For most of the cathedral's history, the bells have been primarily used as a striking clock, to call to prayer for the Angelus, and to announce and participate in Divine Offices and special services.

Emmanuel is considered by campanologists as one of Europe's finest bells and was designated a national historic landmark in 1944 when it rang during the liberation of Paris.

The earliest named bells of Notre-Dame, mentioned in 13th and 14th century records, include Marie (the bourdon), Gilbert, Guillaume, Pasquier, Chambellan, Louis, Nicholas, and Luc, all initially housed in the north tower.

Bishop Eudes de Sully made the first record of bell ringing at Notre-Dame in 1198 during the construction of the cathedral.

It was not initially hung in the church, possibly because of its great weight and the poor condition of the north belfry at the time.

It was also decided to rename the bell Emmanuel (first spelled "Emanuel")[10] in honour of a chaplain by that name who financed the project.

The work was carried out on the Terrain, an open space of land on the eastern end of the Île de la Cité, near where Square Jean-XXIII [fr] and the Deportation Memorial are located today.

Despite the widespread iconoclasm of the era which affected many of Notre-Dame's statues, the melting of bells was more a pragmatic decision based on the need for cheap raw materials at the time.

Between May 1791 and August 1792, Marie, Gabriel, Guillaume, Pasquier, Thibault, Jean, Claude, Nicholas, and Françoise were removed, broken apart, and melted down.

LXXXI.NICOLAS CHAPELLE, IEAN GILLOT, FRANÇOIS MOREAV, ET FLORENTIN LE GVAY, TOVS MAISTRES FONDEVRS M'ONT FAIT L'AN M. DC.

[10]Translation: [I am] what was first Jacqueline, Jean de Montaigu the count's gift of 15,000 pounds,[24] now Emanuel I am named by the Parisian chapter, enlarged by double, during the reign of Louis the Great and the tenure of François de Harlay, first of the archbishops of Paris [to hold the title] duke and peer of France, AD 1681.Nicolas Chapelle, Jean Gillot, François Moreau, and Florentin le Guay, all master-founders, have made me in the year 1681.1686 inscription (extant): QUÆ PRIUS IACQUELINA IOANNIS COMITIS DE MONTE ACUTO DONUM POND XV M NUNC DUPLO AUCTA EMMANUEL LUDOVICA THERESIA VOCOR A LUDOVICO MAGNO AC MARIA THERESIA EIUS CONIUGE NOMINATA ET A FRANCISCO DE HARLAY PRIMO EX ARCHIEPISCOPIS PARISIENSIBUS DUCE AC PARI FRANCIÆ BENEDICTA DIE XXIX APRILIS M DC LXXXIIFLORENTIN LE GVAY NATIF ET MAISTRE DE PARIS M'A FAICTE—N CHAPELLE J GILLOT F MOREAU M'ONT FAICT EN 1685[25][12]Translation: [I am] what was first Jacqueline, Jean the count of Montaigu's gift of 15,000 pounds, now enlarged by double, Emmanuel-Louise-Thérèse I am named by Louis the Great and Maria Theresa his wife; and by François de Harlay, first of the archbishops of Paris [to hold the title] duke and peer of France, blessed on 29 April 1682.

Chapelle, J. Gillot, F. Moreau have made me in 1685.After Napoleon Bonaparte returned the use of the cathedral to the Catholic church with the Concordat of 1801, Emmanuel was remounted in the south tower.

In 1850 during the restoration of the cathedral, Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc temporarily removed the bells to replace the wooden belfries.

According to campanologist Régis Singer [fr], the bells were not made of high-quality metal, were not properly tuned with each other or to the bourdon, and showed premature signs of wear.

AUGUSTE SIBOUR, archevêque de paris, ma bénite, et je pèse 767 kilogIn 2011, the rector-archpriest of Notre-Dame Patrick Jacquin [fr] initiated a project to restore the cathedral's bells as they were before the Revolution.

Régis Singer, a campanologist of France's Ministry of Culture, researched the pre-Revolutionary bells to discover their strike tones and mounting locations in order to restore the sound as accurately as possible.

The names Marie, Gabriel, Anne Geneviève, Denis, Marcel, Benoît-Joseph, Maurice, and Jean-Marie were chosen to honor various saints and church figures.

These included Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, Gabriel de Broglie, Denis Tillinac, Marcel Pérès, and Jean-Marie Duthilleul.

Firefighters feared that if the wooden belfry caught fire, the falling bells might break through the lower floors like wrecking balls and destabilize the tower.

These included the funeral of Jacques Chirac on 29 September 2019, the first anniversary of the fire on 15 April 2020 (also to honor those a affected by the COVID-19 pandemic according to rector-archpriest Patrick Chauvet [fr][40]), the death of Pope Benedict XVI on 31 December 2022, and for Easter and Christmas.

Volleys create a sound with perceived changes in volume and pitch, while chiming allows for more control and is used for the clock or for playing short melodies.

However, at certain times the chapter would forbid bell ringers from entering the belfries at night for fear of them causing a fire by using open-flame lights.

[49] Since the automation of ringing in the 1930s, the bells have been overseen by cathedral staff including general director Laurent Prades since 2000 and chief sacristan Stéphane Urbain since 2005.

Urbain was the first to program the bells to play short melodies such as "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" and "Regina caeli.

[51] The tradition of ringing for the recitation of the Angelus prayer three times a day began in 1472 when Louis XI ordered the practice.

In the 18th century, Abbot Claude-Louis Marmotant de Savigny compiled a list of sonneries based on traditions developed by that time.

During the Ancien Régime, these were held after the coronation of a new king, the birth of a new heir apparent, military victories, or other causes of thanksgiving.

The roof bells are rung during elevation, the moment during Mass when the clergyman holds up the Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ Eucharist.

At the time, many Parisians did not know how close Allied forces were, as the Germans had imposed a strict curfew and controlled the radio stations.

[55][56] These are Marie, Jacqueline, Gabriel (which du Breul spells "Gabrielle," also seen in Hugo), Guillaume, Thibauld, Pasquier, two "sparrows" (French: moineaux—a generic term for smaller bells, possibly Jean with Claude or Nicholas), and the seven-bell carillon including a "wooden bell" (cloche de bois), possibly La Clopette.