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.
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.