In 1203, the English king, John Lackland, known in France as "Jean sans Terre" and the murderer of Arthur de Bretagne burned the Romanesque cathedral down and occupied Dol for one year; there are few remnants of that building. Then, fearing for his soul and in a fit of remorse, he put up funds towards the cathedral's reconstruction which was started the same year under the episcopacy of the bishop Jean VII de Lizaunet. In a small corner of the south tower, there is a carving depicting "Jean sans Terre" bearing a rictus grin. He was certainly no friend of the people of Dol.