From the 8th century onward Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called
Mont Tombe (). According to a legend, the archangel
Michael appeared in 708 to
Aubert of Avranches, the
bishop of Avranches, and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Unable to defend his kingdom against the assaults of the
Vikings, the king of the Franks agreed to grant the
Cotentin Peninsula and the
Avranchin, including Mont-Saint-Michel traditionally linked to the city of
Avranches, to the
Bretons in the
Treaty of Compiègne. This marked the beginning of a brief period of Breton possession of the Mont. In fact, these lands and Mont-Saint-Michel were never really included in the duchy of Brittany. Around 989–990 these traditional bishoprics, dependent of the
archbishopric of Rouen and that had been left vacant during the time of the Viking raids, regained their bishops. The mount gained strategic significance again in 933 when
William I Longsword annexed the Cotentin Peninsula from the weakened
Duchy of Brittany. This made the mount definitively part of
Normandy, and is depicted in the
Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the
Norman Conquest.
Harold Godwinson is pictured on the tapestry rescuing two Norman knights from the
quicksand in the tidal flats during the
Breton–Norman war. Norman ducal patronage financed the spectacular
Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries. scenes 16 and 17:
William and
Harold at Mont-Saint-Michel (at top centre),
Harold rescuing knights from quicksand. In 1067, the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel gave its support to
William the Conqueror in his claim to the English throne. This he rewarded with properties and grounds on the English side of the Channel, including a small island off the southwestern coast of
Cornwall which was modelled after Mont-Saint-Michel and became a
Norman priory named
St Michael's Mount of
Penzance. abandoned by
English forces and currently on display. Under the rule of the 29th abbot, Pierre le Roy, from 1386 to 1410, new fortifications were built: at the northeast corner of the Merveille, an octagonal crowning element was added to the Corbins tower; at its base, a long curtain wall-terrace overlooking the woods. In 1393, two turrets were added to flank the 1257 gate. Large steps were built in front of the barbican, and the abbot had a fortified residence built, as well as the square-based Pénine tower, designed to guard the Grand Degré. During the
Hundred Years' War,
English forces unsuccessfully besieged Mont-Saint-Michel (which was under
French control) twice. The first siege started in 1423, and was lifted the next year. In 1433, an English force equipped with wrought-iron
bombards and under the command of
Thomas Scales, 7th Baron Scales again besieged the island. It was likewise lifted the next year. Scales's men abandoned two bombards they had used during the siege on 17 June 1434; they were recovered by the French and are currently on display. When
Louis XI of France founded the
Order of Saint Michael in 1469, he intended that the abbey church of Mont-Saint-Michel become the chapel for the order, but because of its great distance from Paris, his intention could never be realized. The wealth and influence of the abbey extended to many daughter foundations, including St Michael's Mount in
Cornwall. Its popularity and prestige as a centre of
pilgrimage waned with the
Reformation, and by the time of the
French Revolution there were scarcely any monks in residence. The abbey was closed and converted into a prison, initially to hold clerical opponents of the republican regime. High-profile political prisoners followed. By 1836, influential figures—including
Victor Hugo—had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure. The prison was closed in 1863. In 1872, French architect of historic monuments
Édouard Corroyer was responsible for assessing the condition of Mont-Saint-Michel. It took him about two years to convince his minister to classify it as a historic monument, and it was officially declared as such in 1874. From then on Corroyer, a member of the
Academy of Fine Arts, devoted fifteen years of his life to the restoration of "". Under his direction, gigantic works were undertaken, starting with the most urgent. He wrote four works on the building. During the occupation of France in
World War II, German soldiers occupied Mont-Saint-Michel, where they used St. Aubert church as a lookout post. The island was a major attraction for German tourists and soldiers, with around 325,000 German tourists from July 18, 1940, to the end of the occupation of France. After the
Allies' initial
D-Day invasion of Normandy that began on June 6, 1944, many exhausted German soldiers retreated to strongholds like Mont-Saint-Michel. On August 1, 1944, a single American soldier – Private Freeman Brougher of Pennsylvania and the 72nd Publicity Service Battalion – reached and liberated Mont-Saint-Michel accompanied by two British reporters,
Gault MacGowan of the
New York Sun and Paul Holt with the
London Daily Express. Jubilant crowds of locals greeted Brougher, Holt and MacGowan, and Brougher signed the Golden Book, the island's record of visiting nobility, at the mayor's invitation. The abbey was also used as a prison for the first time since the French Revolution when male collaborators with the Germans were jailed there. Mont-Saint-Michel and
its bay were added to the UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites in 1979, listed with criteria such as cultural, historical, and architectural significance, as well as human-created and natural beauty.
Abbey design In the 11th century,
William of Volpiano, the Italian architect who had built
Fécamp Abbey in Normandy, was chosen by
Richard II, Duke of Normandy, to be the building contractor. He designed the
Romanesque church of the abbey, daringly placing the
transept crossing at the top of the mount. Many underground
crypts and chapels had to be built to compensate for this weight. These formed the basis for the supportive upward structure that can be seen today. Today Mont-Saint-Michel is seen as a building of Romanesque architecture. Robert de Thorigny, a great supporter of
Henry II of England, who was also
Duke of Normandy, reinforced the structure of the buildings and built the main façade of the church in the 12th century. In 1204,
Guy of Thouars, regent for the
Duchess of Brittany, as
vassal of the King of France, undertook a siege of the Mount. After setting fire to the village and massacring the population, he beat a retreat under the powerful walls of the abbey. The fire which he lit extended to the buildings, and the roofs fell prey to the flames. Horrified by the cruelty of his Breton ally,
Philip Augustus offered Abbot Jordan a grant for the reconstruction of the abbey in the new
Gothic architectural style.
Charles VI is credited with adding major fortifications to the abbey-mount, building towers, successive courtyards, and strengthening the ramparts.
Development File:200506 - Mont Saint-Michel 50 - Maquette.JPG|10th century File:200506 - Mont Saint-Michel 51 - Maquette.JPG|11th to 12th century File:200506 - Mont Saint-Michel 52 - Maquette.JPG|17th to 18th century File:200506 - Mont Saint-Michel 53 - Maquette.JPG|19th to 21st century ==Administration==