Dérogeance ("derogation (of nobility)") was grievance for persons who did acts deemed unworthy of the noble status.
[1] Dérogeance included engagement in certain professions and occupations considered to be "lowly".
[2] Many ancient cultures restricted their noble classes from commercial activity,[3] although this was less true of the Roman Empire.
In particular, the 1756 book La noblesse commerçante by the Abbé Gabriel François Coyer, first published anonymously in London and then translated into German by Johann Heinrich Gottlob Justi, proved influential.
Spain abolished restrictions on the commercial activities of noblemen in 1770 and other western European countries took similar steps.