The Borgias
Infamous papal family
The Borgias were a Spanish-Italian noble family notorious for corruption, intrigue, and ruthless pursuit of power during the Renaissance.
Pope Alexander VI and his children Cesare and Lucrezia became symbols of political scheming, alleged poisonings, and moral scandal.
The name now evokes dynastic ambition unchecked by ethics: The boardroom politics were pure Borgia.
- RenaissanceEuropean cultural reawakening
- Renaissance ItalyPeninsula's cultural reawakening era
- poisonHarmful ingested substance
- papalof the pontiff
- RomeItaly's capital city
Holy See · family secrets · intrigue · corruption · dynasty · Vatican · cardinal · incest · murder · ambition · Machiavelli · Italy · treachery · power · nepotism · assassin · scheming · opulence
- historical dramasBridgerton, Downton Abbey, Poldark, The Crown, Victoria
moral character in power
The BorgiasMarcus Aurelius
Stoic emperor of Rome
Thomas More · Mahatma Gandhi · George Washington · Saladin · Cyrus the Great