The Borgias Season 1 (2011)
Pope Innocent VIII dies. Rodrigo Borgia wins election as Pope Alexander VI by bribing enough of the cardinals to vote for him in conclave. Alexander "packs" the College of Cardinals with 13 new members, including his son Cesare. He then tries to contract an alliance with the powerful family of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, one of his two original rivals for the Papacy. That alliance, ever fragile, breaks after Alexander's other rival, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (the future Pope Julius II), contracts his own alliance with the King of France for an invasion of Italy.
The Borgias Season 1 Episodes
The Poisoned Chalice
Rodrigo successfully bribes and intimidates his way into an election as Pope Alexander VI, making him the new leader of the Catholic Church; powerful Cardinals Della Rovere and Orsini oppose his rise; the Borgias recruit a talented assassin named Micheletto to their cause.
The Assassin
The new Pope wastes no time consolidating power and balancing opposition to him in the College of Cardinals by elevating his children to high office, installing Juan as head of the papal armies and Cesare as a cardinal and his successor, while seeking a politically fortuitous marriage for daughter Lucrezia.
