The history of this small village is rich in a famous battle. Indeed, in September 866, a troupe of Bretons and Normans (Vikings) crosses the Sarthe, on the site of the current church, and will plunder Le Mans. On the return of this expedition, she was attacked, in the same place, by a troop of free warriors gathered by Robert the Fort, Count of Anjou. Bretons and Normans lock themselves in the church of Brissarthe. Besieged, they try an exit and manage to kill Robert the Strong. They drag his body in the church. Another Count of the Frankish party, Ramnulf of Poitiers, was killed by an arrow from the church. It's over the determination of the Franks who give up the fight. The Bretons and the Normans continue on their way. Note that Robert the Fort is the great-great-grandfather of Hugh Capet and therefore, the ancestor of the Capetian.
Contigné is located on the road between Angers and Sablé-sur-Sarthe.