The history of Manoir de Brion

The Manoir de Brion is located near the coast, between the villages of Genêts and Dragey, looking across the Bay to Mont Saint Michel.  It was founded as a priory belonging to the Mont in 1137, by the thirteenth Abbot, Bernard le Vénérable, as a retreat for the monks and as a residence for the Abbot.   

In 1387, by a decree of King Charles VI and at the request of the Bishop of Avranches, the priory was abolished. Brion and its adjoining lands became established as a seigneurial fief under the Crown. Brion then served as a royal lodge for the French Court and other dignitaries who came on pilgrimage to Mont-Saint-Michel.
King Charles VI came to stay, with his retinue, when he came on pilgrimage to the Mont in 1393.

King Louis XI, stayed at Brion in 1462 during his pilgrimage to Mont-Saint-Michel, accompanied by his brother Charles Duc de Berry, Gaston de Foix his brother-in-law and other members of his Court.

At the beginning of the 16th century the construction began, in Renaissance style, of a more imposing building.  Started under Abbot de Lamps in 1509, the work was completed in 1526 by Jean le Veneur, Bishop of Lisieux, Abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel and Grand Chaplain to François I.

King François I, accompanied by his son the Dauphin and Cardinal du Prat, legate of the Holy See, stayed in Brion in May 1532.
It was during the King’s stay at Brion that Abbot Le Veneur introduced François I to the Malouin explorer Jacques Cartier, who had come to obtain subsidies from the King to equip a vessel for explorations to North America. In memory of this event, upon discovering Canada, Jacques Cartier gave the name Brion to an island in the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Various French dignitaries and important figures have visited or stayed at the manor:

• Marie d’Estouteville, Duchess of Bourbon on 17 June 1576.
• The Duchess Gaston d’Orléans, sister-in-law of King Louis XIII, stayed at Brion with her retinue for almost a week.
• The Cardinal of Lorraine, in 1646.
• Charles de Broglie, Marshal of France (1719).
• The last commendatory abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel, who resided at Brion, was Cardinal de Montmorency, Bishop of Metz, Grand Chaplain of France (1788).