Ancient history Cerisy was first settled as an
oppidum, the ruins of which remain outside the town. The Romans built a
fort to guard the
Roman road that ran through the valley.
Middle Ages The earliest mention of Cerisy-la-Forêt dates back to the 6th century when
Gaul began to
Christianize.
Vigor, one of the first
evangelists in the region, received from
Volusian, the local lord, twenty-five villages as thanks for having rid the region of a "horrible serpent that put to death men and animals". Around 510 AD he built a
monastery dedicated to
St. Peter and
St. Paul on the site of what had been a
Druid holy site. Vigor's monastery was destroyed when
Vikings invaded
Neustria in the 9th century. They plundered
Bayeux in 891 and
King Charles III the Simple gave
Rollo the countries of the lower Seine in the
Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, and then
Bessin in 924. Cerisy became an important market town under the
Normans who build
Cerisy Abbey. The abbey went on to consist of forty-eight
parishes and eight
priories, including two in England (
Sherborne and
Peterborough). Dependent on the
Holy See, Cerisy maintained close relations with monasteries in
Mont-Saint-Michel,
Saint-Ouen,
Jumièges,
Le Bec-Hellouin,
Fécamp and of course
Caen. In 1337, the dynastic rivalries between the
Valois and the
king of England precipitated the
Hundred Years' War, plunging the country into misery aggravated by
epidemics of
plague. The Abbey of Saint-Vigor de Cerisy was fortified and a garrison settled there. In 1418 Richard de Silly, knight and captain of the abbey, was obliged to cede the abbey to the King of England. However, after the victory of the
constable de Richemont over the English at the
Battle of Formigny in 1450, Normandy returned definitively to the
kingdom of France.
Modern history '' in June 1944. The death certificates of several soldiers recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as records of their marriages and the baptisms of their children, leave evidence that
maréchaussée garrison was based in the village and a prison established on the abbey farm. These
maréchaux were housed in the abbey enclosure with the judges who dispensed justice. The hall of justice and its adjoining cell have withstood the test of time, suffering invasion and fire. All that remains of the maréchaussée prison is the lintel over the entrance which reads, "''Tremblez, tremblez diables d'enfer, aussitôt qu'en prison on vous traînera, vos bras seront liés de lourdes chaines de fer et vous les porterez tels et vous apprendrez à chicaner" (''"Tremble, tremble you devils of hell. As soon as we drag you to prison, your arms will be bound with heavy iron chains and you will wear them as such and you will learn to quibble"). The
confessional is adjacent to the courtroom and the abbey cell. The numerous graffiti appear on the walls in two bands. The lower indicating that in the 16th century the prisoners actually did wear "heavy iron chains" which allowed them to only carve simple shapes at a low height. In the 17th century, prisoners were unchained and had more freedom to move about the cell. The straw that had always been thrown in the cell to cover the floor was never removed. It built up layers that covered and protected the lower graffiti of the restricted, earlier prisoners. The higher graffiti is more elaborate and expressive.
Modern era During the
Second World War, Cerisy-la-Forêt sheltered
refugees from
Cherbourg. On 2 July 1944
General Eisenhower and
Omar Bradley came to encourage the
2nd Infantry Division at the .
The Battle of Moulin des Rondelles On 12 June 1944 the 2nd Infantry Division was ordered to cross the Elle river. When they reached the east bank, they encountered German resistance, which foreshadowed the end of the rapid advance begun on 7 June 1944. It was a small easily crossed river, but its crossing was difficult. A first attempt was stopped by machine-gun and mortar fire from the west bank. On 13 June 1944 the men of Company C of the
38th Infantry Regiment were ordered to cross the river at this point. The first attempt in the morning failed and it was only in the afternoon after the second offensive that they succeeded in reaching the other bank. Ten men of Company C were killed and 23 others wounded in the fighting. The total losses of the 2nd Infantry Division during the two days of combat amounted to 540 killed, wounded or missing in action. During the second attack of Company C on 13 June 1944, the men were stopped by machine gun fire. German mortars began to adjust their fire on the American position. Advancing under mortars of their own, the men of C Company were successful in clearing out the area.
Gallery file:Cerisy-la-foret rue halles 1920.png |Cerisy-la-Forêt, rue halles (1920) File:Chateau de l'abbaye 2.jpg|Chateau de l'Abbaye file:Cerisy-la-foret ecoles 1900.png |Cerisy-la-Forêt schools 1900 File:Libération de cerisy nouveau.jpg|Liberation of Cerisy Nouveau File:Eugène godin.jpg|Eugène Godin. ==Population==