Un collaborateur qui a 'beaucoup de qualités', mais…' Lorsque Charles Michel introduit Franz Cumont auprès d'Alfred Loisy

This contribution documents and studies the networks that existed between Belgian and French scholars in the field of religious studies (ancient Greek and Roman, biblical studies, early Christianity) by publishing and commenting upon a number of letters between Charles Michel (Gent and Liège) and Alfred Loisy (Collège de France, editor of the independent Revue d'histoire et de littérature religieuses) about Franz Cumont (Gent) who was introduced as a possible contributor to the journal. It also documents the problems faced by independent scholars in the field of religious studies in the time of Catholic anti-modernism