"So hundreds of years under the care of the church through wars, no issues."
Well ... not exactly!
[ul]
[li]The first flying buttresses were installed some time in the 13th century; they were replaced by larger and stronger ones in the 14th century.[/li]
[li]In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged some of the statues of Notre-Dame.[/li]
[li]During the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the cathedral underwent numerous alterations.[/li]
[li]A colossal statue of St Christopher, dating from 1413, was destroyed in 1786.[/li]
[li]The spire, which had been damaged by the wind, was removed in the second part of the 18th century.[/li]
[li]In 1793, during the French Revolution, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The twenty-eight statues of biblical kings located at the west façade, mistaken for statues of French kings, were beheaded. [/li]
[li]The cathedral was functioning in the early 19th century, but was half-ruined inside and battered throughout.[/li]
[li]A taller and more ornate reconstruction of the original spire was built in the restoration project during the mid-19th Century - this is the spire destroyed by today's fire.[/li]
[li]During the liberation of Paris in August 1944, the cathedral suffered damage from stray bullets - some of the medieval glass was damaged, and was replaced by glass with modern abstract designs.[/li]
[li]In 1963, the facade was cleaned of the centuries of soot and grime, restoring it to its original off-white color; stones damaged by air pollution were replaced.[/li]
[/ul]