Bourrée (Michael Praetorius)

This german composer has collected more than 300 popular dance music tunes, most from french or english repertoire, written in a book called "Terpsichore". This "bourrée" is part of this collection.

Born Michael Schultze, son of a lutherian minister, Praetorius is a prolific composer of classical and religious music, writing liturgical hymns still known in protestantism.

Regarding protestantism, La Roche-Bernard has become, during the 16th century, one of the most involved and pioneer towns in this religion, in Brittany, like Nantes, Blain, Vitré or Rennes.

François de Coligny, known as d'Andelot, married Claude de Rieux, heir to the barony, in 1547 and thus became baron of La Roche-Bernard. In 1557, he struggled in Saint-Quentin (Aisne), along with his brother Gaspard de Coligny, in order to defend the town against the assaults of Philippe II's spanish army coming from Nederlands.

The town has not been spared but its resistance has prevented the spanish army from moving forward to Paris. That gave opportunity to Henri II, king of France, to reorganize his troops.

portrait of François d'Andelot, in Saint-Quentin, in septembre 2017, during a commemoration of the battle of 1557.

From 1558, several significant events dealing with the advent of protestantism in Brittany took place in La Roche-Bernard : a predication by a minister invited by d'Andelot in his La Bretesche castle in Missillac ; a Communion celebrated for the first time at Lourmois, in Nivillac ; the minister Jean Louveau setted up in Notre-Dame chapel in 1561, which became in this way the first breton protestant temple.

This period is reminded by a stab fixed on Notre-Dame chapel.

This intense phase did not last a long time and the Edict of Nantes, with its terms and conditions, did not work in favor of the town.