Since the Middle Ages and until the late 17th century, some Catholic popes and bishops, who had taken vows of chastity, and therefore usually had no legitimate offspring of their own, gave their nephews such positions of preference as were often accorded by fathers to son.
Od srednjeg veka do kasnog 17. veka, neke katoličke pape i biskupi koji su položili zakletvu čednosti, što bi reklo da obično nisu imali zakonitog potomstva, su davali nećacima poželjne pozicije koje su često pružane od oca sinu.