The Haunted and Holy Mont Saint-Michel

The tidal island of Mont Saint-Michel in France holds many secrets of the sea and is said to be haunted by both monks disturbed of their eternal rest as well as soldiers from the bloody battlefields of the Hundred Year War.

Mont Saint-Michel, the mysterious and spectacular island off the coast of France, has fueled an array of mysterious stories for centuries. It’s a little tidal island in Normandy, northwest in the country, one-half nautical mile off the mainland.

The tidal island of Mont Saint-Michel has served many purposes, mostly as a monastery and today it is a small village with around 50 villagers. It has also been a location for many battles and a prison known as The Bastille of the Sea.

While people may debate if Mont Saint-Michel is really haunted, locals and visitors alike have shared stories about eerie figures, ghostly voices, and strange sightings which add to the legends surrounding this awe-inspiring destination.

History and Legends of Mont Saint-Michel

Mont Saint-Michel is an ancient destination and pilgrimage site that has been embraced by nature. Its sides are steep and nearly inaccessible from the mainland, with huge cliffs around its shoreline. The island was a great reminder of pilgrimages that they were indeed on the right path.

Mont Saint-Michel’s tides are the product of complex natural interactions between wind, waves and the gravitational pull of the sun and moon. This happens when large masses of water on the earth’s surface respond to these forces.

The tides of Mont Saint-Michel vary greatly, at roughly 14 meters between highest and lowest water marks. Popularly nicknamed “St. Michael in peril of the sea” by medieval pilgrims making their way across the flats, the mount can still pose dangers for visitors who avoid the causeway and attempt the hazardous walk across the sands from the neighboring coast.

Ghost Monks of Mont Saint-Michel

Most of the people living in this little tidal island were pious monks in the abbey. When the monks died it was common to bury them inside of the walls of churches and abbeys. When the French Revolution came around for Mont Saint-Michel, a lot of abbeys and churches were desecrated as they needed the building material of the building or even the fortune the monks kept.

Some say that the monks buried inside of the walls who had their eternal rest disturbed by the revolution are haunting the place as their souls were awoken to roam Mont Saint-Michel.

The Ghost from the Hundred Year War

Mont Saint-Michel has had a long, dark history and its fair share of battles. One of the most famous and mysterious tales is that of “Le fantôme de la guerre de 100 ans” because this haunting story dates back to an incident during the Hundred Year War.

The Hundred Year War really impacted generations of French people and the mindset of the French. It was here heroes like Joan of Arc stepped forward, but also many lost their lives during it as most of the waring happened on French soil. And even if the victory ended with French victory, the people, the land as well as their history going forward would be tainted by the blood of the long war.

During the Hundred Year War, England tried several times to take over the Mont Saint-Michel, but were unable to because of the natural as well as human made fortifications. They tried in 1423 and 1433 but the island knew how to protect itself.

It is said that there were several soldiers who were killed in battle defending Mont Saint-Michel from the English troops on the nearby beaches on one of the bloodiest days in the war. More than 2000 Englishmen were killed under the command of Captain Louis d’Estouteville.

According to legend the souls of the soldiers that perished in the battle are now haunting Mont Saint-Michel, especially near the water. The ghost of Captain Louis d’Estouteville has also been spotted around Mont Saint-Michel, still protecting the abbey.