The Benedictine abbey at Bonneval was founded in 857 by a knight called Foulques under the auspices of Charles of Provence, great-grandson of Charlemagne.

Originally dedicated to the Roman martyrs Saints Marcellinus and Peter, the abbey took the name of Florentinus after the transfer here of relics of the more local Saints Florentinus and Hilarius, martyred in Burgundy, in thanks for services rendered by the monks of Bonneval to abbot Aurelian of Ainay Abbey.

During the monks' return trip from Roanne to Orléans so many miracles occurred and the saints became so popular that the abbey was known from then on by their names, and later by that of Florentinus only.

[1] The abbots' lodging was restored at the end of the 19th century to its original Early Renaissance style under the leadership of the director, Dr Vincent Bigot.

Two large pictures formerly in the monastery refectory are now in the parish church of Notre-Dame in Bonneval, depicting the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, and Jesus healing Simon the Leper, a copy of an original by Nicolas Poussin.