After 20 years of grooming, Cosimo Medici replaces his late father in Florence's Signoria, where he must decide whether to support a call for war.
As the war with Milan takes a heavy toll on Florence, Cosimo boosts morale and the economy by undertaking the impossible: building the cathedral dome.
While Albizzi uses the plague to turn Florentines against Cosimo and his dome, two Medici family members are lost. Marco forces a shocking confession.
After Cosimo's arrest, his wife tries to buy a Signoria member's help, Piero seeks to refute the charges, and Lorenzo takes a more drastic approach.
In exile in Venice, Cosimo finds himself drawn to a slave woman. Meanwhile, back in Florence, Contessina runs into her childhood sweetheart.
The Medici family returns to Florence, where Albizzi awaits the Signoria's sentence, but the arrival of Pope Eugene IV complicates the situation.
Cosimo is asked to choose a candidate for the vacant seat in the Signoria. Marco is forced to share his suspicions about Lorenzo with Cosimo.
Contessina is faced with deciding Maddalena's fate. Cosimo goes to Rome to retake the city and the papacy. Lorenzo finds evidence incriminating Pazzi.
After a surprise attack, Lorenzo and Giuliano search for the culprits. The trail leads the brothers to the Pazzis, but treachery lies closer at hand.
Lorenzo's power play comes at a cost and stirs up outrage. With leadership comes sacrifice as he travels to Rome and weighs an advantageous match.
The death of the pope brings strategic challenges as Lorenzo negotiates with the Duke of Milan and welcomes his new bride, Clarice, to Florence.
Lorenzo aims to strengthen ties with the Pazzis and proposes a treaty with Venice. Clarice appeals to Lucrezia and learns the way to Lorenzo's heart.
In opposition to the pope, Lorenzo moves quickly to acquire the strategic city of Imola. A forbidden love flowers between Giuliano and Simonetta.
The papal army advances as important coalitions shift. Meanwhile, Lorenzo negotiates a crucial treaty, and Jacopo attempts a major power grab.
As forces threaten a fragile alliance, the Pazzis embark on a murderous plan to destroy the Medicis while Lorenzo seeks to make peace with Rome.
The day of reckoning arrives as the circle of conspirators tightens around the Medicis during Mass, and rivals attempt to take control of Florence.
Lorenzo's political skills are tested when the pope excommunicates Florence. Giuliano’s son materializes, and Medici's head must reach into his heart.
Embattled, Lorenzo vows to never let Florence fall yet faces internal opposition. Savonarola clashes with leadership as wives exert their influence.
Lorenzo makes an audacious appeal to an enemy. But after learning of a new attack, he must use all his wiles to save Florence — and his own life.
Seven years later, on the eve of a peace conference, Riario's men seize Ferrara, drawing Lorenzo into a savage game. Lucrezia confides in Clarice.
In a Rome racked by chaos, Lorenzo and Clarice scramble to safeguard peace. But at what cost? Savonarola preaches to a growing flock back in Florence.
Ardinghelli turns up the pressure on the Medicis. Later, Lorenzo brings together Botticelli and da Vinci, and Bruno revisits an old foe: his family.
An uneasy peace settles on the Medici household and an ailing Lorenzo. Yet Florence is rife with rumors stirred up by Savonarola, and enemies circle.
The heart has been torn out of the Medici family. After all the painful sacrifices suffered to realize a dream, one life-or-death decision remains.