des officiers above it, and behind all the Tour Perrine. The Merveille (1203–1264) consists of two continuous buildings of three storeys, that on the east containing, one above the other, the hospitium (aumônerie), refectory and dormitory, that on the west the cellar, knights’ hall (salle des chevaliers) and cloister. Of the apartments, all of the finest Gothic architecture, the chief are the refectory, divided down the centre by columns and lighted by large embrasured windows, and the knights’ hall, a superb chamber, the vaulting of which is supported on three rows of cylindrical pillars. The cloister, one of the purest and most graceful works of the 13th century, is surrounded by double lines of slender columns carrying pointed arcades, between which delicate floral designs are carved. The exterior wall of the Merveille is of remarkable boldness; reaching a height of 108 ft., it is supported by twenty buttresses and pierced with a variety of openings. The church, which rises high above the buildings clustering round it, consists of transepts and four bays of the nave of Romanesque architecture and of a fine choir (1450–1521) in the Flamboyant Gothic style with a triforium surmounted by lofty windows. This choir replaced one which collapsed in 1431. In 1776 three of the seven bays of the nave were pulled down, and soon after the incongruous western front was added. The finest part of the exterior is the choir, which is ornamented with a profusion of carved pinnacles and balustrading. The central tower terminates in a Gothic spire surmounted by a gilded bronze statue of St Michael.
Mont St Michel was a sacred place from the earliest times. In the 8th century an oratory was established there by St Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in obedience to the commands of an apparition of St Michael. The place soon became a noted resort of pilgrims, not only from all parts of France, but also from Great Britain, Ireland and Italy. In 966 Richard I., duke of Normandy, founded in place of the oratory a Benedictine monastery, which in the succeeding century received a considerable share of the spoils of the conquest of England. In 1203 the monastery was burnt by the troops of Philip Augustus, who afterwards furnished large sums for its restoration (La Merveille). St Louis made a pilgrimage to Mont St Michel, and afterwards supplied funds which were spent on the fortifications. A garrison and military governor subordinate to the abbot were also installed. During the last thirty years of the Hundred Years’ War the abbey offered a persistent resistance to the English. In 1469 Louis XI. instituted the Order of St Michel, which held its meetings in the salle des chevaliers. During the Wars of Religion, the Huguenots repeatedly made unsuccessful attempts to seize the fortress, which opened its gates to Henry IV. in 1595 after his abjuration. In 1622 the Benedictine monks of Mont St Michel were replaced by monks of the Congregation of St Maur. In the 18th and 19th centuries the abbey was used as a prison for political offenders, serving this purpose until 1863, when an extensive restoration, begun in 1838, was resumed. The building is the property of the Commission of Historical Monuments, which has carried on the work of restoration with great architectural and antiquarian ability.
MONTSERRAT, or Monserrat, a remarkable mountain and
monastery in north-east Spain, 30 m. N.W. of Barcelona. The
mountain is of grey conglomerate; its main axis trends from
W.N.W. to E.S.E., and its circumference is about 18 m. The
loftiest point is the Turó de San Jeronimo, also called Mirador and
La Miranda (4070 ft.), which commands a view of the Pyrénées,
and the Mediterranean Sea as far as the Balearic Islands. On the
east the base of the Montserrat is washed by the river Llobregat.
The Montserrat consists of jagged pinnacles and spires (peñascos)
rising abruptly from the base of the mass, which is cloven by
many ravines, and abounds with steep precipices. It is the
mons serratus of the Romans, the monte serrado of the Spaniards,
and is thus named either in allusion to its jagged appearance,
like the teeth of a saw, or because it is split, as if sawn by the
vast fissure of the Valle Malo, which extends from north-west
to east. This occurred, Say the Spanish legends, at the time of
the Crucifixion, when the rocks were rent. In medieval German
legends, which located here the castle of the Holy Grail, the
mountain is called Monsalwatsch, a name analogous to the
modern Catalan form Montsagrat “sacred mountain.” From
Monistrol, a village on the north-east, with a station on the
Barcelona-Lérida railway, the monastery can be reached either
by the carriage road built in 1857, or by the mountain railway
opened in 1892. The ascent is also frequently made by a bridle
path from the village of Collbató, on the south-west, where there
are some interesting caverns.
The monastery stands 2910 ft. above sea-level upon a narrow platform on the edge of the Valle Malo. It owes its existence to an image of the Virgin, said to have been carved by St Luke, and brought to Barcelona by St Peter in A.D. 30. When the Moors invaded the province in 717 the image was taken to Montserrat, where a Benedictine convent appears to have already existed, and hidden in a cave. In 880 Gondemar, bishop of Vich, was attracted to the cave by sweet sounds and smells, and there found the image, which he determined to take to Manresa. But at a certain spot on the mountain the image refused to proceed farther; there it was consequently deposited, and a chapel was erected to contain it. Round the chapel a nunnery was built, and in 976 this was enlarged and converted into a second Benedictine convent. The old monastery (monasterio antiguo) is chiefly in ruins. The cloisters, belfry and part of the church were Gothic of the 15th century. The church of the new monastery (monasterio actual) was built in Renaissance style under Philip II. (1560–1592); in 1811 it was partially burned, and in 1880 a Romanesque apse was added. New buildings for the monks were erected under Ferdinand VII. (1784–1833), but left partly unfinished. During the Napoleonic wars (1808–14) it was despoiled of the vast treasures which had accumulated during the middle ages. In 1835, as a result of the Carlist insurrection, the convent was deprived of its estates and the number of monks reduced to about twenty. The monks are largely occupied by the management of a school of sacred music. In 1874 the convent, which by a grant of Pope Benedict XIII. had been an independent abbey since 1410, was made subject to the bishops of Barcelona.
Nuestra Señora de Montserrat, Patrona de Cataluña (“Our Lady of Montserrat, Patron Saint of Catalonia”), is one of the most celebrated images in Spain, and her church is visited annually by more than 60,000 pilgrims. The image is small, black, and carved of wood, but possesses magnificent robes and jewels. In September 1881 it was solemnly crowned by Leo XIII., who sent a crown from Rome for that purpose. As the celebrity and sanctity of Montserrat increased, so did the number of devotees. Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556) laid his sword upon the altar of the Virgin, and, placing himself under her protection, started from, Montserrat to begin his new life. Many eminent Spaniards, weary of the world, have retired to this monastery to end their days. Some preferred solitary hermitages perched among the rocks. Of these there were fifteen, eleven of which once formed a via sacra, ending at the summit of San Jeronimo. They were destroyed by the French, but the ruins of some remain. There are also caves in the mountain, some of which were formerly occupied by monks. The most celebrated of these are the cave of the Virgin, in which the santa imagen remained hidden until found by Gondemar, and the cave of Fray Juan Garin, a notorious sinner, who ended his days in the practice of revolting penances at Montserrat.
MONTSERRAT, an island in the British West Indies, one of the five presidencies in the colony of the Leeward Islands. Pop., mostly negroes (1901), 12,215. It lies 27 m. S.W. of Antigua, in 16° 45′ N. and 62° 7′ W.; is 11 m. long and 7 m. broad, and has a total area of 3212 sq. m. The island is a cluster of rugged volcanic peaks rising from the Caribbean Sea, their summits clothed with forests; the still active Soufrière (3000 ft.) in the south being the highest point. The average temperature is 81° F., the hottest weather being usually tempered by cool sea breezes; the rainfall averages 94 in. per annum. There is a plentiful supply of water, and the roads are macadamized and well drained. The principal products are sugar and raw and concentrated lime-juice. Minerals are also found. Montserrat has a local legislature of six members, nominated by the Crown, and sends representatives to the general legislative council of the colony. Education is compulsory, and the majority of the schools are managed by the Church of England, to which most of the islanders belong; but the Wesleyans and the Roman
