Since the Showtime Borgia series began I have been pointing out what is fact and what is fiction. (I know the difference because I worked hard to keep the history accurate in my .99 historical mystery, A Borgia Daughter Dies.) The series has strayed further and further from the historical record, and become stranger and stranger in the process.
Season 3 so far is completely fictional, though Continue reading
History reverberates with rumors that the Borgias–father, son Cesare and daughter Lucrezia–committed incest. Showtime could have taken the high road and avoided the rumors all together, since they are unlikely to be true. (See http://maryannphilip.com/cesare-borgia-pope-alexander-vi-lucrezia-borgia-involved-incest/).
But judging from the preview to the third season, it appears Showtime is taking the lowest of low roads: pretend there was incest, and blame it on Lucrezia. This is blaming the victim in the story. Continue reading
Arquebus from around the time of the Borgias
The Borgia miniseries has highlighted some of the technological advances of the Renaissance, to its credit. The writers haven’t always gotten the details right, but they are good at showing the essence. Continue reading
The Showtime Borgia series shows the pope’s current mistress, Giulia Farnese, teaming up with his daughter Lucrezia and his former mistress Vanozza to reform corruption among the cardinals of the Church. Did this happen?
Not a chance. It isn’t even an accurate portrayal of these women, from what little we know of them.
The Borgia series seems to be drifting further away from historic fact as it goes on. The “Paolo” episode, Season two episode two, is the first in the series that is almost purely fictional. The characters seem to be adrift from their historical moorings, too. It’s too bad, because the first season did a pretty good job of getting the essential characters right. Continue reading