Commissioned by the Clark Foundation for Legal Education, this book is derived from the inaugural Jean Clark Lectures, hosted by the University of Aberdeen in 2007. Across three lectures, the Rt Hon. The Lord Rodger of Earlsferry discusses and analyses the legal and constitutional issues arising from the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843 when the majority of leading ministers left the Church of Scotland to set up the Free Church. Lord Rodger takes a fresh look at the series of cases in the Court of Session and the House of Lords between 1837 and 1843 which led to the Disruption, showing how they gave rise to the most important constitutional crisis and challenge to the Courts' authority that had occurred since the 1707 Union."e;