Once the Roman Empire collapsed a new social system, known as Feudalism, arose in the Central and Western parts of Europe. In this system the most important person was the King or the Pope, followed by the nobles who controlled the knights and, on the lowest place, the peasants. The nobles would give a certain amount of land to the knights and it was the duty of the knights to fight for the nobles, to protect the peasants who lived in that land and to tax them. Thus, the knights would demonstrate their social hierarchy when they were called to fight for a noble or when they were appointed to manage a portion of land and to protect the peasants who lived and worked there.
