Women in the Crusades more male-dominated. However, mentions of female crusaders are more commonly found in Muslim accounts of the Crusades, but the truth of these stories are hard to prove as fact as the aggressiveness or unnaturalness of Christian women was often seen as a way for Muslims to demonstrate how ruthless and depraved their foes could be. During the later crusades, many women whose stories remain were from the Middle East region, including one of a Muslim woman who fought the crusaders. The story of women in the Crusades begins with Anna Comnena, the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. She
Women in Sweden may indicate that at least some women in military authority existed. A married woman could divorce and remarry. It was also socially acceptable for a free woman to cohabit with a man and have children with him without marrying him, even if that man was married: a woman in such a position was called "frilla". There was no distinction made between children born inside or outside of marriage: both had the right to inherit property after their parents, and there was no "legitimate" or "illegitimate" children. These rights gradually disappeared from the local county laws after Christianization in the 11th