The position of women in the past and present was and is determined by the natural and social environments. Each social community conforms to the rules set by law and religion. In the middle ages and soon after it, the Slovenian territory was a meeting point of Romance, Germanic and Slavic influences that were at different stages of development. A woman's position was determined by the social sphere to which she belonged. The smallest community in which women lived was the family. A different social environment meant a different position in the family. It depended on the social stratum to which she belonged, as well as on her marital status. Her marital status did not guarantee her any special esteem; it reduced her to a wife, a mother and a housewife. As far as single women went, it was the nuns who enjoyed particularly a good reputation. Widows did enjoy freedom when doing business, but were expected not to remarry. In the period which we will be looking at in more detail, the period before the end of the 16th century, women from all classes most often emerge as wives and mothers, housewives and governesses.