Trama

After a heated argument with della Rovere, Rodrigo convinces Pope Innocent to name King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, "Most Catholic Majesty". The Medici give a bankrupted Pope Innocent a loan to pay off his son's gambling debts, in return for Giovanni de Medici's seat as a Cardinal. Rodrigo reveals his intention to restore the Saint Peter's Basilica, if he becomes Pope.—Anonymous

Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia is vice-chancellor under gravely ill pope Innocent VIII, whom he aims to succeed and even reunite Italy, threatened by Ottoman Turks and French while even the papal state is divided by rival Roman families, mainly Colonna and Orsini. Hearing his firstborn son Pedro Luis died in Spain, where he hopes to get a Borgia on the throne, Rodrigo calls his illegitimate children -officially his late brother's- Juan, Cesare and Lucrezia, plus Alessandro from another mother, to Rome with his noble 'main' mistress Giulia Farnese as. Juan is destined for a military career and Cesare for an ecclesiastical one, but he has other ambitions, even after being named bishop of Valencia without holy orders, while his seminar buddy Giovanni di Medici is even created cardinal in a deal. Lucrezia needs guidance to accept Rodrigo's chooses betrothed. Cesare looses his shot at succeeding Pedro Luis as duke of Gandia after losing his cool in the mission to deceptively coax the Colonna heir Marcantonio while Juan succeeds with the Orsini hence gets the title, yet soon disappoints Rodrigo by seducing the Orsini lady. Rodrigo's delegate, Oliviero cardinal Carafa, was to reconcile Napels with Milan, but is literally robbed naked by the Milanese. Rodrigo host Ottoman throne rival prince Cem in his palace, while his sons must win the confidence of the impoverished count Castanea, who was hired to assassinate him by poison the papa palace water source. The cardinals prepare fro a 'civil war of succession' as the pope is on his deathbed, Rodrigo even hires a Jewish doctor to buy time. Cesare hires a 'witch' to save his mother Vannozza and her husband from the summer epidemic she predicted, yet strangles her for not saving the third. Rodrigo resolves to annul the dying pope's testament bequeathing his private treasure to his bastard son, so he can manage it as papal funds.—KGF Vissers

Though officially their uncle, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia gathers his three children, but Juan's and Cesare's lack of control threaten his life's work.