City of Paris 1380

King Phillip IV completed the cathedral of Notre Dame in 1330. Begun in 1163, the cathedral could house a congregation of 1,300, with towers soaring over 200 feet (63 metres) above the city. Phillip II had rebuilt and extended the city walls to enclose the Left Bank (1190–1220); by the early 13th century the population of Paris exceeded 200,000, but would be halved over the rest of the century by the ravages of plague and war. Charles V (r. 1364–80) arrested the city’s decline with another new wall incorporating a massive fortress, the Bastille. Charles housed a magnificent library in the palace at the Louvre, but chose to reside in a purpose-built new main residence at St Pol, away from the stench and hubbub of the city. Great abbeys fringed the city to north and south, while most monasteries and convents were clustered on the Left Bank.