Bachelor's degree
Until the 19th century, a bachelor's degree represented the first degree in a particular faculty, with Arts representing undergraduate study, thus the Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) at Oxford and the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at Cambridge, for example, were postgraduate degrees. Vestiges of this system still remain in the ancient universities, with Oxford and Cambridge awarding BAs for undergraduate degrees in both arts and sciences (although both award undergraduate BTh degrees through associated theological colleges, and Oxford awards BFA degrees in addition to the BA) and defining other bachelor's degrees (e.g. BPhil, BCL) as postgraduate awards equivalent to master's degrees, although many postgraduate bachelor's degrees have now been replaced by equivalent master's degrees (e.g. LLM for the LLB at Cambridge and MSc for the BSc at Oxford). The same historical usage of indicating an undergraduate degree by it being in the faculty of arts rather than being a bachelor's degree gives rise to the Oxbridge MA and the Scottish MA).
Bachelor's degree
In the Netherlands, the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees were introduced in 2002. Until that time, a single program that led to the doctorandus degree was in effect, which comprised the same course load as the bachelor's and Master's programs put together. (The doctorandus title was in use for almost all fields of study; other titles were used for legal studies (meester) and engineering (ingenieur).) Those who had already started the doctorandus program could, upon completing it, opt for the doctorandus degree (before their name, abbreviated to 'drs.'), or simply use the master's degree (behind their name) in accordance with the new standard. Since these graduates do not have a separate bachelor's degree (which is in fact—in retrospect—incorporated into the program), the master's degree is their first academic degree.