The institution of private property, in the full, legal meaning of the term,
was brought into existence only by capitalism. In the pre-capitalist eras,
private property existed de facto, but not de jure, i.e., by custom and
sufferance, not by right or by law. In law and in principle, all property
belonged to the head of the tribe, the king, and was held only by his
permission, which could be revoked at any time, at his pleasure. (The king
could and did expropriate the estates of recalcitrant noblemen throughout the
course of Europe’s history.)