Une histoire du Mont-Saint-Michel - Anglais

One of my greatest adventures occurred right here on Mont Saint-Michel. I stayed the night in one of the hotels. That's it, but I can still say, Hey, I had a great adventure on the mysterious island in the architectural wonder that was an abbey, a prison, a torture chamber, a resting place for pilgrims, a fine library, and a tourist center/historical monument. The abbey was built straight up out of solid rock and has been altered, added to, and certain areas fallen down because of deterioration over the centuries. This book highlights the early miracles, the early Christian hermits who lived on the island, and the establishment of the rock as an abbey. Once the area was declared holy, the sinful and corrupt monks living there by this time were ejected and eleven humble monks from Flanders were established. They took the vow of Saint Benedict and became the obedient Benedictines. The book is divided into distinct phases of history and development from that point on. Here are a few highlights: After Rolf le Marcheur was named Duke of Normandy, pilgrims were protected against mauraders instead of being robbed and killed for their gifts for the abbey. He had his whole army convert to Christianity. (The amusing truth is that Rolf descended from the very Vikings that were robbing the abbey!) The coming of the Romanesque age brought with it the strength of the roman arch in building and at last, an immense church was built at the top of the abbey. Miraculous relics and mysterious miracles began to occur once again. The finding of the bones of Bishop Aubert, the first churchman to hear Saint Michael and heed his call to build a sanctuary on Mont Michel, opened the doors to miracles. His bones had been "lost" for many years. What was the proof these were his bones? A hole in the skull put there by Saint Michael when Auburt was stubbornly resisting the commands of the archangel. The story that goes with the cover illustration is the children's crusade to make a pilgrimage to Mont Saint-Michel. Many came from Germany and elsewhere in Europe, from ages eight to twelve. In some cases they just spontaneously joined and left their families and towns without a word. Old people joined their numbers; local villagers fed them on their way. This is just a bit of history of this world-renowned island. Each new era of history comes in a two-page illustrated spread with two pages of black and white, then two pages of color illustrations, all of which are quite good. "Mont Saint-Michel for Young People" is definitely a book for libraries if there is an interest in church or Norman or even exotic history.