network premiere on the CTV Television Network. The second season followed on April 8, 2012 and the third on April 14, 2013. In June 2013, Showtime canceled the series, a season short of Jordan's planned four-season arc for the series. The cancellation was implied to be due to the expense of production, with plans for a two-hour wrap-up finale also scrapped. A fan campaign attempted to convince Showtime to revive the series, and in August it was announced that the series finale script would be released as an ebook, as a movie would be too expensive to produce.
Plot overview The series follows the rise of the Borgia family to the pinnacle of the Catholic Church and their struggles to maintain their grip on power. The beginning of the first season depicts the election of Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy through simony and bribery, with the help of his sons, Cesare and Juan. Upon winning the election, Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope Alexander VI.
He and his family are thrust deeply into the murky heart of politics in fifteenth-century Europe: from shifting loyalties within the College of Cardinals to the ambitions of the kings of Europe to the venomous rivalries between the noble families of Italy at the time.
Meanwhile, enraged by his loss of the election to Borgia, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere travels across Italy and France, seeking allies to depose or kill Alexander: this would force another papal conclave and race for Pope, which della Rovere is convinced he would win without Borgia to oppose him.
The series also follows the complicated sibling relationships among Cesare, Juan, and Lucrezia. Between Cesare and Juan, there is deep rivalry, with jealousy and resentment on Cesare's side; inferiority and aggression on Juan's. Juan's descent into addiction, illness, malice, and madness in the second season leads to a shocking confrontation between him and Cesare that forever changes the family. Cesare and Lucrezia have an abiding intimacy and closeness which devolves into incest in Season 3. This is the show's exploration of the persistent rumors about the historical siblings. Their youngest sibling, Gioffre, is a minor player in the first season, not seen at all in the second, and does not become a major plot point until the third and final season.
The show also addressed Lucrezia's first and second marriage, her illegitimate child, the affair between Alexander VI and Giulia "La Bella" Farnese, the rise of Girolamo Savonarola in Florence, his Bonfire of the Vanities and eventual burning for heresy.
The series cancellation prevented the death of Pope Alexander VI and the succession of Pope Julius II from being explored, and ended before the downfall of Cesare Borgia.
Cast
Main cast Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI: An ambitious clergyman and patriarch of the Borgia family, he uses his position to acquire wealth, power and influence, becoming pope in 1492. Shrewd and scheming, he is utterly devoted to his family but enjoys the company of beautiful women, as well. The Pope, despite his corruption and cunning, believes he is doing what is right but often questions himself and his actions when innocents are caught in the crossfire. His favourite child is clearly shown to be Lucrezia, and he has a special fondness for her mother, Vanozza. François Arnaud as Cesare Borgia: Oldest son of Rodrigo, he is his father's consigliere in the church. However, he desires to leave the priesthood, preferring warfare to the clergy. Self-confident, impatient, and possessing a sharp wit, Cesare quickly earns a notorious reputation. He has a violent streak, mercilessly killing anyone to help the family's cause or eliminate romantic rivals. His love and devotion to his sister Lucrezia is his one soft spot. He hardens after the torture and death of his lover, Ursula Bonadeo, and the brutal treatment of his sister by her first husband, and brings terrible vengeance to the perpetrators of both crimes. Once disinterested in the papacy, he develops a taste for power which leads him to become a brilliant warrior and shrewd leader feared by all of Europe. Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia: Daughter of Rodrigo, she is the apple of her father's eye. Brilliant, witty, and exceedingly beautiful, Lucrezia proves to be her father's main asset time and again, single-handedly saving the Borgia papacy on several occasions. There also seems to be an abnormal relationship between Lucrezia and her father in season 1. From its onset, the series implies an emotionally incestuous relationship between her brother Cesare and her. Her first love is Prince Djem, and when he is murdered, she is truly heartbroken. Early in the series, she is betrothed at a young age to the abusive Giovanni Sforza, and suffers from an unhappy marriage. While married to Sforza, she has a passionate affair with Paolo, a servant, and has a child by him, but he, too, is murdered. When Lucrezia and Giulia are captured by the French king, she charms him with her wit and beauty to save Rome. She rejects her father's attempts to get her to remarry, before eventually accepting Alfonso of Aragon as her new husband. Their marriage is a failure, and drives her into Cesare's forbidden arms. Joanne Whalley as Vanozza Cattaneo: Courtesan and mother of the pope's children, her position as the matriarch of the family is threatened by the Borgias' newly acquired powers and the pope's new mistress, but eventually she and Giulia form a sort of friendship, and she remains in the Pope's heart. She resides in a villa and then in a dead Cardinal's Palace. Lotte Verbeek as Giulia Farnese: Mistress to the pope and an independent and wise woman herself, she earns the trust of Pope Alexander and becomes a close friend and mentor to Lucrezia. David Oakes as Juan Borgia: Second son of Rodrigo and Gonfalonier of the Papal Armies, he behaves recklessly and arrogantly, but is an inept coward. He has a cruel, violent streak but lacks the Borgia cunning possessed by his father and siblings. In the aftermath of slaying Lucrezia's beloved Paolo, he comes to fear his sister's cunning wrath (she encourages his fear, constantly toying with him and making him paranoid to avenge Paolo). After learning of abysmal behavior during his failed siege of Forli (which Juan had covered up), as well as seeing his cruelty to Lucrezia concerning her child, Cesare and Micheletto discreetly murder him after he leaves an opium den. Sean Harris as Micheletto Corella: Cesare's loyal henchman, he carries out ruthless killings under the order of Cesare to keep the Borgia family in power. He secretly engages in homosexual trysts, which ultimately becomes his downfall in the final season, when Micheletto takes a lover who happens to be a spy for the Sforza family, and, after being ordered to kill him, a heartbroken Micheletto abandons Cesare. Aidan Alexander as Gioffre Borgia: The barely pubescent youngest son of the pope, he is married to Sancia of Naples by the pope to secure an alliance with the kingdom to consolidate his papacy. Colm Feore as Giuliano della Rovere: A powerful cardinal in the church, after losing the papal election to Rodrigo Borgia, he devotes himself to deposing the new pope, whom he sees as lewd and blasphemous. Della Rovere's first attempt, by aligning himself with the King of France, is ultimately unsuccessful when the Pope outmaneuvers the French and persuades them to pass through Rome peacefully. His second attempt, to get a young man to become the Pope's taster, and then poison him, almost succeeds, but thanks to Lucrezia's ingenuity, he is unsuccessful, and because he chose to be at the Pope's deathbed, he is promptly arrested by Cesare, and faces torture and painful execution. However a rebellious cardinal releases him, and della Rovere escapes Rome. Gina McKee as Caterina Sforza: Cousin of cardinal Ascanio Sforza, Giovanni Sforza, Ludovico Sforza. Known as the legendary "Tigress of Forli" for her military prowess, she leads the powerful Sforza clan and is a chief rival for power in Italy. Like the rest of the Sforzas, she refused to support the pope against the impending French invasion. Following their victory over the French, the Borgias unleash their wrath upon the Sforzas, and Cesare is sent to Forli. He fails to persuade her to come to Rome and bow down before the Pope. Instead, she begins a passionate tryst with Cesare. A war between Caterina and the Borgias begins after Cesare kills her cousin Giovanni, avenging Lucrezia. Juan is sent to conquer Caterina, but her cousin Ludovico defeats him at Forli. Still, Juan captures and tortures Caterina's son Benito, who is then secretly taken to Rome and released by Cesare. Caterina attempts to forge an alliance with some of the Borgias' enemies, who are subsequently won over by Cesare. A failed attempt to assassinate the Pope via a biological plague agent is thwarted by Cesare, who in turn kills her son and cousin Ludovico. The Pope, through a Jewish trader and ally, buys the entire gunpowder supply in Italy, which he then grants to Cesare, who forms an alliance between the French and the Papal armies and successfully lays siege to Forli. Defeated, Caterina attempts to commit suicide by hanging, but the rope is shot by one of Cesare's generals and she is taken prisoner. Cesare then humiliates her by organizing a grand arrival into Rome with her on display in a jaded cage, wearing an extravagant, tiger-striped dress.
Supporting cast Ronan Vibert as Giovanni Sforza: The Lord of Pesaro, picked as the husband of Lucrezia by the pope in exchange for support from the Sforza clan. A cold and beastly man, he rapes Lucrezia repeatedly at the beginning of the marriage. He breaks his leg after falling off a horse thanks to a scheme by stable boy Paolo out of love for Lucrezia. The household staff all hate him and several of them side with Lucrezia and aid her in her affair with Paolo. He betrays the alliance with the Borgias by refusing to support them against the impending French invasion. He is later publicly humiliated by the Borgias, who convene the College of Cardinals to have his marriage to Lucrezia annulled on the grounds of impotence. When Sforza denies the charges, the Pope declares that he must prove it before the College and two prostitutes are brought in. Sforza, unable to bear the humiliation, declares that he is impotent and is sent from Rome in disgrace. Later, after making snide comments about Lucrezia to Cesare, who is on a visit to Forli to negotiate peace with his cousin, Caterina Sforza, Cesare attacks and kills him, igniting a war between the Borgias and Caterina. Edward Akrout as Yves d'Alègre (c. 1450 – battle of Ravenna, 1512): an outstanding French captain who became known in the early Italian Wars (1494–1512). Steven Berkoff as Girolamo Savonarola: An influential priest in Florence who is eventually killed for preaching against the corruption in the Church and the leadership of the Borgias. Simon McBurney as Johannes Burchard: The Vatican Master of Ceremonies and a scholar with impeccable expertise on canon law. To keep his position (and life), Johannes remains deliberately ambiguous about his loyalties, at times assisting both Pope Alexander VI and his enemies in their scheming.