 In each of these, there were in the Early Middle Ages a number of feudal lords, who often were just as powerful, and sometimes more so than the rulers themselves.In old times, no other title existed but that of knight.In the middle of the fourteenth century, quarrels between the feudal lords reduced many families and castles to ruins, which contributed to the Dukes of Burgundy's acquisition by conquest or inheritance of many of the provinces forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.