In the Middle Ages, the battle to subdue women was waged on many fronts. Young women were dreaded for their seductiveness, older women for their influence and authority. The ecclesiastical and civil authorities introduced such measures as legal marriage. Literature and the visual arts all contributed to the desired constraint. Ancient examples of both saintly and heathen women were resuscitated and assigned an exemplary function. On the other hand, evil sorceresses assumed a new form as witches in league with the devil. Between these two extremes of she-devil and saint, ordinary women were held up as lecherous unreliable and domineering beings.