The notion of the state helping its poor, disabled, and elderly has existed since the creation of the concept of a state. In antiquity, states employed diverse systems with varying degrees of success. Usually the burden fell on the families to take care of the disabled and elderly and the state often stepped in to support the general poor in one way or another. With the collapse of the classical world and the rise of feudalism in Western Europe, many of these responsibilities were assumed by the Roman Catholic Church. Through most of the medieval period the Church alone ran hospitals, poor houses, and other services meant to help the poor and indigent.