Jard-sur-Mer - Sainte-Radegonde

In 1198 Richard Lionheart had founded a monastery for the Premonstratensian order nearby. The same year this church was completed as well with Richard´s support.

The preceding building (~8th century) may have been erected, when nuns from the Sainte-Croix Abbey in Poitiers had fled the Saracens to Jard-sur-Mer, bringing the relics of Saint Radegonde, Queen of the Franks. After Charles Martel´s army had defeated the Arab troops between Tours and Portiers (732) the nuns probably returned.

The church of today got fortified in the 15th century and was surrounded by a moat. When Potestant tropps attacked the town in 1568 the church got severely damaged, but it got rebuilt, enlarged and modified.