Mont Saint Michel
Mont Saint-Michel
(Saint Michael Mount) is a small rocky tidal island
in Normandy,
roughly one kilometre from the north coast of France at the
mouth of the Couesnon River
near Avranches, close to the border of Brittany,
which has led to Breton claims to the mount. Originally the Couesnon
formed the border between the two duchies, and every so often the river
would shift its bank, leading to ownership of the mount shifting between
them. The river's bed has now been fixed and Mont Saint Michel is now
firmly in Norman
hands. It is home to the unusual Benedictine Abbey and steepled church (built between the 11th and 16th centuries) which occupy
most of the one-kilometer-diameter clump of rocks jutting out of the
waters of the English Channel. The church is crowned by a gold
leaf statue of St Michael by Emmanuel Frémiet, reaching a height of History
The Mont-St-Michel
was used in the 6th and 7th centuries as an Armorican
stronghold of Romano-British culture and power, until it was sacked
by the Franks, thus ending
the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the
Romans in 459
AD. Before the construction
of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century,
the island was called ìMont Tombeî. According to legend, the archangel
Michael appeared to St Aubert,
bishop of Avranches,
in 708 and instructed
him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored
the angel's instruction, until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's
skull with his finger. The dedication to St Michael occurred on October 16,
708. The mount gained
strategic significance in 933 when the Normans annexed the Cotentin peninsula, thereby placing the mount
on the new frontier with Brittany. It is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry,
which commemorates the 1066 Norman conquest
of England. Ducal and royal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent
centuries. During the Hundred Years' War the English made repeated assaults
on the island but were unable to seize it partly due to the abbey's
improved fortifications. The ìMichelettesî, two wrought-iron bombards, left by the English in their failed
1423-24 siege of Mont-St-Michel, are still displayed near the outer
defense wall. The wealth and
influence of the abbey extended to many daughter
foundations, including St Michael's Mount in Cornwall,
England.
However, 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
régime. High-profile political prisoners followed, but by 1836 influential figures,
including Victor Hugo,
had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural
treasure. The prison was finally closed in 1863, and the mount was declared
a historic monument in 1874. The Mont Saint Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites in 1979, as they rank
high on such World Heritage Site criteria as cultural, historical, and
architectural significance, as well as human-created and natural beauty. Architecture
An Italian architect,
William de Volpiano, was chosen as building contractor for the mount in the 11th century.
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 Gothic-style church. 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 faÁade
of the church in the 12th century. Following his annexation of Normandy
in 1204,
the King of France,
Philip Augustus, offered Abbot Jourdain a grant for the construction of a new gothic style architectural set which included
the addition of the refectory and cloister. Charles VI is credited with adding major
fortifications to the abbey-mount, building towers, successive courtyards
and strengthening the ramparts. LINK : http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/accueil_gb.htm |