It was dedicated to Martin of Tours and founded by Roger I of Montgomery using twelve monks from Fécamp Abbey in 1022, as a satellite of that house.
Around 1050 Roger II of Montgommery replaced this establishment with an independent Benedictine monastery.
Around 1100, the abbey received additional estates by charter from William of Evreux and his wife, Helvise of Nevers.
It housed forty monks by the 13th century, who played a major part in reclaiming the Dives marshes and developing the pastures of the Auge valley and the vines in the countryside around Caen.
It was sold by the French Revolutionary government in 1792 and the church and cloister were demolished.