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| “ | Ours is the Fury | „ |
| ~ House Baratheon's words. |
| “ | Robert was the true steel. Stannis is pure iron, black and hard and strong, yes, but brittle, the way iron gets. He'll break before he bends. And Renly, that one, he's copper, bright and shiny, pretty to look at but not worth all that much at the end of the day. | „ |
| ~ Donal Noye to Jon Snow. |
| “ | And Stannis has always felt he was cheated of Storm's End. The ancestral seat of House Baratheon, his by rights... if you knew how many times he came to Robert singing that same dull song in that gloomy aggrieved tone he has. When Robert gave the place to Renly, Stannis clenched his jaw so tight I thought his teeth would shatter. | „ |
| ~ Cersei Lannister |
House Baratheon of Storm's End are major characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptations, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
It is a family of both Valyrian and Westerosi descent, the youngest of the nine Great Houses of Westeros, and the Lords Paramount of the Stormlands. Founded by the Valyrian and rumored bastard half-brother of Aegon I Targaryen, Orys Baratheon, and his wife Princess Argella Durrandon, House Baratheon descends from the exinct House Durrandon of the Kingdom of the Storm. Their sigil is a crowned black stag on a field of gold, and their house words are "Ours is the Fury," which they both took as their own in honor of House Durrandon.
After Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen abducted Lyanna Stark and Mad King Aerys II Targaryen executed Lord Rickard Stark and his eldest son Brandon before ordering the execution of Lords Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark, Lord Jon Arryn defied said order and instead launched a rebellion against the Targaryen dynasty, aided by Houses Baratheon and Stark and most of their own respective vassals.
Throughout the war, Robert became the leading figure of the rebellion, and eventually House Tully joined the rebel side with a divided part of their own vassals. Robert's Rebellion ended with the Mad King's death, the overthrow and exile of House Targaryen, and Robert becoming King, resulting in House Baratheon becoming the new royal house of the Seven Kingdoms.
Overview[]
House Baratheon was founded by Orys Baratheon, the childhood friend and rumored bastard half-brother of Aegon the Conqueror. Orys served as a trusted commander during Aegon's conquest of Westeros. After slaying the last Storm King of House Durrandon, Argilac the Arrogant, Orys married King Argilac's daughter and only child, Princess Argella Durrandon, solidifying his claim to Storm's End and rule of the Stormlands. He then adopted House Durrandon's sigil, a black crowned stag on a gold field, as well as its words for his own, and became the Lord of Storm's End. He would subsequently become the first Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, loyally serving his friend King Aegon I throughout his reign.
House Baratheon became known for its strength and combat prowess. Many of the Baratheon line are known for being great fighters and brilliant generals, including the founder Orys Baratheon, and his descendants Rogar Baratheon, Lyonel Baratheon, Robert Baratheon, and his brothers, Stannis and Renly. Baratheon traits include tall and powerful physiques, bright blue eyes, and jet black hair.
The would-be last Targaryen monarch, Prince Aerys Targaryen, was the first cousin and a close friend to Ser (and later Lord) Steffon Baratheon, the son of Lord Ormund Baratheon and Princess Rhaelle Targaryen and father of the current Baratheon brothers. They were also close friends with Ser Tywin Lannister, and the three of them were veterans and inseparable companions during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, which was fought at the Stepstones.
During Robert's Rebellion, after Lord Robert Baratheon rebelled and overthrew the Targaryen Dynasty, he claimed the Iron for himself, due to having a greater claim, as he had a blood link to the Targaryens through his grandmother, Princess Rhaelle Targaryen. Following Robert's ascension to the throne, House Baratheon was split into three branches. The ruling cadet branch is House Baratheon of King's Landing, established by King Robert after being crowned Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. The second cadet branch is House Baratheon of Dragonstone, formed when Robert granted the seat of Dragonstone and its holdings to his younger brother, Lord Stannis Baratheon. The main ancestral branch, House Baratheon of Storm's End, was given to Robert's youngest brother, Lord Renly Baratheon, who became the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, ensuring the continuation of the main branch. Neither Stannis nor Renly were ever named princes by King Robert, for unspecified reasons.
House Baratheon truly proved to be capable of holding its power and dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms during Greyjoy's Rebellion, where Robert, Stannis, and their allies crushed King Balon IX Greyjoy's rebel forces. While Stannis defeated the infamous and mighty Iron Fleet, which is under the leadership of Lord Captain Victarion Greyjoy, Robert, his close friend Eddard Stark, and their forces laid siege to the castle of Pyke, and this ended the Greyjoy Rebellion. With this, Robert's hold on the Iron Throne was officially secured.
Following Lord Jon Arryn's death, Lord Stannis and his House alienated themselves from the court and the rest of the family, closing themselves at Dragonstone and becoming hostile to any travellers. After King Robert's death, House Baratheon divided itself and fell into internal conflict and infighting, resulting in the War of the Five Kings. House Baratheon's three branches end up clashing with each other, as the Iron Throne is disputed by King Joffrey I Baratheon, Stannis, and Renly, with Stannis being regarded as Joffrey's, and later King Tommen's, bitterest enemy. The Baratheons' lack of unity, as well as multiple crimes and offenses done by House Lannister and House Baratheon of King's Landing against the river lords and northern lords, especially the former, resulted in the rebellions of the North, the Iron Islands, and the Riverlands, with the Northerners seeking independence from the iron throne.
Known for his great lust and like King Aegon IV Targaryen, the womanizer King Robert has fathered numerous bastard children across the realm, though its total amount is unknown, as he had sex with women at every castle and town he ever visisted, with one of his occasional lovers being a widowed cousin of House Estermont, whose husband died in the Siege of Storm's End in Robert's Rebellion. Robert's eldest known child is Mya Stone, who is acknowledged to be around eighteen and serves House Royce of the Gates of the Moon in the Vale of Arryn. One of Robert's younger bastards is the boy Edric Storm, fathered by Delena Florent.
During his stay at the walled town of Stoney Sept during his rebellion, Robert had sex everywhere, and one child that is known to be his is Bella, a teenage prostitute named after the Battle of the Bells, a famously celebrated victory of Robert. In King's Landing, at least eleven children have been confirmed to be Robert's bastards, including Gendry (now Ser Gendry of the Hollow Hill) and, more recently, the infant Barra from a young prostitute between the ages of fourteen and fifteen. It is said that Robert fathered twins with a serving woman at Casterly Rock and that Robert's wife, Queen Cersei Lannister, had the babies killed and the mother sold to a slaver. More of Robert's children are likely to exist across the realm. The highborn Edric Storm is the only Baratheon bastard who serves in his biological family and has lived most of his life and childhood in Storm's End, fully educated and trained. Edric is also a ward of the Baratheons, under his uncle Renly and subsequently under his uncle Stannis.
Robert I Baratheon is the namesake of both Robb Stark and Robert Arryn, the respective heirs of the Rebellion's other two primary leaders, Eddard Stark and Jon Arryn. King Robert's younger brother, Lord Stannis, served as the small council's master of ships and navy admiral for roughly fourteen years, and Robert's youngest brother, Lord Renly, served a few years as the small council's master of laws. King Joffrey holds both his uncles Stannis and Renly in contempt, following the two's rebellions against him.
History[]
Aegon's Conquest and Foundation[]
During the earliest generations of the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros, House Baratheon were their cousins' closest supporters and trusted allies. Lord Orys Baratheon is widely believed to have been a bastard son of Aerion Targaryen, the Lord of Dragonstone. This made him the half-brother of Aegon I Targaryen and his sister wives, Visenya and Rhaenys Targaryen. These rumors have much credence, mainly from how much favor Orys was showered by Aegon. Orys was Aegon's best friend, and during the Wars of Conquest, Orys married Princess Argella Durrandon, the only heir of King Argilac the Arrogant and the last of House Durrandon, forming House Baratheon of Storm's End.
Orys was infuriated by Queen Rhaenys's defeat and mysterious disappearance in Dorne, the only kingdom the various Targaryen kings would ever fail to conquer. Something regarding Rhaenys's engimatic status and fate in Dorne had forced the Targaryens and the Baratheons to stop waging war against Dorne, and Aegon even acted friendly and accommodating with the Dornishmen.
Dance of the Dragons[]
At the beginning of the Dance of the Dragons, it was expected that Lord Borros Baratheon would support Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen due to the fact that Borros and his father were relatives to Rhaenyra's mother, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, daughter of Lady Jocelyn Baratheon. The green council sent Prince Aemond Targaryen to Storm's End to propose a marriage alliance and win House Baratheon's support for the greens. However, Borros surprised them by welcoming Aemond and expressing his discontent with Rhaenyra, favoring a male heir over a daughter.
When Rhaenyra's son, Lucerys Velaryon, arrived on behalf of the blacks, tensions arose. Borros tried to maintain peace but ultimately failed. Aemond confronted Lucerys, and Borros intervened to separate them. Lucerys was killed by Aemond during the altercation.
Storm's End was officially declared for the greens, and Borros gathered an army to support their cause. However, instead of joining the main conflict, he marched to confront a Vulture King in the Red Mountains.
After Rhaenyra's death, Borros left Storm's End and marched with his forces to King's Landing. He seized the capital, ended the Moon of the Three Kings, and arranged marriages for his daughters. His daughter Cassandra was betrothed to King Aegon II Targaryen (who would die before marrying her), while Floris were bethroted to Lord Larys Strong.
Borros led his forces against the rivermen in the Battle of the Kingsroad but suffered a crushing defeat due to betrayal from the Crownlands men. Borros fought valiantly, killing twelve knights as well as Lords Roland Darry and Jorah Mallister, but was eventually slain by Lord Kermit Tully.
It is said that Cassandra Baratheon wept when she learned that Aegon II had died from poison and that she would not be a queen. She would marry Ser Walter Brownhill.
Robert's Rebellion[]
The rebellion was in part triggered by the abduction of Lyanna Stark, daughter of Lord Rickard Stark and Lord Robert Baratheon's betrothed, by Crown Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, the son of King Aerys II Targaryen. When Lyanna was allegedly abducted by Rhaegar, it sparked outrage in the North and Dorne, as the Houses Stark and Martell had been slighted by the royal family, the latter due to Rhaegar being already married to Princess Elia Martell and father of the toddler Princess Rhaenys and the infant Prince Aegon. Lord Stark's eldest son and heir, Brandon, led a party of highborn youths and attempted to confront the missing Rhaegar in King's Landing, which resulted in their arrest and the subsequent unfair executions of the majority of the nobles and their fathers, notably Rickard and Brandon, who were brutally killed. Afterwards, King Aerys sent a raven to Lord Jon Arryn, demanding that he deliver him the heads of his wards, Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark, resulting in Jon declaring a rebellion against the Crown. Robert, Jon, and Eddard Stark to challenge the Targaryen rule.
During the early stages of the rebellion, Jon Arryn was technically the leader of the rebels, but Robert's popularity, glorified reputation, and song-like, handsome youthful appearance already made him the rebellion's central figure. As a result, many ill-informed people in the Seven Kingdoms incorrectly believe that Robert immediately rebelled as soon as Lyanna was abducted, when in reality he had initially remained confused by his cousin Rhaegar's actions and waited for Brandon Stark to receive an explanation, only for the King's order of execution for Robert and his best friend Ned to arrive at the Eyrie. The rebellion was actually triggered in self-defense by the execution of two slighted lords, especially Eddard, whose father and older brother were murdered by House Targaryen and his younger sister taken by the same house.
The rebellion saw House Baratheon gather more allies throughout the war, gaining the support of the majority of the Stormlands, the Vale, the North, and eventually the Riverlands as well, as Lord Hoster Tully was more an ally to Robert and his side than he was to the Targaryens, and his eldest daughter Catelyn had lost her betrothed Brandon because of Aerys and Rhaegar's actions. The rebels fought the loyalist forces in several battles, most notably the Battle of the Bells against Jon Connington's host and the Battle of the Trident against Rhaegar's host. It was the Battle of the Bells which forced King Aerys to finally take Robert's Rebellion seriously, and realize that his cousin Robert Baratheon -more beloved by the people, and recently more than Rhaegar due to the latter's actions and dissappearance - was the greatest threat to the Targaryen dynasty since Daemon I Blackfyre. Aerys punished Lord Connington for his failure to deal with the rebels by seizing all his lands, titles, and wealth, and giving them to Jon's cousin, Ronald Connington, while Jon was exiled from Westeros.
Robert's exceptional combat skills, charisma, and famous ability to turn foes into friends, combined with the support of powerful allies such as House Stark, House Arryn, and House Tully, proved key in the rebels' success. The only major battle ever lost by the rebels was the Battle of Ashford, in the northern borders between the Reach and the Stormlands, where Robert was defeated by Lord Randyll Tarly, although Tarly's liege Lord Mace Tyrell took credit for the victory. A major base of operation of the rebels was Riverrun, the seat of one of their leaders, Hoster Tully. At Riverrun, Robert was among the many rebel attendants of the double wedding between Ned Stark with Catelyn Tully and Jon Arryn with Lysa Tully.
A large reason for Robert's victory in the Trident was the absence of almost the entire army of the Reach, as House Tyrell's vassals, including the Redwyne fleet, spent a year laying siege to Storm's End after the Battle of Ahsford. The castle was held by Ser Stannis Baratheon and his garrison, and as war had not been anticipated, the castle's granaries and storehouses were only half full and unprepared for a long siege. Soon after the Tyrell made siege camps outside Storm's End's castle's walls, Mace's cousin, Lord Paxter Redwyne, arrived with the powerful Redwyne fleet from the Arbor and closed Shipbreaker Bay to all trade cutting Storm's End off the rest of the world.
The Siege of Storm's End had continued for the better part of a year, and the garrison ran out of food provvisions and had to eat all their horses first, then the dogs, the cats, and finally any rats they could find and leather soup. Throughout the long siege, Lord Tyrell and his bannermen, such as his cronies Paxter and Lord Mathis Rowan, always feasted within sight of the walls. The long conflict by attrition resulted with at least one breach in discipline in Stannis's garrison, when the castle's master-at-arms, Ser Gawen Wylde, and three knights were caught trying to sneak out a postern gate to surrender to their besiegers. As Stannis was preparing to have them hurled at the Tyrell host via catapult, Maester Cressen convinced him to imprison the four men, as the garrison might need to eat the dead if their food ran out, with the child Renly hearing their talk. Gawen would eventually die in his cell during the siege.
After running out of any source of nourishment, Stannis still refused to yield and stubbornly kept holding Storm's End no matter what, and the castle's residents were preparing to resort to cannibalism and eat their own dead. The castle's main blacksmith, Donal Noye, lost an arm during the siege after an axe wound festered.
Around the time of the Battle of the Trident, Lord Robert announced his claim for the Iron Throne and declared himself the new King and ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. At this point, Robert officially became the primary leader of the rebels, although his handsome, louder, and charismatic character and figure overshadowed the other rebel leaders so much, that he was already seen as the main rebel leader anyway. Robert personally killed Prince Rhaegar at the Trident in the Riverlands, crushing him with his warhammer. Robert was also known for his mercy, as he had pardoned his enemy Ser Barristan Selmy and sending his own maester to tend of the knight's wounds, despite Lord Roose Bolton urging Robert to send Barristan's head to the King.
Davos, a notorious smuggler, captain, and associate of pirates, wanted by the Targaryens and the rulers of the Free Cities, eventually decided to support the rebels and help the nearly-forgotten garrison of Storm's End, despite the fact it was thanks Stannis who held the Reach's host in the Stormlands and caused them not to march to Rhaegar at the Trident. Davos slipped through the Redwyne fleet's lines one night, entering Storm's End from a cave with a ship loaded with onions and salt fish for the starving garrison. Afterwards he was both punished and rewarded by Stannis, who made Davos into a landed knight of the Stormlands, founding House Seaworth.
Following Rhaegar's death, House Greyjoy decide to enter the war by taking advantage of the chaos to invade the Reach and raid lands of the Mander, after Lord Quenton Greyjoy's eldest sons Balon and Euron convinced him to join the rebel side. However, the Iron Islands' contribution in Robert's Rebellion was minimal, as despite the ironmen's victory in the Battle of the Mander, Quenton died in it, and his heir Balon brought his forces and the Iron Fleet back home to claim the Seastone Chair. Meanwhile, as Robert was recovering from the Trident, Lord Tywin Lannister, estranged former friend and ally of King Aerys, joined the rebel side after spending the majority of the war in neutrality and ignoring one call for aid from the Targaryens (Rhaegar trusted Tywin to join his side). Tywin was familiar with Robert's character and understood that someone needed to do the "dirty work" by dealing with the Targaryen royal children. As Tywin said, "heroes don't kill children", and Robert was the hailed hero; to prove his allegiance to the Baratheons and their allies, Tywin marched his army of the Westerlands to King's Landing, and after Aerys opened a gate for them, the westermen sacked the city, mass killing and raping citizens and looting everywhere.
By the time Robert's host arrived in King's Landing, the Targaryens who lived in the Red Keep were already dead. Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, who was also kept a hostage against Tywin for good behavior, was found sitting on the Iron Throne near Aerys's fresh corpse in a pool of blood. Rhaegar's widowed wife, Princess Elia Martell, was brutally raped to death by Ser Gregor Clegane, who first killed Rhaegar and Elia's son Aegon Targaryen with equal brutality. Rhaegar and Elia's daughter, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, was killed by being brutally stabbed multiple times by Ser Amory Lorch. When the corpses of his Targaryen children were presented, Rhaenys was recognizable, but Aegon was a "faceless horror of bone and brain and gore". While Robert was pleased, Eddard was outraged and disgusted by the children's killing, calling it murder, saying the two were no more than babes. Robert responded, "I see no babes, only dragonspawn", and refused to seek to identify and punish the knights reponsible for the act. Jon Arryn was not able to placate the argument between Robert and Eddard, and the latter left King's Landing the next day, to fight the war's final battles alone.
Despite Rhaegar's death at the Trident and his family and father's deaths in King's Landing, the rest of King Aerys's family was not found in the city. The Mad King's pregnant wife and sister, Queen Rhaella Targaryen, and their younger son, Prince Viserys Targaryen, had been moved to the island of Dragonstone, the ancestral seat of the Targaryens. Furthermore, Lyanna Stark and three remaining knights of the Kingsguard were still missing and also not present, as they were all hidden somewhere in the Red Mountains of Dorne. Eddard marched to the south with the rebel army to give relief to Stannis's besieged garrison and retrieve Lyanna.
While Ned was away, Robert was crowned the new King of the Seven Kingdoms, while his cousin family of Targaryen was deposed, outlawed, stripped of all lands, titles, possessions, and wealth, and exiled from the continent of Westeros. House Baratheon became the new royal family, founding the cadet branch House Baratheon of King's Landing, with the Faith of the Seven and the majority of the ruling Westerosi nobility supporting the change. The Order of the Maesters justified Robert's claim on the basis of House Baratheon's family bloodties with the Targaryens, though it was conquest which won Robert the Iron Throne. Robert would become known as the man who ended the Targaryen dynasty, and some of the family's customs and acts, such as incest, became openly criticized by the realm's people and the Faith.
At Storm's End, the food received from Davos allowed the castle's garrison to survive without turning cannibals long enough for the Targaryens' defeat and for Ned's arrival. Stannis's successful defense of Storm's End would be considered a major military success, and it prevented Stannis and Renly from falling into loyalist hands and become captives, and helped the rebel storm lords remain loyal to their liege Robert. Lord Mace Tyrell dipped his banners as soon as Ned and the rebels appeared on the field outside Storm's End, and then Ned informed Tyrell about the events of the Sack of King's Landing and the departure of the remaining Targaryens to Dragonstone. The siege was finally lifted, although bad blood between Stannis and Mace would remain. The majority of the Reach lords and knights would be pardoned by King Robert. Stannis highly resented the fact that Robert valued Eddard more than him, and would come to resent the fact that Robert thanked Ned for lifting the siege of Storm's End, and not Stannis for holding it for a year for their war. Robert would name Stannis the new master of ships of his small council, the admiral of the royal navy.
After the combat at the tower of joy and spend, Ned returned to Robert with the remains of Lyanna Stark, who was found dying in Dorne by Ned and Howland Reed. Lyanna's death reconciled the two grieving friends, and Robert would forever hate Rhaegar and blame him for Lyanna's death. Robert would thereafter be haunted by Lyanna's memory, especially following his unhappy political marriage with Cersei Lannister, who ironically was a rejected betrothal proposal for Prince Rhaegar.
Throughout most of the war, the stormlander House Connington of Griffin's Roost had chosen to fight for the Targaryens instead of the liege Robert. After the Battle of the Bells, the then-Hand of the King, Lord Jon Connington, had been exiled for his failure to capture Robert and was stripped of all his lands, titles, and wealth, which were given them to Jon's cousin and castellan of Griffin's Roost, Ronald Connington, while Jon was exiled from Westeros. Throughout the rest of the war, Lord Ronald joined rebel side, but following the conclusion of the war, King Robert completed the destruction of House Connington which Aerys had begun; while Ronald was allowed to keep both his head and Griffin's Roost, he was stripped of his lordship and a lot of the wealth of House Connington wealth. Nine-tenths of the Connington lands were given to neighboring lords who had been more fervent supporters to Robert's claim. This demoted Ser Ronald Connington to a landed knight, carrying the title Knight of Griffin's Roost.
Aftermath of the rebellion[]
Despite his victory, King Robert I remained threatened by the existence of Prince Viserys Targaryen, and the fact that Dorne wanted to continue the war and refused to bend the knee to Robert. Dorne had been slighted and mistreated by both Targaryens and Baratheons, due to how Rhaegar shamed his wife for another woman, how Aerys gracelessly forced House Martell to bring their levies into Rhaegar's host, and was finally outraged at the rebel side for the lack of justice for Elia and her children at the hands of House Lannister's vassals of the Westerlands. Dorne and the Martells were also incensed by the death of Prince Lewyn Martell of the Kingsguard, although it was his job and duty to defend the Crown's interests or die in the attempt. But at Dragonstone, the Targaryen loyalists declared Viserys the new King of the Seven Kingdoms, and Dorne wanted to declare for him. In order to secure his claim, Robert had to kill the remaining Targaryens at Dragonstone, but he was not willing to stain his hands of the blood of innocents.
King Robert tasked his heir Lord Stannis with building a new royal fleet for House Baratheon of King's Landing, intending to use it to seize the island of Dragonstone, the last remaining Targaryen stronghold, to finally end the talk and danger of the war continuing. While Stannis was still building the royal fleet, a fierce storm destroyed the entire Targaryen fleet which had been protecting Dragonstone's island, while Dragonstone's Dowager Queen Rhaella Targaryen died in labor at the castle, giving birth to Aerys's last child, Princess Daenerys Targaryen.
As soon as the new Baratheon royal fleet was ready, Robert sent Stannis to "deal" with the orphans Viserys and the infant Daenerys. Stannis commanded from his own war galley Fury as he led the new royal fleet to Dragonstone, which was left undefended after the storm destroyed the Targaryen fleet. The castle's garrison was ready to sell Viserys and Daenerys to the Baratheons. However, just before Stannis sailed, Ser Willem Darry, the former master-at-arms of the Red Keep, led four other loyalists in smuggling Viserys, Daenerys, and a wet nurse from Dragonstone under cover of night, and they sailed for the Braavosian Coastland across the narrow sea. Stannis's successfully led the assault on Dragonstone, conquering the island and its castle in the name of King Robert. He was forced to report back to Robert that Viserys and Daenerys were smuggled away, much to Robert's rage. He blamed Stannis for letting the Targaryen heirs escape, although the two had been spirited to safety by Targaryen loyalists shortly before Stannis had set sail.
Lord Stannis submitted all the Targaryen vassals of the Blackwater Bay isles of the Houses Velaryon, Bar Emmon, Celtigar, and Sunglass, who became Stannis's direct vassals when King Robert had named his older brother Lord of Dragonstone, while giving the wealthier Storm's End to his younger brother Renly. This offended and angered Stannis, because he did not want Dragonstone, which was poorer and its power much more limited than Storm's End's, as Renly had also been named Lord Paramount of the Stormlands over Stannis. Stannis would always resent this and believe it to be an intentional slight, which Queen Cersei agrees with this view.
According to Maester Cressen (and George R. R. Martin himself), Robert had not necessarily meant it as such. The castle had traditionally been the seat of the heir to the Iron Throne, the Prince of Dragonstone, during most of the Targaryen dynasty, so the then-childless Robert was granting it to his heir at that time, Stannis. Nevertheless, Stannis had lost rule of the Stormlands, even if he had gained superior naval and political power as a small council ruler and the master of ships. Through Stannis, the second cadet branch House Baratheon of Dragonstone was founded. Cressen, the Maester of Storm's End, entered in Stannis's service and moved to Dragonstone, as he always felt out of Lord Steffon Baratheon's three sons, Stannis was the one who always needed him the most. Patchface, a mentally-damaged jester who lived in Storm's End, and was Steffon and his lady wife Cassana's last gift, would also be brought to Dragonstone at some point.
Despite the two last remaining Targaryens having fled to Braavos, Dorne still wished to declare for them. House Martell was still furious for the deaths of Elia and her children and the lack of accountability for the murderers. Furthermore, Prince Oberyn Martell, Elia's closest sibling, is convinced that Tywin Lannister himself ordered the deaths of Elia and her children as an act of revenge for Elia's marriage to Rhaegar, to whom Tywin had intended his daughter Cersei to marry, but his long bitter rivalry and cold conflict with the envious Aerys had prevented such marriage from ever happening. Although Oberyn's attempts at another rebellion were stopped by his older brother and Prince of Dorne, Doran Martell, there was still a widely spread talk of another war starting soon to put Viserys on the Iron Throne.
Robert's Hand of the King and envoy, Lord Jon Arryn visited Dorne a year after Robert's conquest and went to Sunspear, where he returned the bones of Prince Lewyn Martell and successfully negotiated a peace with Prince Doran Martell. However, Elia and her children's killers, Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch, remained unpunished by Robert, and although their crime was common knowledge in the Westerlands, their involvement would always never be addressed nor confessed in public, making the two knights' guilt a rumor. The lack of justice for Elia and her children created a persistent bone of contention between the Iron Throne and Dorne. Robert would never return to Dorne ever again, while his brother Lord Renly would years later, for his own business.
Jon Arryn successfully negotiated a an alliance with House Lannister to secure the Iron Throne, through the wedding between King Robert I and his Queen Consort Cersei Lannister. The two would subsequently become parents of three children and heirs, Prince Joffrey, Princess Myrcella, and Prince Tommen Baratheon, who would all strongly resemble Cersei and have her eyes and golden hair, unlike all the other countless bastard children of Robert, all having the Baratheon deep blue eyes and black hair. Lord Stannis married Selyse Florent, cousin of Robert's one-time lover Delena Florent, and the two would attempt to have sons, to no avail. The only child Stannis and Selyse would be able to conceive eventually, is Shireen Baratheon, who would have the same typical black hair of House Baratheon, with some of Stannis's and House Florent's physical features.
Robert's claim had not been fully secured and many were still calling him "the Usurper", and the Iron Islands also wished to restore themselves to independence, as Lord Balon Greyjoy was still planning to crown himself, confident that the Seven Kingdoms were not fully united under Robert yet, seeing the situation with Dorne as evidence.
Back during Robert's Rebellion, the Reachman Lord Owen Merryweather, had been stripped of all lands, wealth, and titles and exiled along with his all family by King Aerys II for failing to suppress the rebels in the Stormlands, after Robert defeated the royalist storm lords in the three Battles of Summerhall. As Orton had been the Hand of the King (Tywin's successor) at the time, Aerys had blamed him and believed him to be guilty of conspiracy with the rebels, exiling House Merryweather in the process. Years later, Robert would eventually welcome House Merryweather back to Westeros and restore their titles and some of their lands in the Reach to the late Owen's grandson, Orton Merryweather, who during his exile had found himself a Myrish wife, Lady Taena.
Songs about House Baratheon[]
Being one of the nine Great Houses of Westeros, House Baratheons has numerous songs in their honor. In most recent times, the deeds of Robert Baratheon are object of many songs. His lust for girls and battle, charisma, and love for alcohol also inspired bards to make songs about him. Notable songs were made to honor Robert's victories against the Targaryen dynasty and the Greyjoys, the most prominent ones being about the Battles of Sumerhall, the Battle of the Bells, the Battle of the Trident, and the Siege of Pyke.
During the War of the Five Kings, other songs about the Baratheons were made. Known ones are positive songs about Joffrey Baratheon and Renly Baratheon, and only negative ones for Stannis Baratheon, who is known to be overall despised by the smallfolk and by many of the nobility. Two songs and some of their lyrics were featured in the novels.
Lord Renly's Ride[]
Lord Renly's Ride is a song written and sang by Hamish the Harper, for the wedding of King Joffrey I Baratheon and Queen Margaery Tyrell. During the event, a tournament of singers is hosted, with a golden lute as the prize. Hamish chose a song to praise Renly as a hero in order to ingratiate himself to the Tyrells (and later becomes a member of Margaery's retinue), who were the most important supporters of Renly's rebellion. The song is played with a high harp. The known directly sang lyric of this song is:
From his throne of bones the Lord of Death looked down on the murdered lord...
Overall, the lyrics narrate how Renly's soul regrets turning against his older brother's family and defies the Lord of Death himself (the Stranger, the death aspect of the Seven-faced God), in order to gain a chance to redeem himself for his rebellion. Renly's ghost returns to the land of the living and repents his attempt to usurp his nephew's crown, by defending the realm from Stannis Baratheon, defeating him in the Battle of the Blackwater. Afterwards, the shade of brave Lord Renly flies back to Highgarden, to see the face of his true love Margaery one last time.
Throughout the song, Tyrion Lannister has his own sarcastic remarks and mockeries of the romanticizations. By the end of the performance, concluding with Renly stealing one last look at the face of his "true love", Margaery is teary-eyed. Tyrion tells his wife, Sansa Stark, that Renly never repented of anything in his life. However, Tyrion also admits that Hamish's song is the best one in the tournament, and if he has to judge, then he considers Hamish the winner of the golden lute.
In reality, "Renly ghost" (or Renly's shade) was Ser Garlan Tyrell, who led the vanguard during the Battle of the Blackwater while wearing King Renly's iconic and recognizable green armor. The suggestion to play such role was given by Lord Petyr Baelish, during his stay at Highgarden as the Iron Throne's envoy of peace after Renly's death, to convince Lord Mace Tyrell to join forces against King Stannis. The most ignorant smallfolk believed that Renly was back as a ghost, and some still do.
Despite the fact that Renly was a rebel and a traitor to the Crown, the political union with the Tyrells compelled the Lannisters and King Joffrey to accept the figure of Renly being romanticized by the public, all in order to please the Tyrells and to make Stannis look more evil.
The Song of the Battle of the Blackwater[]
A thus far unnamed song about the Battle of the Blackwater (possibly named The Battle of the Blackwater) is written and performed by the singer Galyeon of Cuy, who is renowned for the length of his songs. This song is long as well, counting seventy-seven verses. It narrates the events of the Battle of the Blackwater, and describes the villainy of Lord Stannis Baratheon, and praises the valor of King Joffrey I Baratheon and his mother, Queen Regent Cersei Lannister. It is sang in the tournament of singers during Joffrey and Margaery's wedding, to win the golden lute. Galyeon performs accompanied by six musicians. Known lyrics are:
The dark lord brooded high in his tower, in a castle as black as the night.
Black was his hair and black was his soul, [chanted in unison with the musicians; then a flute comes in]
He feasted on bloodlust and envy, and filled his cup full up with spite,
My brother once ruled seven kingdoms, he said to his harridan wife.
I'll take what was his and make it all mine. Let his son feel the point of my knife.
A brave young boy with hair of gold [musicians chant in unison, as a woodharp and a fiddle begin to play]
The dark lord assembled his legions, they gathered around him like crows.
And thirsty for blood they boarded their ships...
Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark comment over the song along with Lord Garlan Tyrell (new lord of Brightwater Keep in place of the attainted Florents) and his lady wife Leonette Fossoway, who are seated beside them. When the minstrels begin chanting about Joffrey's bravery, Tyrion loudly comments how if he is ever Hand again, the first thing he will do is hang all the singers, giving a laughter from Leonette. Tyrion sarcastically comments how the "dark lord's legions" cut off his nose during the Battle of the Blackwater, although he knows it was the enigmatic work of the equally enigmatic Ser Mandon Moore, which is kept secret. A giggling Leonette remarks how Tyrion does his rhymes well and that he should be a singer, while Garlan disagrees and states that Tyrion is made to do great deeds, not to sing of them. Garlan gives Tyrion credit for the victory against King Stannis and his forces, telling him that if not for his massive chain in the mouth of the Blackwater and his wildfire attack, Stannis's army would have been across the river long before the relief force of the Westerlands and the Reach joined the battle (with some from the Stormlands). He also adds that if Tyrion had not sent his Vale mountain clansmen to slay most of Stannis's scouts, the relief force would have never been able to take Stannis's forces unaware from the rear.
Overall, Tyrion believes that the song lasts so long that if feels like it has a thousand verses. Throughout the song, Sansa is offended when Galyeon and his players sing about Cersei's valor. She comments how Cersei never did the admirable things the song narrates about. Tyrion warns his wife, who always naively believed in all songs, to never believe anything she hears in a song, and then proceeds to drink his way through the final twenty verses.
Houses Sworn to Baratheon[]
Overview[]
Prior the Targaryen dynasty, the Stormlands were ruled by House Durrandon of Storm's End. Following the foundation of House Baratheon, the line of House Durrandon continued through the female line from Princess Argella Durrandon, who had married Lord Orys Baratheon and bore his children.
House Baratheon, its first incarnation House Durrandon, and all the other houses of the Stormlands have a bloody history of wars and terrorism with Dorne. During the old eras of the Kingdom of the Storm, the Dornish Marches were created as bulwarks against Dorne to the south and the Kingdom of the Reach to the west. The rulers of this region are still known as Marcher Lords.
The Stormlands and its houses also had famous wars against the Kingdom of the Reach, ruled by House Gardener, the different kingdoms of the Iron Islands (most notably against King Harwyn Hardhand), and against the Kingdom of the Rivers (Riverlands/Trident).
During House Targaryen's civil war and succession crisis known as the Dance of the Dragons, House Baratheon and the vast majority of the houses of the Stormlands supported King Aegon II Targaryen's claim and thus joined the Greens. The Stormlands, however, joined the conflict later toward the end. Houses Baratheon, Arryn, and Stark only enter the fighting once nearly all the dragons were dead or fled on their own.
Much of the naval trade in the Stormlands is handled by the Weeping Town, the most prominent and thriving port settlement in the kingdom. The large town is ruled by House Whitehead. Presumably, most of the naval forces of the Stormlands tend to assemble at the Weeping Town, as docking places in Shipbreaker Bay are far too unsafe for ships and fleets.
Current status[]
As of the current year 300 AC, due to the ongoing situation following King Robert I Baratheon's death and the War of the Five Kings, the houses of the Stormlands are under nominal rule of House Baratheon of Storm's End, with rulership still being disputed between House Baratheon of King's Landing and House Baratheon of Dragonstone. Prior this situation, House Baratheon of Storm's End was ruled by King Renly Baratheon, who died as a rival pretender claiming the Iron Throne, while many other Stormlords had remained neutral even during Renly's campaign. Following the Battle of the Blackwater, most of the captured Stormlords who were fighting for King Stannis Baratheon were forced to yield to the Iron Throne, although none of the nobles who remained in the Stormlands ever showed up at court to swear fealty to King Joffrey I Baratheon, nor his successor.
Most of the leaderless Stormlords currently remain neutral without openly supporting either Baratheon side, although parts of their own sworn vassals are fighting for either King Tommen or King Stannis. Much of the Stormlords' main military forces are serving under House Baratheon's two rival cadet branches and Lord Tywin Lannister and Queen Cersei Lannister split all the combatant forces of the Stormlands to merge them into the Iron Throne's multiple armies, thus dividing the armies of the Stormlands into multiple feudal levies and stripping the Stormlords of the ability to form a united military power and rebel again. The only properly united force of the Stormlands is part of King Stannis Baratheon's army and household, but its number is small following Stannis's defeat in the Battle of the Blackwater.
Military forces of knights and men-at-arms of the Stormlands were part of Lord Randyll Tarly's southron host sent to fight King Robb Stark's northern forces and to restore the King's peace in the Riverlands, while other Stormlander forces were added in Ser Jaime Lannister's Iron Throne host sent to lift the sieges of Riverrun and Raventree Hall, and others are part of House Tyrell's hosts sent to besiege Dragonstone and Storm's End. Stormlander combatants are currently part of Tarly's host recently brought to King's Landing to oppose any possible conflict with the Faith Militant or House Lannister, while another portion of Stormlander forces was left by Tarly at Maidenpool, in the Riverlands. Other forces of the Stormlands remain part of Stannis's host campaigning in the North, or Stannis's garrisons at Dragonstone or Storm's End, or at the Wall with Queen Selyse Florent. Some Stormlords or other family members remain part of Stannis's army, while others like Ser Ronnet Connington are at court in King's Landing to serve Tommen or avoid Stannis's wrath.
Many outlaw members of the Brotherhood Without Banners were originally soldiers from the Stormlands, including the Marcher Lord Beric Dondarrion, who at court with King Robert during the year 298 AC, before becoming part of the defeated host that had been dispatched by Lord Eddard Stark to execute Ser Gregor Clegane in Riverlands.
Currently, always in 300 AC, the Stormlands are under an unexpected invasion from the Golden Company, a sellsword faction from the Free Cities. Led by yet another claimant to the Iron Throne claiming to be Aegon Targaryen and the exiled Lord Jon Connington, the Golden Company are conquering the Stormlands, taking towns and besieging castles. Whether Aegon will manage to unite the Stormlands under his rule is yet to be seen. At the moment, Aegon is leading an attack to Storm's End, the ancestral seat of House Baratheon, which is still being held by Stannis Baratheon's garrison led by Ser Gilbert Farring, Lord Elwood Meadows and Ser Lomas Estermont.
At the same time, Storm's End was already being besieged by a southron Iron Throne army led by Lord Mace Tyrell, who is currently back in King's Landing with most of his army to serve as Hand of the King and ensure his daughter's safety in her upcoming trial by the Faith. Command of the ongoing siege of Storm's End has been given to Lord Mathis Rowan, and Aegon's own army was on its way as a third fighting party. Some rumors claim that Aegon has taken Storm's End, although they may be just false information. Princess Arianne Martell's party is also on its way to the castle.
The Golden Company includes men named Cole by surname, making them possible descendants of House Cole, whose reasons for the extinction and failure to continue are unknown.
Known Sworn Houses[]
- House Bolling
- House Brownhill
- House Buckler
- House Cafferen
- House Caron
- House Cole (extinct)
- House Connington
- House Dondarrion
- House Errol
- House Estermont
- House Fell
- House Foote
- House Gower
- House Grandison
- House Hasty
- House Herston
- House Horpe
- House Kellington
- House Lonmouth
- House Mertyns
- House Morrigen
- House Musgood
- House Peasebury
- House Penrose
- House Rogers
- House Seaworth
- House Selmy
- House Staedmon
- House Swann
- House Swygert
- House Tarth
- House Toyne (extinct)
- House Trant
- House Tudbury
- House Wagstaff
- House Wensington
- House Whitehead
- House Wylde
Unconfirmed[]
The following houses supporting King Stannis may be families of the Stormlands, or possibly from the Crownlands or the Reach. In addition, House Suggs' location, origins and allegiance are completely unknown, making it unclear if its sole known member, who is a Crownlander originating from Flea Bottom, is just a Baratheon retainer individually, or his family is also sworn to Stannis and/or Tommen.
- House Sweet
- House Foxglove
- House Blackberry
Political Supporters[]
- Antler Men (organization/guild of rich traders, merchants, and businessmen in King's Landing)
Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
- House Baratheon is basically House Durrandon in all but name, even culturally and biologically, just continuing under the female line and renamed. Even House Durrandon's sigil and words were inherited by its successor House Baratheon.
- The founder, Orys, who was a Valyrian and allegedly a bastard of House Targaryen, fully adopted his wife's culture of the Kingdom of the Storm (now the Stormlands) and in his new house he didn't add anything prominent from Valyrian culture from his original home Dragonstone. Orys Baratheon had black hair and black eyes, and it is usually assumed by readers that Orys' wife Argella Durrandon had her father's black hair, and possibly the typical deep blue eyes of her descendants.
- After the Targaryens were deposed and exiled, all their holdings, titles, wealth, castles, manses, and lands passed to House Baratheon. The Targaryens also owned the castle Summerhall and its domain lands in the Dornish Marches, in the Stormlands, although Summerhall castle itself was a ruin for over two decades. It can be presumed that what remains of Summerhall and its domains belong to the Baratheons, unless they granted them to another vassal house.
- In the television series Game of Thrones, following the deaths of Robert, Renly, Joffrey, Shireen, Selyse Florent, Stannis, Myrcella, Margaery Tyrell, and Tommen, House Baratheon and its cadet branch from Dragonstone have become officially extinct, leaving only House Baratheon of King's Landing, under the widowed Cersei Lannister. With Tommen's death, House Baratheon as a whole became legally extinct. Despite this, neither the nobility nor the smallfolk openly rebel, inexplicably, when by then Cersei is openly making House Lannister the Iron Throne's ruler, along with House Greyjoy. During Season 8, before Cersei's death, House Baratheon was officially revived through the legitimization of Gendry as a trueborn Baratheon by Daenerys Targaryen.
- In the novels, Stannis, Selyse, Shireen, Margaery, Tommen, and Myrcella are all alive, with Stannis being three days away from Winterfell, Selyse and Shireen at the Wall at Castle Black, and Myrcella on her way back from Dorne to her brother Tommen in King's Landing.
- However, Myrcella's true status currently remains under debate, as she was disfigured by Ser Gerold Dayne, with Doran Martell claiming she lost an ear. It is unclear whether Myrcella is alive or not, and if the living injured girl is her cousin, Rosamund Lannister, who has already been used as Myrcella's doppelganger.
- Even if a scenario in which Stannis, Shireen, Myrcella, and Tommen are deceased occurs, Gendry would remain highly unlikely to become Lord of Storm's End and even be legitimized, due to his younger half-brother Edric Storm being a legally acknowledged bastard of Robert I Baratheon and fully educated highborn raised in Storm's End, who is known and loved by the nobility of the Stormlands, making him a superior candidate for legitimization. Mya Stone is also acknowledged as Robert's daughter, leaving Gendry, Bella, and any other living children of Robert unaknowledged. Gendry is also lowborn and illiterate, and in the novels is an outlaw knight of the Brotherhood Without Banners, not aware of his true parentage, although he and his uncle Stannis met each other once in King's Landing. Like Stannis, Ser Gendry converted to the worship of R'hllor and currently fights with Lady Stoneheart (although Stannis is actually neutral towards religion and only adopted R'hllor for personal reasons).
- Stannis is the first person who discovered the truth behind the parentage of Cersei's children, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. He refused to tell his suspicions to Robert, feeling it looked self-serving in an attempt to make himself the heir to the Iron Throne again. So he confided his suspicion to his brother's Hand, Jon Arryn, and the two investigated the matter together by visiting 11 bastard children of Robert, including Gendry and Barra, the latter named after House Baratheon. It is Stannis who points out to Arryn that all of Robert's children have black hair. During the second book, Stannis tells this background to Catelyn Stark, explaining to her that her husband Ned most likely found the truth as well.
- In the novels, Gendry only met his uncle Stannis in King's Landing, when Stannis accompanied Jon Arryn to visit Gendry in his work place at Tobho Mott's shop. According to Gendry, Stannis never spoke a word to him and simply stared at him with his usual frown all the time. In the TV series, Gendry meets Stannis at Dragonstone in Season 3, as he is used to replace his younger half-brother Edric Storm.
