The medieval period in Europe was a time in which both the legal pillars of Roman society and the technological knowledge of the ancients had been lost; all that remained that could legitimately be termed "Roman" was the form of religion that was practiced. Christianity and, in particular, Catholicism had survived the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in the West. However, its ideals and moral codes of conduct were eventually augmented by European society to more suitably complement the feudal system. Essentially, "Christianity was in theory egalitarian in respect to sex as to race and class . . . although it stirred echoes in later sermons and texts, equality, whether between man and man, or between man and woman, was never a medieval doctrine," (Gies 9). So despite the inclusive ideal that men and women were equal in social and humanistic status, the female in medieval society was, to a large extent, perceived as being merely a commodity to be bought and sold by the male. Women were married off to consolidate riches or political contracts between men, while the men were at liberty to use them virtually however they wished. In all public spheres women occupied a subordinate role to men-in the clergy, in legal proceedings, even in domestic duties. .

             To historians, this feature of medieval society makes the study of women particularly problematic; not only were women commonly restricted from participating in public and political affairs, but the nature of history to focus upon these features of the past automatically draws attention away from the lives of medieval females. This is not to mention the additional fact that almost all sources of pre-modern history are records written by men. Accordingly, there is a problem of sources as well as a problem of focus when it comes to women in history: "The writings of Church Fathers, theologians, and preachers have been repeatedly cited, with little consideration of the accuracy of their description of conditions, or of their audience and influence," (Gies 3).