On the other hand, the richest invested more and more in objects that were clearly meant to display and signify their fortune. Political and religious authorities reacted violently by prohibiting the flaunting of excessive luxury for moral and economic reasons, especially when it came to women’s clothing and jewelry. The display of luxury was considered indecent in a society profoundly affected by misery. In addition, it diverted money from productive investment by immobilizing it in unproductive, sterile, and therefore useless objects: luxury was seen as a way of hoarding and immobilizing wealth, which, in a Christian society, in order to be profitable, was meant to circulate.