The former “Monasterii Villare”, which gave its name to the town, is amongst the greatest monastery establishments of the 7th century in the lower valley of the Seine.

It was there that Saint Philibert, founder of Jumièges, created a women’s monastery in 684 later destroyed by the Vikings and only rebuilt at the beginning of the 11th century.

Thanks to the granting of the Charter of Exemption by the Duke of Normandy, Robert the Devil, which provided the abbey with its autonomy and its own means of existence, the construction of the main church started in the second half of the 11th century. Throughout the Middle Ages the abbey enjoyed considerable prestige and contributed to the prosperity of Montivilliers.

The French Revolution definitively abolished monastic life. The convent buildings, initially converted into a prison, were broken up.

The abbey merged with the town.