Innocenzo XII — born Antonio Pignatelli — issued this piastra during his campaign to reform the Roman Curia, which culminated in the 1692 bull Romanum decet Pontificem, the most sweeping papal anti-nepotism legislation of the early modern period. The legend referencing God crushing Satan through peace reflects his deliberate positioning against the ongoing Nine Years' War, in which he persistently pressed Louis XIV and William III toward negotiation — pressure that contributed, slowly, to the Peace of Ryswick in 1697.
The Munzen reference places this among a small documented emission. Papal silver of this fineness from the 1690s saw limited circulation outside Rome and the Papal territories proper.
Innocenzo XII — born Antonio Pignatelli — issued this piastra during his campaign to reform the Roman Curia, which culminated in the 1692 bull Romanum decet Pontificem, the most sweeping papal anti-nepotism legislation of the early modern period. The legend referencing God crushing Satan through peace reflects his deliberate positioning against the ongoing Nine Years' War, in which he persistently pressed Louis XIV and William III toward negotiation — pressure that contributed, slowly, to the Peace of Ryswick in 1697.
The Munzen reference places this among a small documented emission. Papal silver of this fineness from the 1690s saw limited circulation outside Rome and the Papal territories proper.