“Sheesh, you’d think I was Lucrezia Borgia!”

The Borgias

 

Starring Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI, Francois Arnaud as Cesare Borgia, and Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia Borgia. Created by Neil Jordan

Showtime, 29 episodes, 2011-2013

My mother passed away in 2014 but I have many warm memories of her. If you haven’t spoken to your Mom in a while, give her a call tonight and tell her you love her.

My Mom wasn’t one to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I don’t remember her ever consulting a recipe book. She pretty much stuck with her standard repertoire of simple dinners. Once in a great while she’d get creative and all of us kids would look at the new concoction with great suspicion. Mom would always respond with, “Sheesh, you’d think I was Lucrezia Borgia the way you guys look.”

Ha, ha, ha. Mom had a pet saying for every occasion.

Lucrezia Borgia? All those years I heard Mom mention her name but I never knew who she was until I was into my adult years. Of course, Lucrezia was the daughter of  Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI, 1492-1503) and sister of Cardinal Cesare Borgia. This unholy triumvirate is still famous 500 years later for its scandalous legacy of murder, incest, fornication, and an insatiable thirst for power.  Lucrezia is said to have carried the poison for her next unsuspecting victim in a hollow ring. Machiavelli based his famous novel, The Prince, on the diabolical Cesare. The intrigues of the House of Borgia didn’t directly trigger the Reformation but they were symptomatic of the general, widespread corruption throughout the entire “church” of that period.

I’m not much of a television watcher but I’ve been meaning to watch the cable series, The Borgias, via Netflix. The Showtime series lasted three years (2011-2013). I’ll report back after I finish watching the first season.

For an earlier post on the dark side of the papacy, see here.