from their husbands, although they could not inherit their property until they married. Women's rights had improved after the rise of the Soviet Union under the Bolsheviks.[Citation Required] Europe By 1500, Europe was divided into two types of secular law. One was customary law which was predominant in northern France, England and Scandinavia, and the other was Roman based written law which was predominant in southern France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Customary laws favoured men more than women. For example, inheritance among the elites in Italy, England, Scandinavia and France was passed on to the eldest male heir. In all of the regions, the laws also gave men substantial powers over lives, property and bodies of their wives. However, there were some improvements for women vis-à-vis ancient custom for example they could inherit in the absence of their brothers, do certain trades without their husbands and widows to receive dower. In areas governed by Roman-based written laws women were under male guardianship in matters involving property and law, fathers overseeing daughters, husbands overseeing wives and uncles or male relatives overseeing widows. Throughout Europe, women's legal status centred around her marital status while marriage itself was the biggest factor in restricting women's autonomy. Custom, statue and practice not only reduced women's rights and freedoms but prevented single or widowed women from holding public office on the justification that they might one day marry. Northern and Western European laws Scandinavia The early law of the northern parts of Europe is interesting from the different ways in which it treated women. The position of women varied greatly. In Pagan Scandinavia prior to the introduction of Christianity, women in Scandinavia had a relatively free and independent position. Christianity arrived with the first missionaries in circa 800 AC, but was not victorious until circa 1000, and did not affect women's position much until circa 1200. During the Viking Age, women had a relatively free status in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, illustrated in the Icelandic Grágás and the Norwegian Frostating laws and Gulating laws. The paternal aunt, paternal niece and paternal granddaughter, referred to as odalkvinna, all had the right to inherit property from a deceased man. In the absence of male relatives, an unmarried woman with no son could, further more, inherit not only property, but also the position as head of the family from a deceased father or brother: a