Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Cast Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI François Arnaud as Cesare Borgia Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia Joanne Whalley as Vannozza dei Cattanei Lotte Verbeek as Giulia Farnese David Oakes as Juan Borgia Sean Harris as Michelotto Corella Simon McBurney as Johannes Burchart Aidan Alexander as Gioffre Borgia Colm Feore as Giuliano della Rovere (later Pope Julius II) Derek Jacobi as Orsino Orsini Ruta Gedmintas as Ursula Bonadeo (fictional character) Elyes Gabel as Prince Cem Montserrat Lombard as Maria Emmanuelle Chriqui as Sancia Vernon Dobtcheff as Cardinal Julius Verscucci (fictional character) Bosco Hogan as Alessandro Piccolomini (later Pope Pius III) (real counterpart: Francesco Piccolomini) Peter Sullivan as Ascanio Sforza David Lowe as French Ambassador The story thus far :  On the eve of the death of Pope Innocent VIII in 1492, a fierce political battle rages inside the Vatican walls over who will become the next pope. The papacy has lo

Scandalous Women is pleased to welcome historical fiction author Sarah Bower to the blog. Sarah is the author of the new novel SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA, which was published by Sourcebooks Landmark earlier this month.  What perfect timing with Showtimes new series The Borgias premiering next month. SINS OF THE HOUSE OF BORGIA is one of the best historical fiction novels that I've read this year. It is a meaty character study of the Borgia's seen through the eyes of an outsider, a young jewish woman named Esther who converts to Christianity. Here are what the critics are saying: The sheer grandeur of the papal and Ferrara courts, and the spectacle of the Borgia and Ferrara siblings' rivalries and revenges form a glittering take on one of the most notorious families of the Italian Renaissance. (Publishers Weekly ) Bower brilliantly merges history with politics and convincing characters to draw readers into a lush and colorful tapestry of Renaissance life... This powerf

Say the name Lucrezia Borgia, and you get an immediate reaction, even if they don't know the whole story, they know that Lucrezia Borgia was though to be scandalous in some way. Some will tell you that she poisoned her lovers with a special ring and her families political enemies, as the Borgia's clawed their way to the top in Renaissance Italy. Others consider the Borgias to be the first crime family, even deadlier than the Medicis in Florence, for their ability to eliminate anyone who got in their way. But was Lucrezia Borgia as bad as the histories have made her out to be? Or was she an innocent pawn used by her families to cement alliances and to raise money to wage war? Many recent biographies have taken a revisionist tact with Lucrezia. While it's certain that her father Rodrigo also known as Pope Alexander IV and her brother Cesare were ambitious men, who were more than willing to murder their enemies, Lucrezia seems to have been a good woman who was subject to the w