Gothic architecture
Sens Cathedral (begun between 1135 and 1140) was the first Cathedral to be built in the new style (St. Denis was an abbey, not a Cathedral). Other versions of the new style soon appeared in Noyon Cathedral (begun 1150); Laon Cathedral (begun 1165); and the most famous of all, Notre-Dame de Paris, where construction had begun in 1160.
French Gothic architecture
French Gothic architecture is a style which emerged in France in 1140, and was dominant until the mid-16th century. The most notable examples are the great Gothic cathedrals of France, including Notre Dame Cathedral, Chartres Cathedral, and Amiens Cathedral. Its main characteristics were the search for verticality, or height, and the innovative use of flying buttresses and other architectural innovations to distribute the weight of the stone structures to supports on the outside, allowing unprecedented height and volume, The new techniques also permitted the addition of larger windows, including enormous stained glass windows, which filled the cathedrals with light. The French style was widely copied in other parts of northern Europe, particularly Germany and England. It was gradually supplanted as the dominant French style in the mid-16th century by French Renaissance architecture.