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The glorious and infamous history of the Borgia family -- a world of saints, corrupt popes, and depraved princes and poisoners -- set against the golden age of the Italian Renaissance.The Borgia family have become a byword for evil. Corruption, incest, ruthless megalomania, avarice and vicious cruelty -- all have been associated with their name. And yet, paradoxically, this family lived when the Renaissance was coming into its full flowering in Italy. Examples of infamy flourished alongside some of the finest art produced in western history. This is but one of several paradoxes associated with the Borgia family. For the family which produced corrupt popes, depraved princes and poisoners, would also produce a saint. These paradoxes which so characterize the Borgias have seldom been examined in great detail.