Among other things, Platina reported that Pius II suggested Barbo should have been called "Maria Pietissima", as "when he could not obtain what he aimed at by praying, entreating, and requesting, he would join tears to his petitions to make them the sooner believed." Some historians have suggested the nickname may also have been a possible allusion to a perceived lack of masculinity, reflecting possible homosexuality. Platina also paints his enemy as cruel, and an archenemy of science. For centuries it influenced historical opinions until critical research proved otherwise.