We follow the last stand of Caterina Sforza as the French once again descend upon Italy with king Louis XII and Cesare Borgia, made representative of Romagna by his father Pope Alexander VI, closes in on the lands of Caterina as she prepares for her last great battle.

After the assassination of her husband Girolamo Riario, Caterina is in full control as regent for her son, Ottaviano Riario.

She has to navigate regional issues in Romagna, another assassination in Faenza and then the tricky balancing act during the descent of Charles VIII of France.

During all of this she managed to start a new passionate relationship with Giacomo Feo, which will also end in murder and in her thirst for vengeance, Caterina will lose sight of her role as a head of state.

After settling in to their new signoria, Caterina Sforza and her husband Girolamo Riario have to deal with continuous plots, the War of Ferrara and the death of uncle pope Sixtus IV. After that Caterina will really show what she's made of by taking and holding Castel Sant Angelo, her sword at her side, while seven months pregnant.

In the end after her husband's assassination, she will stand alone to face the conspirators in one of Italian Renaissance history's most famous legendary scenes.

We look at the early years of the woman who would come to be known as "The Tigress of Forlì", Caterina Sforza starting with her youth at the court of her father, duke of Milan Galeazzo Maria.

We then move on to the traumatic start to her marriage to Girolamo Riario, nephew of pope Sixtus IV, as he starts his ambitious rise to power, that will eventually lead him to his doom.

Having met Francesco II Gonzaga, at the battle of Fornovo, we take some time to go back and have a look at the beautiful city of Mantua from its legendary origins, surrounded by lakes created by the tears of a prophetess, through the period of our heroine, Matilda of Tuscany, countess of Canossa, to see the arrival and rise of the Corradi of Gonzaga. They would take over control of the city of Mantua and set up a county, and then a Marquisate that would put them in third place as the longest lasting dynasty in Italy

On the way, they will have to battle with the greedy Visconti of Milan, and have arguments with famous painter Andrea Mantegna who refused to make the ugly Gonzaga good looking and had issues with apples.

We will also answer the question of what happened to King Charles the eighth of Franc's porn collection.

To celebrate 2nd June, Republic Day as well as the release of the related film "C'è ancora domani" (There's still tomorrow) by director Paola Cortellesi, we are brushing up our episode on the Historical events that lead up to the referendum od 1946 which abolished the Italian monarchy, sending the Savoy family into exile.

All of this against the background of post war Italy which was on the brink of civil war.

After leaving the Papal States with Cesare Borgia waiting for us, we head into the Republic of Florence to look at the struggle with the other Italian powers over Pisa and also stop to talk a little about the man who named America, the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci.

After that it's over to the Duchy of Milan where duchess Beatrice d'Este dies in 1497 and the threat of French invasion becomes very real when Luis XII takes the throne.

The last stop takes us to Venice and yet another clash with Ottoman Turks at the battle of Zonchio, a.k.a. the first battle of Lepanto.

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After seeing French King Charles VIII out of the Italian peninsula, we take a quick tour around to see what the situation is at the end of the 15th century and make sure everyone is on the same page.

We look at Sardinia, Sicily, the Kingdom of Naples and the Papal States under the Borgias, but also take time to talk about syphilis and some naughty nighttime activities.

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Charles VIII of France is on his way out as king Ferrandino of Naples, along with Gonzalo de Cordoba, are gradually taking back the kingdom.

Meanwhile Charles is headed off by the Holy League of Venice at the town of Fornovo in the Apennines of Parma. In the ensuing battle, he manages to get through, but not without losing all the supplies and spoils of his campaign. The league commander Francisco Gonzaga, comes out of the affair looking pretty good.

After he finally leaves and Luis of Orleans leaves Novara to the besieging Sforza, an uneasy peace fans over Italy.

Charles VIII of France finally managed to get to Naples, but doesn't hang around long, the players on the Italian scene feel he has worn out his welcome and Venice, Milan, the pope, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian and Ferdinand II of Spain band together in the Holy league to threaten France.

Things kick off in the south with the new king of Naples Ferrandino ready to fight back supported by the Spanish and in the north the Milanese and Venetians lay siege to the French in Novara.

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