In 1566, the Queen of Navarre, Jeanne d’Albret, an influential figure within the Huguenot nobility, welcomed Jean Morély to her court. Morély had been accused of heresy by the Geneva consistory. Critical of the discipline imposed by Calvin on the churches, he advocated a more democratic form of organization that granted a central role to the active participation of the faithful. By offering him a platform from which to disseminate his ideas, Jeanne d’Albret risked creating a dangerous rift within the French-speaking Reformation. Why did this sovereign—long loyal to Geneva—place her trust in a man whose views were so unorthodox?
Nicolas Thiry (b. 1999) completed a Master of Arts at the University of Geneva. He specializes in the study of the early phase of the Wars of Religion, with particular attention to the Béarn and Navarrese context of the sixteenth century. A secondary-school teacher, he also works as a guide and cultural mediator at Espace Saint-Pierre (archaeological site, cathedral, and towers) and for the museums of the city of Nyon.