Legend has it that the abbey was founded by Charlemagne, who laid here the relics of St Sicarius, one of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, who were killed on the orders of King Herod. The Benedictine abbey of Brantôme became a popular place of pilgrimage. It was ransacked by the Normans in 849 and rebuilt in 1075. In the 16C, the abbot was Pierre de Mareuil, who built the most interesting buildings – followed by his nephew Pierre de Bourdeille (known as Brantôme). Bertin, Intendant of Périgord in the 18C, altered the building further before it was radically restored in the 19C.