The Price of Progress

S1, E3: The Renaissance marks the end of a fractured church and the emergence of the papacy as a chief patron of art, architecture, music and literature. But cultural advancement is accompanied by increasing corruption and ambition, as popes acquire temporal power and political influence. With Rodrigo Borgia on the throne of Peter, the papacy reaches a nadir, scandalizing people inside and outside the church and planting the seeds of reform.