Battle Royale: French Monarchs

36 - Philip II Augustus (Part 1)

Ben Clarke and Eliza Sommers Season 1 Episode 36

Though he's often overshadowed by his flashy ex-boyfriend Richard the Lionheart, Philip II is one of the most famous medieval kings for a reason. So much happens in his reign, that he is the first monarch since Charlemagne who gets a two-part episode! But things aren't looking good for France at the end of Louis VII's llacklustre reign, which saw the Angevin Empire gobble up the Left of France. Through strategic marriages, sneaky plots and a crusade so stressful it made all his hair fall out, will Philip be able to turn things around, and live up to the epithet Augustus?

Join us next week for Part 2, when we delve deeper into how Philip reigned and find out whether he was an ingenious nation-builder or a piggish vampire!

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Battle Royale's intro/outro music is "Dansez" by Fasion. Thank you to them for making this track free to use and listen! Go check out more of their stuff here.

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CATEGORIES

Ben and Eliza each give a score out of 10 for the first 4 categories. The 5th is determined by maths! The result is a total score out of 100.

  1. Enchanté: The shallow, first-impressions round: How fabulous and iconic an image have they passed down to us?
  2. En Garde: (A.K.A. “Selfish Wins”) How well did they gain and increase their personal power, either through scheming, statesmanship or good old fashion battles?
  3. Voulez-Vous: (A.K.A. “Selfless Wins”) How much would we want to live under their regime? How well did they better the world around them through law reforms and cultural projects?
  4. Ouh-Là-Là: How pearl-clutchingly scandalous were the events of their life, both in their time and down through the ages? How mad, bad and dangerous were they to know?
  5. La Vie en Throne: How many years did they reign, and how many of their children survived them?

For more details on the scores, how they are calculated and how our kings are ranking, visit our website.