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| Cesare lands in the port of La Spezia with his French army, their target being Milan, and approaches Vitelezzo Vitelli to act as his emissary to the rest of the Italian noblemen Caterina Sforza has rallied against the Pope. His message is simple: with the French arsenal at his disposal, the noble families of the Romagna are better off with Cesare rather than against him. Back in Rome, Alexander VI informs the College of Cardinals of his plans for illustrious celebrations to take place for the 1500 Jubilee, an occasion that is sure to fill the Vatican treasury with pilgrim money. The Pope asks his Cardinals to contribute with their ideas towards the effort of exploiting the Jubilee celebrations to the greatest possible financial gain and hints that an ancient holy relic, like the Shroud of Constantinople, may be just what is needed towards that purpose. Learning that the status of the papacy's income is so far insufficient to fund his crusade against the Turks, the Pope enables Cardinal Sforza to bring him in contact with the Jews that are fleeing Constantinople, pursued by the Ottomans, and are willing to pay whatever price to make a life in his Rome. A delegation from the Jews seems reluctant to pay the Pope's steep levies by contributing to his crusade but negotiations are cut short when one of the Vatican's spies brings news of a vast French army that has invaded Liguria. The frantic Pope summons an assembly of all his captains and attempts to organize the city's defence but soon Cesare arrives and informs the confused Pope that the French are under his orders alone and have come to claim Milan: disappointed by his son's defiance of his strict orders and displeased with the French on Italian soil, Rodrigo reluctantly accedes to Cesare's plan to have the French first take Milan and destroy Ludovico Sforza and subsequently turn on the treacherous Caterina. Lucrezia is reunited with her son Giovanni, whom Micheletto brings to Naples, and is then paid a visit by her dear brother Cesare: Lucrezia inquires about Cesare's French marriage and then asks him to guarantee that her own marriage to the Neapolitan Alfonso is secure from every kind of Cesare's games with the power structure in the Italian states. Caterina Sforza's efforts to bring down the Pope continue unabated as she sends Rufio on a plague-ridden location to acquire an infected cloth, which she wraps around a peace treaty, concealed within an ornate container that is sent to Rome, intended for the Pope: the container is received by recently appointed Cardinal Costanzo but Cesare orders it destroyed unopened so that his father will not be tempted into a false peace and stop supporting his conquest of Milan. The ambitious young Cardinal thinks that there is something to be gained by Cesare's potentially duplicitous behaviour and that he holds leverage against the Pope's son that may benefit him soon if he holds on to Caterina's treaty. A member of the Cardinal's household soon ends up sick with the plague and the entire house is soon engulfed by the lethal disease. An extremely crafty member of the Jewish community conceives of another way to earn the Pope's favour and gain the right to live and trade freely within Rome's walls: he approaches Cardinal Farnese to act as a facilitator and promises that he can procure the long-lost Spear of Longinus, the very lance that pierced Christ on the Cross. The Pope is presented with the relic and is naturally amazed, a fact which spites Cardinal Petrucci and drives him to question the relic's authenticity. The crafty Jew though proves that his Spear is the real one and he earns the Pope's confidence, a fact which promises further collaborations between them. Vitelli brings back Cesare's offer of an alliance to the Orsini brothers, Prospero Colonna and Gianpaolo Baglioni and though they initially question that gambit's soundness, Cesare suddenly appears with a small specimen of his arsenal and intimidates them into joining him. With their armies combined, Cesare is ready to strike at Milan but Caterina Sforza's son Benito is alerted to their presence and warns his uncle Ludovico to flee the city. Cesare and the French enter Milan unobstructed and triumphant but Cesare is displeased since he put up with conquering Milan in the French king's name only in return for his using the French army to eliminate Ludovico Sforza, who's safely out of reach. |
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| How did this episode differ from actual events? Compare the facts with the fiction below! | ||||
| ON THE BORGIAS... | IN HISTORY... | |||
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