It is commonly assumed that the social structure of Medieval Western Europe differed from conditions in the traditional countries of the East because different forms of landed property dominated: in Europe, private ownership; in Asian empires, state property. The author argues that private property in Europe ripened gradually only towards the end of Middle Ages. In the East power-ownership prevailed, hindering the development of private property due to a different regard to law; here, neither private nor state land rights were enshrined in legislation.