The Benedictine monastery of Maillezais was founded in about 989 by Gauzbert, Abbot of St-Julien de Tours, at the request of William IV, Duke of Aquitaine, and his wife Emma.
Abbot Pierre (about 1100), who followed Richard Cœur de Lion to the Third Crusade, composed two books on the construction and transfer of the Abbey of Maillezais.