Final answer:
The answer is option D. The Napoleonic Code expanded basic civil liberties and unified the legal system under Napoleon, yet distinctly reinforced a traditional, patriarchal structure that gave men more freedom while imposing significant restrictions on the legal rights of women.
Step-by-step explanation:
The best statement to summarize the set of laws from the Napoleonic Code is that they gave men greater freedom while restricting the rights of women (Option D). Although the Napoleonic Code established a uniform set of laws that included basic rights such as religious freedom and the abolition of feudal privileges, it largely confined women to a subordinate legal status. Women were treated as dependents of their fathers or husbands, having the same legal status as children according to Napoleon's law code. This code made profound changes to the legal system of France, yet it reinforced the patriarchal nature of society and extended only limited rights to women, such as the right to own property, only to be overshadowed by their legal subjugation to male authority within the household.
Meanwhile, documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the aspirations of the French Revolution, which were to establish liberty, equality, and fraternity, did not extend equal rights to women. Their role in the revolution did not translate into an attainment of the same rights and liberties as men. It took until the twentieth century for French women to gain broader legal rights and eventual suffrage.