Florins and Ducats -- Introduction: The Borgias: a family and its reputation -- Alonso de Borgia: from royal secretary to servant of Rome 1414-55 -- Calixtus III: the first Borgia pope 1455-58 -- The Borgia nephews: Cardinals and captain-generals 1458-71 -- Rodrigo Boria: new titles, new relationships, new wealth 1471-84 -- Rodrigo Borgia: from eminence to pre-eminence 1484-92 -- Alexander VI: the second Borgia pope and his family 1493-97 -- Alexander VI, Cesare and Lucrezia: a pope, a warrior and a widow 1498-1500 -- Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia: conquests in battle and in love 1501-03 -- Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia: the duke and the duchess 1503-19 -- The Borgia decendants: Dukes, Cardinals and saints 1520 and after.

The Borgias have become a byword for pride, lust, cruelty, avarice, splendour and venomous intrigue. An inspiration for many works of fiction, most famously Mario Puzo's The Godfather, they have aroused abomination and fascination in almost equal measure, while their patronage of the arts created some of the great masterpieces of the Renaissance. From the powerful, merciless Rodrigo Borgia, better known as Pope Alexander VI, to the beautiful Lucrezia and the debauched and murderous Cesare, Mary Hollingsworth's account of the dynasty's dramatic rise from its Spanish roots to the heights of Renaissance society forms a compelling tale of brutality, incest, unparalleled corruption and extortionate greed.