In these times it is helpful to look back in history and find a time period not unlike our own and see what lessons we can learn.  So I decided to read about the Borgia family. They were consumed with power, greed and were famous for their shameless corruption.  The similarities to what is happening now is quite extraordinary!

In these two volumes Blood & Beauty and In the Name of the Family, Dunant has created an extraordinary novel about the rise and fall of this infamous family based on sound historical research and personal letters and journals. She fills in the story with many historical details, from the types of clothing that was worn or the kinds of food that were served and chronicles  the progress of a new disease called the French disease, which we now know as syphilis.

We are immersed in Renaissance Italy right from the beginning of these novels as we learn how Rodrigo Borgia plotted, bribed and manipulated his way into becoming Pope Alexander VI on August 11, 1492. From then on until his death on August 18, 1503 his reign as pope was focused solely on creating opportunities for gaining more power, enriching his family through military conquest, diplomatic manipulation and personally beneficial alliances through the marriage of his children,

Rodrigo had several mistresses during his lifetime, and it was an open secret that he slept with them and cared for them even when he was Pope. He had several children, of whom the most important to his dynastic impulses were Cesare and Lucretia. With Cesare’s help, Rodrigo began to plan how to manipulate, bribe and intimidate all of Italy to come under his protection and control. With Lucretia, who Rodrigo genuinely loved, he sealed alliances by marriage.

What is indeed fascinating, was that although there were moments when the Borgia family seemed to be in control, those times were illusory at best. Disease, including syphilis, plague, foreign invasions and diplomatic failures, as well as military defeats and death all contributed to the eventual end of the Borgia papacy and its attempt to create an empire. If there is a lesson here, it is that this kind of power based on greed and manipulation cannot last since its very foundation is unstable and suseptible to further manipulation or bribery by others. Governments that treat their people poorly and do not attend to the peoples’ needs eventually fall under the weight of its’ own indifference. We can see signs of that happening even now in our own time which makes me hopeful that like the Borgias, this too shall pass.

Brenda’s Rating: ***** (5 Out Of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to Keith, Ken, Sharon and Marian.

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.