Table of Contents
Maps ix
Abbreviated Borgia Family Tree xi
Dramatis Personae xiii
Prologue: The Crowning Moment 1
1 Origins of a Dynasty 17
2 The Young Rodrigo 33
3 Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia Emerges in His True Colours 53
4 The Way to the Top 73
5 A New Pope in a New Era 89
6 'The Scourge of God' 107
7 The Best of Plans… 123
8 A Crucial Realignment 139
9 A Royal Connection 155
10 Il Valentino's Campaign 177
11 Biding Time 195
12 The Second Romagna Campaign 209
13 The Borgias in excelsis 223
14 Cesare Strikes Out 241
15 Changing Fortunes 257
16 Cesare Survives 275
17 Borgia's 'Reconciliation' 289
18 Lucrezia in Ferrara 307
19 The Unforeseen 313
20 Desperate Fortune 329
Epilogue 339
Acknowledgements 342
Sources 343
Illustrations 363
Index 365