Éléonore Quirouard-Frileuse wins the Fondation Etrillard Thesis Prize

Éléonore Quirouard-Frileuse, a student at the École nationale des chartes - PSL, has been awarded the Fondation Etrillard Prize for her thesis on the treasure of Rouen Cathedral at the end of the Middle Ages. The prize was presented to her by Gilles Etrillard, President of the Foundation, during a ceremony held at the school library on 25 June 2025.

In 2025, the École nationale des chartes - PSL and the Fondation Etrillard created the ‘Fondation Etrillard Prize’ to reward the research work of a fourth-year student on the paleography and archiving course on a theme dear to the Foundation, with a prize of €8,000.

Following a call for applications from students and a pre-selection of around ten candidates, a jury from the school selected three theses that stood out for their academic and scientific merit. The Foundation's Board then chose to award the Fondation Etrillard Prize to Éléonore Quirouard-Frileuse, a paleographer (class of 2025), for her thesis entitled Ad honorem Dei et Ecclesie. The treasure of Rouen Cathedral (1204-1510).

Biography of the winner

A former student in the preparatory classes at the Lycée Henri-IV, Éléonore Quirouard-Frileuse joined the École nationale des chartes - PSL in 2021. During her studies, she completed internships at the Cluny Museum and the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, and is pursuing a career as a museum curator. Interested in cultural mediation, she has been a volunteer guide in Conques (Aveyron) for the CASA association, which seeks to promote religious buildings.

Her thesis was supervised by Philippe Plagnieux and Frédéric Tixier. It also received the Lasalle-Serbat Prize, which rewards the best thesis in art history in the class, at the 2025 graduation ceremony.

Interview with the winner

"When it came time to choose my thesis topic, it was obvious that I would focus on art history. Philippe Plagnieux's classes introduced me to medieval goldsmithing, and Frédéric Tixier suggested that I focus on a treasure from the cathedral. Because of my ties to Normandy, I chose Rouen.

The research has been an exciting and particularly formative experience, and I would like to continue my work with a PhD. But above all, I want to become a museum curator so that I can preserve our heritage and share my knowledge with as many people as possible." Éléonore Quirouard-Frileuse