This is John Batchel. Speaking with Professor Jonathan Healy of Oxford University.

His new book, The Winter in Blood, the story of the rising of parliament against King Charles I,

the son of James I. King Charles will have his head cut off by the parliament that rises against

him, but there's a long buildup,

a lot of backstory. And here the professor introduces to the junto, the joint group between

the House of Lords, which has weight in the 17th century, and the House of Commons, Parliament

itself, the Junto, rising up as reformist. in the 17th century. And the House of Commons, Parliament itself.

The Junto, rising up as reformists,

that is to say, challenging the authority of the king.

Charles, the first opinion, was that Parliament got his power from him.

Parliament's opinion was increasingly, he gets his power from us. Here's Jonathan Healy to

introduce the Junto of 1642. I mean, the word Junto is used as a sort of insult, and it's often

the case in English history that our political parties start out as, you know, taking a kind of rude name and

sort of taking it for themselves. And basically it's a, it's like a kind of proto political party

whereby there are people who are broadly reformist.

They believe that Parliament should have greater power over the state and over the monarchy.

And they kind of gather, they act together, they meet and they plot, and they coordinate their efforts in both houses.

And the word junto comes from the word joint,

because it's a joint party between both houses of Parliament,

the Lords and the Commons.

And so it's quite a good shorthand for the sort of,

for the reformists, if you like.

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