In 965, Duke Richard I of Normandy installed the Benedictine monks of St Wandrille, who remained on the Mont until the French revolution. This Norman abbey enhanced the reputation of Avranches, known in the 11th c. as the " Athens of Normandy". In 1154, Robert of Torigni was elected prelate. Never had the scriptorium, where the monks copied and illuminated manuscripts, exerted such influence. The Mont was nicknamed the "city of books". More and more pilgrims came, using the network of "paths to the Mont" they themselves had created.
The Mont became French when à Normandy was annexed to France under Philip II (1204). During the fighting, part of the abbey was destroyed in a fire. To make up for this loss, the kings of France had "la Merveille" built.
Already too land-bound for a seaborne assault and too much an island to be taken on foot, the Mont was never invaded by the English during the Hundred Years War, nor by the Protestants during the Wars of Religion. Down the centuries it has remained loyal to the French crown.
