Factual error: In the Pope's coronation procession they play the anthem Zadok the Priest. It was composed by Handel for the coronation of George II in 1727, 235 years after this coronation took place.
Factual error: When Lucrezia is lying in bed suffering from swamp fever, probably malaria, she blames a mosquito for the disease. But she could not have known this; the discovery of the transmission of malaria by mosquitoes was not made until the late 19th century. The prevailing theory of disease transmission at the time was via miasma, or bad air.
Factual error: Pope Sixtus drinks from a flask while standing on a balcony and is screwing the lid back on. Screw top lids were not invented until the late 19th century, 400 years after this film was supposed to be set.
The Beautiful Deception - S2-E3
Factual error: Cardinal della Rovere says he wishes to join the Dominican Order instead of the Capuchin Order because the former's rule is stricter. In actual fact, the Capuchin rule is one of the strictest of all Roman Catholic orders, something which della Rovere would certainly have known.
Factual error: After the army's retreat, as Juan Borgia is walking through the great hall, he calls the priests fleeing with the books "rats deserting a sinking ship." But then says "you're like lemmings running to your doom." However, the notion of the suicidal lemming running to its doom came from Disney's 1958 film "White Wilderness", which was later proved to be a hoax. Lemmings do not commit mass suicide nor "run to their doom" so such an analogy would never have been said, or even understood. (00:42:55)
Chosen answer: The Borgias arranged Lucrezia's marriage to Giovanni Sforza for their own political gain. When Giovanni was no longer considered useful to them politically, they sought to end the marriage. Eventually, Giovanni reluctantly agreed to admit to impotence in exchange for keeping Lucrezia's dowry, which normally would have reverted back to the family in the event of an annulment. Divorce was rare at that time, and being unable to consummate a marriage was one grounds for an annulment. In the series, when the Borgias convene the College of Cardinals to have Giovanni prove his potency by performing with two overweight and unattractive prostitutes, he refuses because he is humiliated. The historical facts are mostly accurate, though the part about the prostitutes is probably fiction.
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