In the Roman Empire, the status of women was stronger than anywhere in Europe before the 20th century. What happened to women when the Empire fell, Christianity became the state religion, and Classical Antiquity faded into the Middle Ages? That was the question Antti Arjava tackled in his doctoral dissertation at the University of Helsinki in 1994. The book was published by Oxford University Press, it has been used as textbook in Anglo-Saxon universities, and it is one of the most cited studies worldwide on the status of women by a Finnish author.

Antti Arjava proposed that Christianity had little effect on the notion of women's place in family and society: the church adapted to surrounding society. The most significant change was the opportunity to avoid marriage offered by monastic institutions. In general the history of Antiquity supports the notion that women benefit from a strong state and stable society. Although the family was important, the main focus was on the state and individuals. Women did not need a family or husband to protect them; they were seen as independent citizens with full property rights. In the Early Middle Ages, organised government vanished from Europe. Disputes were resolved by trials by ordeal and judicial duels and were perpetuated by blood feuds. Since both the state and the individual were weaker, the family gained in importance. When physical strength was at a premium, women lost ground.

However the juncture of Antiquity and the Middle Ages shows that a stable administration doesn't necessarily imply political power for women. Women had no place in the machinery of the Roman state. After the fall of the Empire, an ever increasing proportion of societal decisions were made at the local level, relying on the property of the family. Queens and noblewomen ruled over vast domains in medieval Europe, with or without their husbands. Thus, the political power of women of the Western European elite was at its zenith in the Middle Ages, whereas Antiquity and the Modern Age have been characterised by an administrative system closed to women.