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)
The Borgias (2011)
1 mistake in The Art of War
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Holliday Grainger, Peter Sullivan, Francois Arnaud
Question: Why does Giovanni Sforza not prove he is not impotent? Was he in fact not able to perform in front of others or find the woman undesirable? I know historically he agreed to the annulment; but why? Was this scene historically accurate?
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
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.
raywest