One of the themes of this course is the nature of legal historiography. The course also examines the emergence of the rule of law. It charts the role played by law and legal institutions in the division of political power, and falls into three parts: 1. the struggles between the courts, the parliament and the monarchy in seventeenth century England, with special attention to the conflict between Sir Edward Coke and James I, the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution; 2. the political consolidations of eighteenth century England with special attention to Blackstone, as well as to the assessments of modern historians like E.P. Thompson and Douglas Hay; 3. the reception of legal ideas into the penal colony of New South Wales, and the role played by rule of law in the political formation of a new society.