The role and position of noblewomen in later medieval Europe is a subject about which comparatively little has been written. The noblewomen, particularly those of the higher nobility, usually found themselves in a situation where it was taken for granted they would marry and strengthen the position of the family by forming a union with a man of similar (or better) standing. Then, as now, the importance of the continuation of the family line was a constant concern. For gentlemen who were "upwardly mobile" the marriage to a noblewoman of high standing could be the means of getting estates and allies.

It was not unusual to find noblewomen holding and inheriting land and estates. She could have inherited them from her father, brother or a deceased husband, and in many regions this was fully accepted. The male line in a noble family could become extinct for a number of reasons: the sons could die on the battlefield, they could die of one of many diseases, some would go into the Church and be celibate, etc. So in many cases the continuation of the entire family depended on the succession through the female line, which (certainly in the case of absence of male heirs) was usually accepted.

There was the problem with the dowries, and to avoid the breaking up of the estates there was during the later 13th century and onwards a growing emphasis on male primogeniture, that is, the firstborn son inherited the estates

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