Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The abbey of Saint-Jacut found its origins in the fifth century, when two Welsh brothers, Jacut and Guethenoc, disciples of Budoc, founded a hermitage on the peninsula of Landoac. This monastery first adopted the austere rule of St.Columban, typical of Celtic monasteries, before being imposed the Benedictine rule in 818, after resistance. The monks lead a life of prayer, work and welcome to the poor, while clearing the surrounding lands.

In the ninth century, Norman invasions forced the monks into exile, taking with them the relics and archives. The abbey, sacked and burned in 878, was reborn only in 1008 under the impulse of Abbé Hinguethen, commissioned by Alain III. The 14th and 15th centuries marked its climax: construction of the abbey church, foundation of the bell, and extension of its possessions on both sides of the English Channel, including priories in England. The monks treat the sick there and welcome the travelers.

The French Revolution rings the bell of the abbey: declared a national good, it is sold without finding a tenant, its scattered stones. In 1875, the sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Saint-Méen bought the place to set up a free school, then a spiritual reception centre. In the 20th century, the abbey became a place of retreats and symposia, even welcoming Father Louis-Joseph Lebret, author of a founding text for the encyclical Populorum progressio in 1964.

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