Amazingly, 80 cathedrals were built in France between the 12th and 13th centuries. One of them is the magnificent Gothic Cathedral Saint Pierre of Poitiers, located in the Southwest, halfway between Paris and Bordeaux.

Henry Plantagenet and Alienor of Aquitaine

Construction began on the site of the city’s first cathedral under the new bishop and friend of Henry of Plantagenet, (Henry II of England) Jean-aux-Belles-Mains. Although we know with certainty that fire ravaged the original one, built in the 4th century, and it was rebuilt many times, we have no idea what pushed the commissioners to have the last one, just inaugurated in 1025, demolished and rebuilt. The last Roman cathedral had just been rebuilt after the 1018 fire. Up until the reconstruction of the new Gothic cathedral, it is really unclear what happened.