In 1829, the canon and geographer François Manet published a theory according to which the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel had been flooded by the sea following a cataclysm. A violent storm and an equinox tide combined with an earthquake are said to have caused overnight tidal waves which engulfed the forest of Scissy. In truth, many studies conducted in recent decades have contradicted this tale; but the myth remains strong. In fact, it was the slow and gradual rise in sea level over thousands of years that progressively led to the disappearance of the Scissy forest.