In the 8th or 9th century, a monk by the name of Sabinus came to live as a hermit in the valley. The future , his miracles and his canonization caused an influx of pilgrims. An abbey was built around his hermitage. It had the "hôpital de Cauterès", named in a Papal Bull of the 12th century along with territories given by various lords, such as Charlemagne and the Comte de Bigorre. The abbey was plundered and destroyed by the Normans.