The article describes the wives and daughters of the first three generations of the feudal lords of Ptuj. In importance, these women were at the level of high ministerial men. However, it is evident at the same time that distinctions were being made on the basis of gender. All four women who are known to have married into the family of the Ptuj feudal lords were from respectable noble families: two of them, sister Gotfrida from Wieting and Rihca Rogaška, belonged to high ministerial families; one of them, Matilda Trušenjska, was free by birth in her mother's right, and one of them, Matilda Harneško-Kunšperška, was also free by birth. The daughters of the family likewise married into respectable noble families in this period. With the exception of Benedikta, the wife of Oton from Krems and Leonrod, who at least initially belonged to the free nobility, they married ministerials of the same rank (the Eichams, Eppensteins and Lipniks). We can conclude, therefore, that the marriages of male members of the family were more important in adding to the reputation of the feudal lords of Ptuj. Further corroboration is the fact that in this period hardly any estates were lost as a result of daughters marrying into other families, while the women who married into the family of the Ptuj feudal lords brought considerable property with them. Despite the undoubtedly prevalent inequality between the sexes, individual stories, particularly those of both Matildas, indicate that women in the later middle ages could also play important roles.