The Borgias- their name has become a byword for the intrigue, corruption and violence of renaissance Italy but how true is this image of the family and the age? Using contemporary accounts and art we will try to strip away the myths of TV dramas and the propaganda of their enemies to gain a clearer understanding of the real nature of the Borgias, and through them the culture, politics and warfare of Italy in the 1490s and early 1500s. We will meet not only Pope Alexander VI, Cesare and Lucretia but also his nemesis Pope Julius II, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and, of course, Machiavelli. Do they deserve their reputation? Were they as decadent and corrupt as they have been portrayed? What influence did they have on the Italy of their day?