The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Romantic novel by Victor Hugo published in 1831. The title refers to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, on which the story is centered, and the true protagonist of the story Esméralda. English translator Frederic Shoberl named the novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" in 1833 because at the time, Romantic novels were more popular than Romance novels in England. The story is set in Paris, France in the Late Middle Ages, during the reign of Louis XI (1461–1483).