On June 27, 2025, the mayor of Avranches, David Nicolas, was awarded by the Ministry of Culture, represented by Nicolas Georges, director in charge of book and reading, a disappeared manuscript from Mont Saint-Michel. The work, rediscovered, was restored and digitized in 2023 before being returned to the city last month.
This manuscript, written between the 12th and 13th century, was preserved at the Library of Mont Saint-Michel until 1791. During the French Revolution, religious property having been declared national goods, the manuscripts of the abbey, of which, were transferred to Avranches, where they are still preserved. The document appears in the inventory of 1795 established by Pierre François Pinot-Cocherie, city lawyer, who lists more than 4,000 volumes there. But in 1834, he no longer appeared in the inventory made by Castillon de Saint-Victor. Experts believe that the disappearance took place between 1795 and 1801.
In 2018, the manuscript reappears in the catalog of an auction in Alençon, estimated at € 50,000. Researchers from the University of Caen and the National Library of France (BNF) identify the characteristic style of Mont Saint-Michel as well as its rating. The Ministry of Culture then initiates a claim procedure. On June 4, 2020, the Paris Administrative Court recognized that the work belongs to the State. It was returned in March 2023. The mayor of Avranches, David Nicolas, said: “This shows that a missing national heritage, even for a very long time, remains imprescriptable and must return to public collections”.
The manuscript consists of two parts: one, written at the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel in the 12th century; the other, in the 13th century, by Parisian students. It brings together various texts, intended for teaching, such as a prose devoted to Saint Aubert, bishop of Avranches, a music treaty, and two stories within philosophical and poetic scope.
Saint Aubert, bishop of Avranches, is considered to be the founder of the Mont Saint-Michel abbey, following a vision of the Archangel Michel. The abbey becomes, in the Middle Ages, a leading religious and intellectual center, partly thanks to its library, built at the end of the 10th century by Father Maynard. This contained a majority of sacred texts, but also music treaties, astronomy, legal works, and texts of ancient authors such as Plato or Socrates. Between 1050 and 1080, 33 manuscripts are copied there, contributing to the reputation of Mont as “Cité des Books”.
Today, the Avranches heritage library retains more than 1,000 manuscripts in 200 volumes from the Abbey, out of a total fund of 31,000 volumes. Each year, 48 of them are exposed by rolling at the scriptorial – 12 per quarter. This museum, opened in 2006, is the only one in France to exhibit mainly medieval manuscripts, especially in the Treasure Hall. The returned manuscript is visible there until October 11. The museum also retains archaeological objects, pictorial works and sacred art objects.
