The known history of Amanlis dates back to pre-Roman times, when the Riedones or Redones tribe of Gauls inhabited the area.

Sites of interest include the parish church Saint-Martin-de-Tours and the Sainte-Anne-des-Bois chapel, which is dedicated to the patron saint of Brittany.

[5]: 4, 9, 12, 35 By 1500, the farmers of Amanlis were raising dairy cattle, grains, apples, and crops used for textiles, such as flax and hemp.

[7]: 6 In 1789, the old feudal system was dismantled, and Amanlis, along with all other rural parishes in France, became a commune with an elected mayor and municipal government.

However, the local fabricators kept to their traditional methods of production, and they were unable to compete with mechanized techniques used by their competitors in Rennes, other cities in northern France, Great Britain and Belgium.

[5]: 152–154 At the turn of the 20th century, the fields of hemp had been replaced by grasslands, the number of cattle doubled, and new species of apple trees were being planted.

It continued to increase for some time, but a series of wars, bad harvests, famine and high taxes led to reduced production of sailcloth, and the population declined from 2,400 in 1672 to less than 2,100 in 1715.

In 1851, nearly 30% of the people in Amanlis were involved in some fashion in the production of sailcloth, from those who prepared the hemp and spun it into thread to weavers and merchants.

The deputy mayors are Philippe Arondel, Régine Agnola, Hervé Saffray, Anita Breget, and Antoine Tabet.