Many legends surround this family from Aragon, Spain who raised to the pinnacle of power in the XV century Europe: the Roman Catholic Papacy. When taken out of context, the cunning of this family is judged by XXI century standards and it is shocking. This movie shows the raise of a family in an antagonistic environment where a few families had the civil and religious power under control and this Spanish Pope was not part of their plans. Rodrigo Borja is a smart, resourceful and highly intelligent man who aspires to the higher power amidst a milieu of violence, treason and murder, supported by his family: he had grown up children from his wife (it was not unusual for a couple to live together without a marriage ceremony: Galileo is another example about 100 years posterior to Borja). Popes, and clergymen had mistresses and children, they fought in wars and were expected to behave as other heads of state (kings, emperors, chieftains).
Under the name of Alexander VI, Borja deals with changing times in Europe: the discovery of America, the power struggles between England (the War of the Roses and raise of the Tudors), France (with the Valois cousins, eventually with "the most Christian King" in Francois I), and Spain with the Catholic Queen and King (also king of Aragon); and of course the threat of the Ottoman Empire invading Europe.
The Borgias lived during what has been called the bloodiest century in Europe and supported the progress of Europe into the Renaissance.
