1037. Consecrated by his successor, Thierry.
c. 1130-1145 or 1170. Western towers built in Transitional style.
1194. Fire consumed nearly all the church except the towers, the west front, and the crypt.
1210. Main body of existing building completed, but not consecrated.
1250-1280. The magnificent north and south portals, with many hundreds of statues and statuettes, built. The principal sculptures on the north represent the life of the Virgin; those on the south illustrate the Last Judgment. It should be remembered that when these remarkable porches were built the statues, mouldings, and carvings were painted and gilded, so that the effect must have more resembled St. Mark’s at Venice than any other European cathedral.
1260. Consecration of the new church (which was commenced immediately after the fire), in the presence of St. Louis (IX.). This building was erected by the generosity of clergy and pilgrims.
1506. Upper part of north tower destroyed by lightning. Rebuilt in Flamboyant style by Jean Texier, 1506-1514.
Renaissance. The little clock-tower north of the west front, and the ambulatory screen.
1836. A very fierce fire occurred, but it only destroyed the lead covering and wooden framework of the roofs; the vaulting remained unharmed, although the bells in the tower were all melted.
The Interior is memorable for its immensity and for the strange and almost crude crimsons and blues of the twelfth and thirteenth century glass. The three twelfth-century windows are below the rose of the western end of the nave, where they survived the fire of 1194 almost by a miracle. Several of the windows were given by the trades of Chartres, from the armourers to the pastry-cooks.