The Long History of Notre Dame in Paris 

We are so blessed to have you back Signore Reeves! Truly it is an honor to listen to your lectures and you have brought to light so much of our subverted Christian history. Ben tornato! ⚡️☦️💛

All the most important things to me survived: The room itself, the glass and the Cavaille-Coll ORGAN! Like many, it's mostly a 19th century deal, but has elements (many pipes) that go back to the Gothic era. The smaller, newer choir organ didn't make it.

Greetings from England… So very very glad to see you back, shining a light in the current murky times! And yes please more about St.Denis…

So glad to see you back! And thank you for another awesome lesson.

Thank you so much! You made me want to be a medieval historian so all of this so helpful!

I just discovered your channel a few weeks ago, and I have to say, yours is the most comprehensive and unbiased recounting of history I have ever seen. Somehow your telling makes it interesting and lifelike. I have learned so much in such a short time! I'm so glad you came back to it! Well done, sir!!

Great to have you back on RU-vid. I wonder whether a wee video on the Celtic (Insular) Church of Ireland and Scotland and their saints could be done one day? Love to hear your thoughts on it. God bless.

There are some inaccuracies in this video, obviously its fine for laymen, however just a couple of points on 19th century restoration and pre-fire cathedral. - The old roof frame which burned in 2019, was nicknamed "The Forest" due to how massive and complex it was and that it contained approximately 1,000 oaks and chestnuts. Before the fire it was in fact for the most part original from the 13th century (dendrologically dated), save for the parts of the transept that were replaced in early 18th century (before the Revolution), and obviously the structural wooden frame of the spire. - Not all roof has been burned! Only the upper, central portion has burned down, the side portions on the side naves have survived entirely, and are also original. - Most of the "controversy" regarding Violet le Duc's 19th century restoration is overblown (particularly in English sources). His restoration was, by the standard of his time, extremely conservative and has been in fact one of the first effort to truly try to approach the restoration scientifically and historically. le Duc has written a couple of theses-worth papers on the original structure of Notre-Dame de Paris and how it must have originally looked. Even where he "invented" stuff, he was trying his best to match the aesthetics and the style of the original builders, and the result is a pretty harmonious stuff which pleases the eye greatly. - The Spire that Violet le Duc has rebuilt is very similar in fact to the old spire. It is slightly taller, and a tad more fancy than the original. We have no exact photos and drawings of the old spire unfortunately, the best is a realistic painting by Raguenet the Older, done in 1752. Old spire looked similar to the spire of Amiens Cathedral, which still exists. The internal frame for Violet le Duc's spire has been done by master carpenters of the Paris guild which survived in some form from the middle ages to this day. The frame was very well done, and is almost identical to other spires in structure. - Gargoyles are actually for the most part original from the Middle Ages! Violet le Duc has added some chimeras (non-functional beast statues) around the cathedral, but he only replaced epaired a couple of gargoyles.

So wonderful to have you back! Your work has been a blessing to us all. Such a great teacher you are!!

Loving the new content. This was great and I definitely learned some things. Thank you!

So happy you are back making great, educational and interesting content! I cant watch the vid right now (at work) but it is next on my list!

Great video. So glad to see you are back!

Thanks Dr Reeves! Even though so much of the cathedral is modern, I’m glad for the remaining original structure. The dark ages were not so “dark” after all, and people need to see that.

Dear Notre Dame - You are most in our hearts - I hope to go visit you one day

I'm exited to learn about Notre dame when I get home!!❤

Glad you didn't let all the jackasses in the Halloween video comment section put you off doing more videos! Don't listen to their nonsense.

I’m glad to see you back I love history

Great video!! Thank you 😊

These videos pair great with a cigar. Very calming and soothing while also intellectually stimulating.

Loved this!

An outstanding walk through history!!😊

Very informative, thanks 🙏

Welcome back!

Regardless of the historical ignorance of those opposed to a modernization, it is clearly a rejection of contemporary the brtualist and minimalist nature of modern architecture. I think a large part of the population really hates the way our cities look and long for a time when architecture had real beauty. So while the parts that burned down may have been modern, they were inspired by ancient beauty, and that is what they want to keep.

Thank you for this Vidieo !

Thank you. I found this most interesting.

The descriptions I've read of Notre-Dame at the time of the wedding there of Mary Queen of Scots to the future Francis II sound absolutely spectacular.

I was able to visit the cathedral in 2017. ❤ Thank you for this history lesson!

Thanks for correcting the history of Notre Dame.

Thank you for presenting this excellent video. Great job! Love from Trailer Park USA

Can you imagine being the guy who had to explain to his boss he accidentally set one of the world's greatest cathedrals on fire?

Great video.

Thank you Dr Reeves.

Wonderful! Thank you

Thank you sir for all your contributions. (It may be just me, but when I get involved in a person's writings, art, etc., I like to get to know the person at least on a superficial level, like knowing Van Gogh, the painter. You have published info on your professional education and work, but I do not find you revealing anything about the person, particularly early life and what contributed to molding you as a developed mature man. ) During my USArmy Master Planning during the war in Kosovo in Germany, I was able to give friends a personal tour of Notre Dame in 1997 (I had majored in late 1970s in Architecture History, Preservation and Design in Achitecture School and my thesis was a critical analysis and comparison of Chartres and Notre Dame). I was terribly hurt to see it burning. Hollywood has never outdone European Theater of Romanesque, Gothic and Islamic Religious Architecture and fine art in it capturing and motivating/manipulating the human spirit and emotion. Personally I generally find Hollywood to be very weak, trite, boring, and low art, but like the religious architecture Hollywood art was devised to serve the very wealthy and the very poor, ignorant and weak minded. It's not for the strong minded, educated and independent thinker. Thanks again.

Reeve's back. Always can't for new content.

Thanks, so much!!

It's a shame a lot of churches get burned down intentionally

He's back! Glory to God!

Thank you for this video! It's timing is uncanny, because my wife and I have booked a trip to Paris in 2024! I so hope we can see Notre Dame!

Also check out *Perspective* for more awesome history. Ryan , so glad you're back!!!!

Hey, the bishop in question at Napoleon's coronation was the bishop of Rome, Pope Pius VII. ---fun factoid.

A good video overall. I did enjoy it. However, you misinterpreted why the French were so angry about the proposed modern renovations to Notre Dame. They weren't fighting to have Notre Dame restored to its middle-age condition. They were fighting to have Notre Dame restored to its original condition before the fire of 2019, there's a big difference there. Many French know that the gargoyles and the wooden spire did not exist in the middle-ages, but I think they just like them there, they've grown on the French people. And its probably because of Victor Hugo, as you very rightly pointed out. Thank you for the video.

Thank you

It's so good to have you back, Mr Reeves! You really do a great favor to our age by telling a truly christian history of the Church. I'd like to suggest you to do videos of the communist persecution of christians in the Soviet Union and other eastern european nations. Maybe something about the relationship between marxism and christianity as a whole. I think this is a negleted theme in Church Historiography. Something about the impact of Saint Francis of Assisi in the medieval church would be great too.

Thank you Ryan Reeves for this very informative video. So much of society history is in church buildings. Could you do more videos about other churches? “O Fortuna”!

Kilometer Zero IS Notre Dame; all points in France are measured from the plaque on the ground directly in front, making her the literal Heart of France

cheers mate

I've wanted to read Hunchback for a while. Not sure if it's worth it. Les Miserables drove me insane with the detailed descriptions and histories of this and that. (Though I did still enjoy it.) But I think I wouldn't mind hearing him yammer on about Notre Dame. Maybe.

Man I want to take a class with this brother

Viva La France! Long live Our Lady of Paris! 💙💜

Well, that was all interesting.

Have you seen the Lindsey Ellis Hunchback video? Or is losing to a bird just that iconic

Fantastic so glad my husband suggested this

Yes, I didn't realize Napoleon’s coronation took place but we cannot forget about the Hunchback; the only reason I'm aware of the building's existence aside from the fire.

We visited Notre Dame in 1991. I have hundreds of photos.

Chartres next please

Please do a lecture on Nostradamus

Awesome history lesson! Been there many times... Would LOVE to see your insight on St Denis. For me, St Denis was a recent accidental discovery. Went I went in, I had no idea it was the final resting place of the kings of France (at least the bodies they could find...!)

Ryan, why have you not made a video on William Tyndale?!!??!?!

"She gave me water" :)

Dr. Reeves, where did you see the reopening date for Notre Dame? Everything I'm seeing online says it'll reopen in December 2024. I'm wondering if you have some more up-to-date information than what I'm seeing?

How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe | Diana Darke Christopher Wren He wrote, "the Gothic style should be more rightly called the Saracen style" (note, the word 'Saracen' has dropped from our vocabulary, but in Wren's time it was commonly used as a pejorative term to describe Arab Muslims, particularly Spanish-Arab Muslims).

Do not modernize!! Thank you so much, Dr. Reeves! It's one of the places I want to visit.

If ever there was a time to believe in the power of prayer, this wasn't one of them!

Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

Flying buttresses are in essence a failure of engineering prowess. The competence of engineers was put to task and they realized that they could not make such a large building(s) without the excess building supplies. This incompetence as compared to the competence of Roman engineering and architecture, hence a prominent park of dark age and middle age building while relearning to be competent.

Hey Ryan… I’m very interested in knowing how the church was in Spain in the 1500’s and how they sailed over to conquer Mexico and brought Catholicism there. Do you have any videos of that?

The island looks like a yam

"... un fou qui se prenait pour Victor Hugo."

With the passing of time, everything that is now "new" eventually becomes "old." Or, "classic", in the most general sense of that word. The contrast should not be new vs. old. The contrast is beauty vs. ugliness. And while there's some subjectivity to that, you can't look at a building like this and then look at a modern building that looks like a sterile box and not acknowledge one is objectively more beautiful than the other. The same is true with all art. Is there some subjectivity? Sure. But we can't compare a work by Michelangelo with some of this "modern art" that looks like a toddler's finger painting project and say they are equal in beauty. Even those who know nothing formal about art as a discipline can see that they are not. Maybe they can't fully put it into words. But they can tell the difference.

For me the most interesting thing about the cathedral is how €1bn will be spent on stone, glass and timber while little kids in city slums have no clean water, enough to eat or a proper education. Not very Christian is it?

you need to tune your microphone, we need the old voice back.

i'm not french but i cried when it was set on fire, watching the immigrants cheering is when the french should have deported all immigrants straight away

I read that President Macron promised Pope Francis that Notre Dame would by completed by 2024.

#Quasimodo

We all know how that fire started

They will rebuild in the post modern style. As they should - so people never forget how ugly our current paradigm is.

I'm not trying to be Beyonce

Deportations

That fire was JIHAD

And now it's gone. It doesn't matter if they build another.

To think it will inevitably become a mosque is very sad.

Long history of 20 minutes

Given the nature incompetence and ugliness of modern architecture it’s better to simply rebuild as was and forget about the fire. It’s best not to add the trivial forgettable things of the “modern” world on the cathedral’s continuing journey.

Thank you for this video. The devastation Notre Dame received at the hands of elites reminds me of our modern times. There is hope we will come out of this time, too. 🙏🏻

That spire is an abomination to the lines of the rest of the cathedral.