Showtime’s The Borgias ran for three seasons from the years 2011-2013. The historical drama followed the lives of real-life members of The Borgia family.
Although several liberties were taken, the show attempted to stay as accurate as possible to the rather complicated, dastardly, and ingenious Borgia family that mostly consisted of, in the case of the show, father Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI, brothers Cesare and Juan, and sister Lucrezia. Other characters recur often, such as mother Vanozza, mistress Giulia Farnese, and Cardinal Della Rovere.
The show did not sugarcoat the life and times of this family, nor the world itself, as war, betrayal, love, political plotting, family dynamics, and heartbreak was consistent throughout all three seasons. But if there was one character who developed the most, it is arguably Lucrezia.
Played to literal perfection by Holliday Grainger (Cinderella, C.B. Strike), Lucrezia went from the innocent, sweet, only daughter of the Pope to a cunning, bitter and historical bad#$% of a woman. So, let’s talk about her top five moments from the series and why she (Lucrezia) and the actress are not to be underestimated.
1. Lucrezia Borgia Moment: The Chandelier
The list could not be started without, personally, my favorite Lucrezia scene of the whole series. Being the only daughter of the Pope, she needed to marry into a family that would be the most beneficial to her own.
Unfortunately, that meant marrying the older brute Giovanni Sforza, who single handedly in one night, ruined Lucrezia’s hopeful ideals of having a loving marriage. Naturally, she fell in love with poor stable boy, Paolo and got pregnant.
Thankfully her marriage was annulled, hiding the fact she was pregnant through an affair and she began to raise the baby back in Rome. Paolo sought Lucrezia much to older brother Juan’s anger.
Juan at the time, was already becoming unbearable to everyone around him, even his family. Disgusted that his sister loved a peasant and bore his child, Juan kills Paolo and sets it up as suicide.
It didn’t take Lucrezia and the rest of her family to figure out Juan was behind it. Even though he outright denies it.
In retribution, while Lucrezia was trying to rock her baby to sleep that night, she overhears Juan and a prostitute being intimate. Taking a candle to light her way, she kindly asks that they quiet down, as his nephew is trying to sleep.
Juan, naturally not caring, brushes her off but does appear as least slightly apologetic. What he doesn’t notice is that Lucrezia left the lit candle behind, hovering just under a rope, that led to the heavy chandelier hanging over the bed.
What comes next is eerie and so extremely satisfying. Lucrezia returns to her room, rocking her baby while humming a tune and patiently waiting.
The chandelier indeed falls, the screams are heard, but unfortunately, it landed on the woman who was above Juan at the time. He survives, and notices the candle, realizing Lucrezia was the cause.
2. Lucrezia Borgia Moment: Lucrezia Chooses Love
One of the most notorious rumors, spread by their enemies, surrounding the Borgia family was that they committed incest. Naturally, the show ran rampant with that rumor and decided to have the relationship between brother Cesare and sister Lucrezia evolve.
The two were close from the beginning, as she was the little sister. As Lucrezia grew older, she realized she was having feelings for Cesare that went beyond that of a sibling love.
Cesare, at first, refused her advances, no matter how persistent she became, even though he began to also feel them. After Lucrezia’s first failed marriage to Giovanni Sforza, who Cesare thankfully later killed, she hesitated from getting married again, until she meets Alfonso of Aragon.
Things seem to be going well at first, until she and Cesare notice that he’s not a tough and reliable man. He loves Lucrezia no doubt, but his actions including wanting to wait until marriage to sleep with Lucrezia and his horrid uncle’s, Ferdinand II of Naples, views on Lucrezia’s baby, prove that he doesn’t fight enough for her.
But the one person who always has Lucrezia’s corner is Cesare. Alfonso’s indecisiveness causes Cesare to question him and so when it comes to the seating arrangements for the wedding, he writes a big question mark under his, soon to be, brother-in-law’s name.
The night of the wedding, as Lucrezia and Alfonso are trying to be intimate, he notices the question mark and storms out of the room. Completely fed up with being unhappy, even with her new husband, Lucrezia decides to choose love, which means going into Cesare’s chambers.
She even leaves a trail of her jewelry, hairpieces and even shoes to his chambers. I can still hear the sound of her jewelry being thrown firmly onto the floor, echoing in the room.
The two siblings make love for the first time that night and begin their very complicated and hidden relationship.
3. Lucrezia Borgia Moment: Lucrezia’s Opinion
Troubles arise when it’s discovered that Lucrezia did not consummate her marriage to Alfonso the night of her wedding. No one is aware she had slept with Cesare, in fact, they are never officially caught.
We briefly mentioned that Alfonso’s uncle is already a, to be put it lightly, horrible human being. He does not value love nor marriage and blatantly dislikes his nephew’s views about the whole situation.
But when he finds out his nephew didn’t even consummate his marriage to Lucrezia, his already previous distaste for the family becomes uncontrollable. He demands that he and a member from Lucrezia’s family, be present to witness the intimate act or else he deems the marriage insufficient, and their alliance destroyed.
Naturally Cesare is the one to tell Lucrezia the news and she outright loses her mind, rightfully so. While Cesare is trying his best to dampen the blow of the situation, Lucrezia let’s him have it!
It’s one of the saddest yet most powerful scenes in the entire series, and yes, I know every line in this scene, word for word. Lucrezia is right to be angry and upset, but what she doesn’t realize is that this kills Cesare just as much.
Lucrezia is the last person, regardless of their current relationship status, he ever wants to see hurt or upset. He has proven, repeatedly, how devoted and loving he is of her.
But the pain of knowing that this deed must be done, “for the good of the family”, is enough to make her scoff in response. She accepts that there is no way out of the situation and demands that Cesare be the witness in her family, knowing just how painful it will be for him to watch.
4. Lucrezia Borgia Moment: Lucrezia’s Sleep Spell
Lucrezia’s troubles with Alfonso’s family never truly seemed to end. First, she had to deal with his horrid uncle Ferdinand II of Naples, who thankfully met his end.
Then a new king needed to be crowned, which placed two brothers against each other. Lucrezia had to choose between them and unfortunately chose poorly.
Her decision to choose Frederigo of Naples, placed herself and her husband in true danger as they were now prisoners in their own home. When he does reveal how his schemes fooled her, she faints.
She seeks the aid of an old woman she had met once outside the castle walls, searching for herbs and flowers. Trusting her above all others, the old woman, whose methods nearly fall into the witchcraft category, visits with Lucrezia and implies she’s pregnant.
Alfonso immediately corrects her, and it seemed he and Lucrezia had not been intimate in a while, which yes could imply the baby is Cesare’s. But that is not the moment we’re talking about here.
Lucrezia knows she and her husband need to flee and find her brother. With the help of the old woman, they use an herb to place within the drinks of everyone at the castle party.
Everyone, including the guard’s drinks, which results in literally every since person falling asleep. Lucrezia and Alfonso are able to make their escape while the old woman and some of her friends proceed to rob the guests at the castle.
As luck would have it, upon their escape, via carriage, they run into Cesare and several members of his newly founded condottieri, which consisted of young men from the powerful houses throughout Italy. The reunion between Cesare and Lucrezia nonetheless confirms Alfonso’s suspicions that there is more going on between the siblings than originally thought.
5. Lucrezia Borgia Moment: Lucrezia addresses the Cardinals
Lucrezia’s life, as tumultuous as it often appears, also had its moments of shining light. One of which involved her and Giulia Farnese.
Although Lucrezia and the rest of the family quickly learned of Giulia’s status as their father’s mistress, they became quite comfortable around her presence. Regardless of her status with the Pope, she was kind, wise and trustworthy, even when things start going south.
The one person she became closest to was Lucrezia, becoming nearly a second mother to her. As old and grand as Rome was, it still had its problems, specifically the poor.
The two women venture into the city to see the situation firsthand. Lucrezia quickly learns of how much money the Cardinals have and how little goes to the people of Rome.
Both she and Giulia find several unused locations and begin to plan how they can be used to house those in need. But they will need the funding.
Lucrezia’s father, never truly able to deny his daughter, likes the idea and allows her to sit with the Cardinals to discuss her plans. Her quick wit, confidence and sophisticated demeanor is no match for a room of mostly old men.
To appease her and the Pope, they agree to the funds.
Don’t get us wrong, there were plenty of noteworthy Lucrezia moments throughout The Borgias. Choosing five wasn’t easy, especially for such a profound character as the daughter of the Pope of Rome.
Other moments that did not make our list include Lucrezia essentially saving her father’s life from poisoning by having him swallow charcoal, her realization that her family is not looking out for her best interest, and her clever ways of avoiding intimacy with her first husband so she could be with Paolo. Lucrezia’s youth and innocence were quickly shattered as the realities of life forced their way in.
It’s unfortunate to see how much she did suffer, but throughout all of it, she survived and thrived. She became a loving mother, a formidable match when it came to debates and wasn’t afraid to take matters into her own hands.
She learned to start living for herself and her happiness, while also avoiding disrupting the status quo of keeping the family interests at the top of the priority list. It’s a shame the series came to end in season 3, as there was so much more to explore.
Lucrezia, as well as her family, especially Cesare, had more in store for them, both good and bad. Regardless of how we feel, this is the way their history unfolded.
I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in the Borgia family to read and do a lot of research. And I do mean, a lot of research.
You may be surprised by how much of their lives, as portrayed on the show, was both true and false. You can watch The Borgias, from beginning to end on Amazon Prime Video.
Which Lucrezia Borgia moment is your favorite from the series? Share with us your answers in the comments below, we’d love to read them!