G.J. Meyer's The Borgias is a fascinating look into the lives of the notorious Italian Renaissance family and its reputation for womanizing, murder and corruption. Meyer (The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty) turns centuries of accepted wisdom about the Borgias on its head, probing deep into contemporary documents and neglected histories to reveal some surprising truths.
The story begins with Alonso de Borja, a rather unassuming Spanish cardinal who moved to Italy, and started going by the Italian version of his name: Borgia. In 1455, a series of political maneuverings between the other cardinals in conclave to select the next Roman Catholic pope--most of whom were Italian and had grudges against each others' families--meant that the quiet outsider won the vote. After his election, relatives of Pope Calixtus III flocked to Italy hoping to capitalize upon his new status. Over the next 60 years, the Borgias would achieve great wealth, a second papacy and a notoriety that would expand over the centuries.
Meyer delves deeply into Italian politics and the history of the papacy, and he clearly demonstrates why the clever, ambitious and sometimes ruthless Borgias--especially the best known, Rodrigo, Cesare and Lucrezia--were the perfect family on which to cast aspersions, and who gained by making up outlandish stories about these non-Italian outsiders and their crimes. The Borgias: The Hidden History is a gripping history of a tempestuous time and an infamous family. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm