Saint-Malo during the Middle Ages was a fortified island at the mouth of the
Rance River, controlling not only the estuary but the open sea beyond. The
promontory fort of Aleth, south of the modern centre in what is now the
Saint-Servan district, commanded approaches to the Rance even before the
Romans, but modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to a monastic settlement
founded by Saint Aaron and Saint Brendan early in the 6th century. Its name is
derived from a man said to have been a follower of Brendan, Saint Malo or
Maclou.
St. Malo is the setting of Marie de France's poem "Laustic", an
11th-century love
