The Frisians were at that time unique in Europe in that they did not adhere to the feudal system. In fact, since the time the Frisian territories had been part of the Frankish empire of Charlemagne, they had drifted away from mainstream European culture on a separate course, similar to that of the Swiss Confederation. Egalitarianism was such that no noble class started to develop until the late thirteenth century, and even then these "nobles" were only been firsts among equals, with only as much power as they could grab, instead of being granted such power by a liege lord. These "nobles" were called chieftains (Dutch: hoofdelingen; Frisian: haadlingen).