In Friuli there has been a Slav minority since the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps,  and the furlana may well have originated as a Slavonic dance. It dates at least to 1583, when a "ballo furlano" called L'arboscello was published in Pierre Phalèse the Younger’s Chorearum molliorum collectanea and in Jakob Paix’s organ tablature book, though its chief popularity extended from the late 1690s to about 1750.
The furlana has a long history in Friuli, dating back to at least 1583, when it was first documented as a "ballo furlano" called L'arboscello. It gained widespread popularity from the late 1690s until around 1750.