Lucrezia Borgia is known today as a famous poisoner. Her father was the Pope, and she had two ambitious brothers. They all lived in a world where advantage was achieved by stealth and cunning. That advantage depended on public perception, so gossip and creative lying were powerful political tools.

So Lucrezia’s merry pranks may never have happened at all. The stories of her depravity may just have been aimed at damaging her family. We will probably never know the truth, but truth from 500 years ago is hard to assess.

Malicious gossip is interesting to Rhinos, because We smell deceit and evil intent without any words at all. This concept might help people rethink news as it comes along, but that would require thought. Lucrezia’s reputation has been lousy for a long time; maybe Bad Girls are more interesting than other kinds of girls? or Bad Boys, for that matter.