Bec Abbey

[4] Saint Herluin was a Norman knight who in about 1031 left the court of Gilbert, Count of Brionne, to devote himself to a life of religion: the commune of Le Bec Hellouin preserves his name.

Lanfranc, who was already famous for his lectures at Avranches, came to teach as prior and master of the monastic school, but left in 1062, to become abbot of St. Stephen's Abbey, Caen, and later Archbishop of Canterbury.

Many distinguished ecclesiastics, probably including the future Pope Alexander II and Saint Ivo of Chartres, were educated in the school at Bec.

Bec Abbey was damaged during the Wars of Religion and left a ruin in the French Revolution but the 15th-century St. Nicholas Tower (Tour Saint-Nicolas) from the medieval monastery is still standing.

[7] In 1948 the site was re-established as the Abbaye de Notre-Dame du Bec by Olivetan monks led by Dom Grammont, who effected some restorations.