Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader loves e-mail from his minions. A loyal minion drew your Maximum Leader’s attention to a piece on the news wire that he might have otherwise missed.

Scientists may have found Medici murder.

Scientists have concluded tests on bones and tissues recovered from the Medici Chapel in Florence from the grave of Grand Duke Francesco de’ Medici. Some of the results lead these scientists and forensic examiners to believe that Francesco was poisoned (along with second wife Bianca). The likely suspect is Ferdinando de’ Medici, Francesco’s brother.

The Medici’s weren’t above poisoning their opponents. But from what your Maximum Leader knows of Francesco (which isn’t all that much compared to his knowledge of Lorenzo the Magnificent or Cosimo), it seems odd that a man who had others poisoned wouldn’t take better precautions against his own poisoning.

Excursus: When you think of Renaissance princes poisoning their enemies, isn’t the first name to pop into your mind Lucrezia Borgia? She admittedly wasn’t a prince, but she was certainly used by her father and brother (both princes of sorts - temporal and spiritual) as a pawn in their affairs. Your Maximum Leader remember reading accounts - now seriously questioned - about Lucrezia poisoning her husband so that she would be available for a new marriage alliance. He also seems to remember reading something recently that claims “new evidence” shows that Lucrezia was just a tormented girl, used as a pawn by her family, and all sorts of horrible rumours (of incest and murder) were attached to her because of the horrid male patriarchy thingie.

Anyhoo…

Your Maximum Leader hopes to learn more about Francesco as he ploughs through a Christmas book on that storied family by Christopher Hibbert.

Carry on.