Historic figures

Named as King of the restored kingdom of Burgundy on 15th October 879, Boson was crowned by Aurélien, the city’s archbishop, in Lyons a few days later. He made Vienne his capital and provided himself with a chancellery. King Boson was considered a benefactor who gave the abbey’s monks land. This “protector of Charlieu” was still famous in the 18th century due to masses said for the repose of his soul.

Gabriel de Roquette, commendatory

Bertrand de Senaux, commendatory

Dom Joseph de Kessel, Cluniac

Dom Philibert de Uchard, Cluniac

Dom Pierre-Jacques Barruel, Cluniac

Dom Philippe Samoël, Cluniac

Her first contact with France came in 1924, when she spent the year at the Collège de la Guilde in Paris. In 1927, she enrolled at Michigan University and became a Bachelor of Arts in 1931. She then joined Radcliffe College at Harvard University and began a thesis under the supervision of Arthur Kingsley Porter. When this latter died suddenly, Kenneth John Conant, an archaeologist who had devoted himself to the study of Cluny Abbey Church, became her new thesis supervisor. Her thesis was on the history and architecture of Saint Fortunat church in Charlieu. Every time she came it was an event in the life of the town. In 1951, she was appointed professor of history of art and archaeology at Duke University in North Carolina, although she never forgot Charlieu and she regularly came back to work on the site with students up until 1984.