The abbey was founded in 1065 by Queen Anne of Kiev, the widow of King Henry I of France, possibly built on the ruins of an ancient chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist which had been destroyed in the course of invasion by the Normans in the late 900s.
Nevertheless, the monastery church was solemnly dedicated on 29 October 1065, under the patronage of the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist and St. Vincent of Saragossa.