History of Mont Saint Michel

The cult of Saint Michael

"Prince of the heavenly host", the archangel Saint Michael, whose name means "Who is like God", is the first of the archangels.

He is the one who, in the Apocalypse of Saint John, throws Satan and his rebellious angels into the abyss.

Protector of the Hebrew people in the Old Testament, he became the defender of the Church and of France. But in the eyes of people worried about their salvation in the afterlife, the Archangel is an ideal protector because he is the provost of Paradise and the one who weighs souls on Judgement Day.

The abundant iconography of Saint Michael illustrates this dual function. Weigher of souls, he is depicted at the gates of Heaven, scales in hand separating the elect from the damned.

A warrior, he defeats the Demon in the form of a dragon halfway through his journey.
between man and beast. Until the 14th century, the Archangel, with his distant gaze, is depicted in an alb, armed with a spear and a shield.

In the 15th century, Saint Michael, whose famous shrine withstood the assaults of the English during the Hundred Years' War, donned the military garb of a knight. With his right hand, he brandished a sword, and with his left, he held the shield that protected him from the attacks of the Beast, struggling under his feet. The Archangel is often depicted as a beardless young man, an image of perfection and youth.

During the Renaissance and Classical periods (17th-18th centuries), he was depicted "à l'Antique", dressed in Roman military costume.

Originating in the East, the cult of Saint Michael spread to Byzantium and then to Italy, where Pope Gregory the Great dedicated the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome to him following a vision.

But the most important Italian sanctuary, Monte Gargano, is in the south of the peninsula (Puglia). This place of worship, consecrated on 8 May 492, inspired a large number of sanctuaries, including Mont-Saint-Michel itself.

Like Michael's Mount in Cornwall, the Sacra di San Michele in Piedmont or the chapel of Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe in Le Puy-en-Velay, the places dedicated to the Archangel are found on elevated sites, halfway between heaven and earth.

But it was with the Norman sanctuary, built on the edge of the West, that the cult of Saint Michael underwent its most extraordinary development.

Mont-Saint-Michel, a sanctuary

Legend has it that the archangel Saint Michael appeared three times in a dream to the bishop of Avranches, Aubert, asking him to build a church in his honour on the summit of Mont Tombe.

Built on the model of the Italian sanctuary on Monte Gargano (5th century), this first church was consecrated by the bishop on 16 October 709 and served by twelve priests; it soon attracted large numbers of pilgrims.

In 966, Richard I, Duke of Normandy, replaced these priests with Benedictine monks from Saint-Wandrille Abbey near Rouen.
Visited by kings and crowds from all over Europe, the abbey enjoyed great renown in the Middle Ages.

The huge construction projects undertaken between the 11th and 15th centuries bear witness to its prosperity. It was also ravaged on several occasions by the fire of heaven and the fury of men.

Besieged in vain by the English for almost thirty years, Mont-Saint-Michel, defended by one hundred and nineteen knights, was regarded as the heroic symbol of national resistance during the Hundred Years' War.

But from the middle of the 16th century, the Mont lost its military and religious importance. Despite its reform in 1622 by the Congregation of Saint-Maur, the abbey now housed only a handful of monks and a few prisoners locked up in the "bastille des mers" under a letter of cachet.

In 1790, the Revolution drove out the monks and turned the "Mont libre" into a prison for refractory priests. A state prison until 1863, the ransacked abbey housed several hundred prisoners in appalling conditions.

Listed as a historic monument in 1874, the abbey was finally restored. Pupils of Viollet-Le-Duc, the architects Corroyer, Petitgrand and Gout succeeded one another at the head of this vast project, completing the silhouette of the Mont in 1897 with a fine neo-Gothic spire topped by the statue of the Archangel by the sculptor Frémiet.

Connected to the coast by a breakwater in 1878, the village underwent a spectacular revival with the development of tourism, and a spiritual revival with the monastic millennium celebrations in 1966 and the installation of a small religious community in the abbey in 1969.

Pilgrims and pilgrimages

Going on pilgrimage to Mont-Saint-Michel...
The pilgrimage was made by most of the kings of France until the end of the 16th century, including Saint Louis, Philippe-le-Bel, Louis XI and François I, as well as by the most important figures in the kingdom. But it was mainly made by people of modest means and children.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, there were many groups of children from France, Flanders, Germany and Switzerland. Aged between 7 and 18, they set off, with or without their parents' permission, driven by an irrepressible urge to cross the whole of Europe to venerate the Archangel in his famous sanctuary.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Mont-Saint-Michel was less popular. Although there were fewer pilgrims, they still came together in confraternities of Saint-Michel pilgrims and travelled to the Mont in small groups. The French Revolution marked the end of pilgrimages to the abbey, which was transformed into a prison (from 1793 to 1863).

The end of the 19th century saw the restoration of the abbey, which has been classified as a historic monument, and the return of worship and pilgrimages to Saint Michael. Now a major tourist attraction, the home of the Archangel attracts millions of visitors every year.

Who are the pilgrims?
The "Walkers of Faith" have traced a network of paths converging on Mont-Saint-Michel and linking the great shrines of Christianity.

Carrying a drone, wearing a broad cape and a hat to protect them from the elements, pilgrims could be identified by the shell, the common emblem of the shrine in Galicia.
Alone or in groups, pilgrims received hospitality in the religious establishments that lined the routes (hotels-Dieu, abbeys, priories, etc.) or stayed in inns if they could afford them.

After crossing the perilous shores, they walked up the street lined with inns and shops to the gates of the abbey. When they had finished their devotions, they set off again, having bought rosaries, ribbons and signs in the village shops, souvenirs of their completed pilgrimage.

A few words about the brotherhoods of Saint Michael
First appearing in the Middle Ages and very numerous in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Confréries Saint-Michel were pious associations of a parochial or professional nature placed under the protection of the Archangel.

According to the statutes of some of them, a ceremony and a subsidy were provided for the confreres before their departure and on their return from the Mont.

Pilgrimages and Saint Michael in Europe

Around the year 1000, according to the Burgundian chronicler Raoul Glaber, Mont-Saint-Michel was "the object of veneration the world over". Archival documents that have come down to us confirm that pilgrims did indeed come from all the provinces of France and several European countries.

Originally from Scotland and Ireland, they crossed England and then the English Channel by boat. Many also came from the south, from Spain and Italy.

Many other testimonials concern German-speaking countries (Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc.). We also know of a few from Eastern Europe (Poland, etc.).

The first known pilgrim was a Frankish monk named Bernard, who returned from a trip to Monte Gargano, Jerusalem and Rome, in the company of an Italian monk and a Spaniard, and went to the Mont on his own in 867-868.

This high level of use of the Mont from the High Middle Ages (9th-11th centuries) coincides with the establishment of the network of Montagne paths, the first known mention of which dates back to 1025.

Numerous altars and churches were dedicated to him in Italy, France, Germany, England, Spain... throughout Europe, as far afield as Ireland and Russia. The presence of these places of worship is generally attested to on exceptional elevated sites, capable of capturing the human imagination. The "aerial cult" of the Archangel has often been mentioned.

In Italy...
The cult of Saint Michael is very important in Italy, with two of its greatest pilgrimage shrines: Monte Gargano, where the Archangel appeared at the end of the 5th century and asked for a church to be built for him, and the Sacra di San Michele, in Piedmont, halfway between Mont-Saint-Michel and Monte Gargano.

Devotion to Saint Michael was very important in southern Italy (Puglia, Campania), due to the presence of Monte Gargano, but was also very present in northern Italy. As early as the 8th century, he was the national patron saint of the Lombards.

This devotion was taken up by Charlemagne when he was crowned king of the Lombards at Pavia and protector of the Pope. It then spread throughout the Carolingian Empire.

In German-speaking countries...
The Archangel has also been regarded as the protector of the German people since Carolingian times. His cult is said to have been spread by Saint Boniface in the 8th century when he converted the Saxons to Catholicism, and his cult became part of the Carolingian tradition.

In the British Isles...
In the Anglo-Saxon world, Saint Michael was known and venerated very early on. His cult is said to have been spread by Irish missionaries who spread throughout Western Europe and founded numerous religious establishments (abbeys, etc.).

In Ireland, its best-known shrine, Skellig Michael - or Saint Michael's Rock - was the object of a major pilgrimage. This spectacular site on a steep island was home to hermits praying to the Archangel.

In England, devotion to the Archangel developed further after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Saint Michael's Mount in Cornwall was a Montois priory, a replica of the Norman shrine and the goal of a pilgrimage.

In 1222, the Archbishop of Canterbury ordered the solemn celebration throughout the kingdom of 16 October, the anniversary of the dedication of the church of Mont-Saint-Michel by Saint Aubert.

In Belgium...
In Belgium, where many miquelots come from, Saint Michael has been venerated since Carolingian times.

In particular, he is the patron saint of the city of Brussels. His statue has dominated the spire of the town hall since 1454, and he was the first patron saint of the cathedral.

In Spain...
The cult of Saint Michael began to spread in the early 8th century, when he was associated with the fight against the Moors as the leader of the celestial militia triumphing over evil.

In conclusion...
The European influence of this pilgrimage has continued over the centuries, and many sovereigns, lords and ordinary faithful have come to pray to the Archangel on his sacred rock.

Documentary resources

Since it was founded, the Association has collected a wealth of documents on pilgrimages and Normandy's heritage: heritage sheets, photos, prints, books, articles, etc. This collection is gradually being added to as research and contacts progress.

- The library contains numerous articles, old and modern works on Mont-Saint-Michel, ancient communication routes, pilgrimages and pilgrims, the cult and iconography of Saint Michael...

- The Association also has an iconographic collection of engravings, prints and old photographs of Mont-Saint-Michel, as well as reproductions of documents and images held in archives and libraries.

- An inventory of the heritage located along the paths of Mont-Saint-Michel completes this collection, with sheets drawn up by the Association for each element linked to the theme of pilgrimages, as well as numerous photographs of this heritage.

If your research concerns ancient communication routes, pilgrimages, the pilgrim, Mont-Saint-Michel or the cult of Saint Michael... or if you would like to find out more about the heritage located along the Mont-Saint-Michel paths... Contact us.

Consultation available by appointment.