Louis VI of France

Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (French: le Gros), was King of the Franks from 1108 until his death (1137). Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".

Louis was the first member of the House of Capet to make a lasting contribution to the centralizing institutions of royal power, He spent almost all of his twenty-nine-year reign fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued Paris or the Norman kings of England for their continental possession of Normandy. Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably and became one of the first strong kings of France since the division of the Carolingian Empire in 843.

Louis was a warrior king but by his forties his weight had become so great that it was increasingly difficult for him to lead in the field. A biography - The Deeds of Louis the Fat, prepared by his loyal advisor Abbot Suger of Saint Denis - offers a fully developed portrait of his character, in contrast to what little historians know about most of his predecessors.

The Fat

The Fat was an Australian sports based talk show television series, broadcast and produced by ABC TV.The series began on 6 March 2000, and ended on 18 November 2003.

Host Tony Squires, with regulars Peter Wilkins and Rebecca Wilson ran through the week's sporting news, showing the lighter side of things. One particular highlight of each episode was Slammin' Sam Kekovich's deadpan analysis of all things Australian. Regulars guests included: Dr Turf (John Rothfield), Kerry O'Keeffe, Wil Anderson, Jason Akermanis and Liz Ellis. Initially the show consisted of a 30 minute Monday night wrap of the weekend's sports. After gaining popularity, 2002 saw the show extended to a one-hour timeslot still on a Monday night. In 2003 the format, scheduling and length of the show was altered, with a one and half hour show being shown on Friday night. Criticisms arose of the new format, which saw the show turn away from only sports topics and into a variety show. The Friday night scheduling eliminated the wrap of the previous weekend's sporting events eventually resulting in a ratings drop and much of the popularity subsided.