©2013 Michael Cardenas The Mont-Saint-Michel abbey is located within the city and island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Lower Normandy, in the department of Manche. The Mont-Saint-Michel monks, during the first century of their institution, venerated the archangel saint Michel. The mont became a place of praying and study, but the stability period, known as the Neustria, during the reign of Charlemagne ended when he died. At first pilgrims kept coming to the Mont. After the Vikings captured the Mont in 847, the monks left the place. But, as an island, it offered some protection for the local population and thus never stayed empty. The abbey is an essential part of the structural composition of the town the feudal society constructed.