Page "Chartres Cathedral" Paragraph 18

There have been at least five cathedrals on this site, each replacing an earlier building damaged by war or fire.

Nothing survives of the earliest church, which was destroyed during an attack on the city by the Danes in 858.

Of the Carolingian church that replaced it, all that remains is a semicircular chamber located directly below the centre of the present apse.

This chamber, known as the Lubinus Crypt ( named after the mid-6th century Bishop of Chartres ), is lower than the rest of the crypt and may have been the shrine of a local saint, prior to the church's rededication to the Virgin.

Another fire in 962 is mentioned in the annals, though nothing is known about the subsequent rebuilding.

A more serious conflagration occurred in 1020, after which Bishop Fulbert ( bishop from 1006 to 1028 ) began the construction of an entirely new building.

Most of the present crypt, which is the largest in France, dates from that period.

The rebuilding proceeded in phases over the next hundred years or so, culminating in 1145 in a display of public enthusiasm dubbed the " Cult of the Carts " – one of several such incidents recorded during the period.

It was claimed that during this religious outburst a crowd of more than a thousand penitents dragged carts filled with building supplies and provisions including stones, wood, grain, etc.

to the site.