Mont-Saint-Michel, the mountain of Archangel Michael, is a rocky island-fortress located on the northwestern coast of France in Normandy, in the department of Manche. The city on the island has existed since 709 AD and currently has several dozen residents. Since 1879, the island has been connected to the mainland by a causeway. On the island is a formidable granite rock, and on the rock is a magnificent monastery with a soaring Gothic church. Surrounding the island are not waters but sandy dunes, but every day from the walls of the abbey, you can observe the transformation of the entire landscape - how the tide comes in.
Since ancient times, Mont-Saint-Michel has been surrounded by legends. Since the twelfth century, it has become a well-known pilgrimage site. Although the island is very close to the mainland - approximately two kilometers away - in those ancient times, it was a symbol of a remote, harsh, and danger-filled life. Frequent fog, bad weather, the complicated rhythm of the tides, and shifting sands made the island almost inaccessible. In general, for the French people, Mont-Saint-Michel has come to occupy a place similar to that of Solovki in Russia - a harsh nature that seemed to forge the characters of people, the unconquerable and impregnable, where many talents were revealed and dissidents languished in exile. A holy place and a prison.
Legends say that long ago the Celts lived here. By the way, there was no island as such back then, only a granite mountain. It was considered sacred and under the protection of the Druids, just like the island of Tombelaine, "Elena's island", located not far from Mont-Saint-Michel and also surrounded by an aura of mysterious antiquity.
The nature of the bay changed over time. The water gradually surrounded the mountain, and it was called Mont Tombe, "Tomb Hill". It began to attract hermits. From the 8th century, this piece of land finally became an island and was named Mont-Saint-Michel, in honor of Saint Michael (the Archangel Michael), the Prince of the Heavenly Army. According to legend, it was here that he defeated the serpent. The sculpture of Saint Michael (Editor's note: obviously, the author means Saint Archangel Michael), restored and reinforced on the spire of the eponymous cathedral at a height of 170 meters, is now a symbol of the island, the pride of Normans and Bretons. The warrior with the handsome face of a youth is clad in armor and holds a fiery sword in his hands.
The legend of the appearance of the first church on the island is also told. Not far away was the city of Avranches, where in 708 the bishop Ober (who later became Saint Ober and was greatly revered here) was visited one night by the Archangel Michael, who ordered him to build a church on the rock, which was already almost completely surrounded by water, and to dedicate it to him. According to legend, Ober began construction only after the third appearance of Michael, when he angrily struck the slow-moving bishop on the head with his finger. Another legend tells how the faithful responded to the call of Saint Michael and miraculously, by the divine will, a child moved a stone and a holy spring was discovered on the island.
In 966, after Normandy adopted Christianity, the Norman Duke Richard I invited Benedictine monks here, who founded the abbey. In the 11th century, construction of the main building began and lasted until 1520. From the 12th century, the island became a center of pilgrimage. The popularity and authority of the abbey as a holy place grew incredibly. In 1469, the Order of Saint Michael was founded. From the late 16th century, the abbey gradually declined. Later, it became a prison.
In 1472, King Louis XI visited the abbey. This monarch, nicknamed "The Prudent" or "The Spider", did much to make France into a unified country from its previously fragmented state. He achieved this mainly through negotiations and intrigues (hence the nickname "The Spider"). Louis XI was very pious, but at the same time a cruel ruler. One of his ministers - Cardinal Balue, who enjoyed unlimited trust - decided to betray his monarch. But his correspondence with the king's enemies was intercepted, and since Louis could not execute such a high-ranking prelate, he imprisoned him in an iron cage, which was invented by Balue himself at the time.
What was such a cage, or as the king called it, the "little one," like? It was made of iron and wood and was suspended from the ceiling. The cage had two holes: one for feeding, and the other for you know what. It was almost impossible to move in the "little one" because it immediately began to swing. Torture became a real hell for a person thrown into such a limited space in cold solitude. Most prisoners went insane within a few months. However, Cardinal Balue survived in it for 11 years. So, in 1472, Louis XI personally brought such a cage to "Mont-Saint-Michel." As a prison, "Mont-Saint-Michel" was an ideal place: the island was surrounded by the sea, so you couldn't escape. During low tide, you could drown in the quicksands, and you couldn't make a tunnel because of the granite rock. The only option was to fly away, but there were no helicopters at that time.
Until the French Revolution, political prisoners held in metal cells and dungeons of the abbey were mostly pamphleteers and Jansenists. Having a dubious reputation as a place where you cannot escape, the prison at "Mont-Saint-Michel" was called in the people's "Sea Bastille." During this period, the prison was mainly used as a "rehabilitation center" for young nobles who were imprisoned here for what was written in the documents as "bad behavior."
The famous "little one" was dismantled in 1777 (it has now been reconstructed and is ready for "use" if necessary). According to available information, the monks took good care of the prisoners: both in terms of food and various activities. In 1790, as a result of the revolution, the "Sea Bastille" was liquidated, but it remained a prison, albeit only for priests and monks who did not submit to the new civil constitution. Napoleon I continued the "prison history." In 1811, he reopened the prison here, through which a total of about 15,000 prisoners passed, who replaced each other (some died here). It should be noted that in those times, "Mont-Saint-Michel" held many revolutionary leaders, such as Barbes, Raspail, Blanqui, and others.
There were a total of 20 small cells in the prison, in which prisoners were held in groups of two or three. At one point, other, more spacious rooms were used to accommodate the prisoners, where communal dormitories were created. Some of the abbey's rooms were converted into workshops where prisoners were "rehabilitated" by weaving baskets, making hats, and performing other tasks.
In 1863, Napoleon III finally abolished the prison. Its closure was influenced by Victor Hugo and other French writers of the 19th century, who actively exposed the unpleasant exploitation of the old abbey.
