Romanum decet pontificem

:"Not to be confused with Decet Romanum Pontificem"."Romanum decet pontificem" (named for its Latin incipit: "it befits the Roman Pontiff") is a papal bull issued by Pope Innocent XII (1691—1700) on June 22, 1692, banning the office of Cardinal Nephew, limiting his successors to elevating only one cardinal relative, [Salvator, Miranda. 1998. " [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1681.htm Consistory of September 1, 1681 (I)] ."] eliminating various "sinecures" traditionally reserved for cardinal-nephews and capping the stipend or endowment the nephew of a pope could receive to 12,000 scudi. [Standen, Edith A. 1981. "Tapestries for a Cardinal-Nephew: A Roman Set Illustrating Tasso's "Gerusalemme Liberata." "Metropolitan Museum Journal". 16: 147-164.] [Chadwick, Owen. 1981. "The Popes and European Revolution". Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198269196. p. 305.] [Ed. Philippe Levillain. 2002. "Nepotism." "The Papacy: An Encyclopedia". Routledge. ISBN 0415922283. p. 1032.]

"Romanum decet pontificem" was later incorporated into the Code of Canon Law of 1917 in canons 240, 2; 1414, 4; and 1432, 1. [Miranda, Salvator. 1998. " [http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/guide-xvii.htm Guide to documents and events (76-2005)] ."] In 1694, Innocent XII's series of reforms was capped off with an expensive campaign to eliminate the venality of offices while reimbursing their current holders. [Levillain, 2002, p. 468.]

However, following "Romanun decet pontificem", only three of the eight popes of the 18th century did not make a nephew or brother cardinal.Chadwick, 1981, p. 304.]

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