Reflets du Bransles des Cieux or Simulacre de l’Harmonie terrestre? Music and dance in Navarre in the time of Henri IV

Both revered and abhorred, music and dancing were inherent to the princes of the blood’s daily lives, from their upbringing to their exercise of power. They played a key part at the Court of Navarre, cradle of the Bourbon dynasty. While broadening the scope of this issue to the kingdom of France, we’ll seek to question the impact of this Bearnese legacy under the reign of Henri IV, and to analyse how these arts reflect the political and religious thinking of his time.