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An earlier cathedral is presumed to have existed since the 6th century, as there was a Bishop of Lisieux from that time, but not much is known of the earlier edifice.
A previous cathedral build in the Romanesque style was burned by Geoffrey of Anjou in 1136.[1] Bishop Arnulf was at first only able to do essential repairs before he started the requisite full rebuilding in 1160.[2] Busy with the reconstructions, he missed a papal summon to Rome in 1144 and struggled later to finance the reconstruction.[3]
It is wrongly claimed[1] that Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy and future king of England, married Eleanor of Aquitaine at the cathedral in 1152. In fact they married in Poitiers Cathedral. In 1226, a fire damaged the cathedral and bishop Guillaume Du Pont-de-L'Arche added to the repairs three ambulatory chapels.[4]
Having been involved in the trial of Joan of Arc, Pierre Cauchon was named as Bishop of Lisieux in 1432 and is buried there. A new south-west tower with a pre-gothic design was built in 1553 when the previous had fallen.[4]
The west front of the building consists of three portals surmounted by two towers. The south tower was built in the 16th century and at the top bears a 17th-century flèche. Buttresses were added to the south face in the 15th century. The cathedral survived World War II wholly intact, although the town suffered Allied bombing in 1944.
From the outset, the architect designed quadripartite rib vaults and flying buttresses, making it one of Normandy’s first Gothic buildings. The nave is fairly austere and is inspired by the Gothic architectural style of the Île de France, whereas the most recent parts of the building were constructed in the 18th century (the chevet, the lantern tower and the western façade) in Norman style.
