War of Conquest
From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
The War of Conquest was the campaign in which Aegon I conquered Westeros. Support by his sisters, their dragons and a small army of soldiers the Targaryens submitted six of the Seven Kingdoms. Not all the land had to be taken by violence. Some houses actively supported house Targaryen and some submitted voluntarily.
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[edit] Precursor
The war began in 1 AL when Aegon Targaryen and his two sister-wives Rhaenys and Visenya led a small army in landing on the east coast of Westeros, at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush. The Targaryens had held the island-fortress of Dragonstone as the western-most outpost of the Valyrian Freehold for a century before the Doom destroyed Valyria. In the century after the Doom, the "Bleeding Years", they plotted to expand their holdings. However, Aegon had been torn between unifying the continent of Westeros and conquering the Free Cities, which had been experiencing bloody strife in the aftermath of Valyria's fall. He rejected a call from several of the Free Cities to help unite them as a new Freehold and chose the far more ambitious course of invading Westeros. With very limited manpower, the Targaryens knew that their dragons would be their trump card.
Before launching his invasion, Aegon ordered the construction of the Painted Table, a table cut into an accurate geographical map of Westeros. He apparently considered all of Westeros as one land, despite the fact that the continent was long split into Seven Kingdoms, and resolved to unify it under his rule.
[edit] The Conquest
The sequence of events in the War of Conquest is unclear. The following events took place, though not necessarily in this order:
[edit] Conquest of the Riverlands
The Targaryens marched north and west against King Harren the Black of House Hoare. Harren ruled both the Iron Islands and the Riverlands from his newly-completed fortress of Harrenhal, the largest castle in Westeros, considered impregnable against siege or storm. The Targaryens assaulted the castle using their dragons, roasting Harren alive in his tower and routing the ironborn. Aegon took control of the two regions, appointing Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke as overlord of the Iron Islands, and Lord Edwyn Tully of Riverrun (who had aided Aegon by leading a rebellion against the ironborn) as overlord of the Riverlands.
[edit] Conquest of the Stormlands
The Storm King, Argilac the Arrogant, resolved to give battle to the Targaryen host rather than await siege in his fortress of Storm's End. A pitched battle was fought and Aegon's bastard half-brother, Orys Baratheon slew Argilac. It is unclear whether Orys commanded a separate host or was merely commanding a contingent of Aegon's own army. After the battle, Aegon gave Orys Argilac's arms, motto, castle, lands and daughter as reward for his victory.
[edit] Conquest of the Westerlands
King Loren Lannister of the Rock and King Mern IX Gardener of the Reach joined their armies to face Aegon in open battle as he marched south and west. Their army, dubbed by historians 'The Host of the Two Kings', numbered 55,000, five thousand of them mounted knights, while the Targaryens had only 10,000 men, many of uncertain loyalty and reliability. The battle went badly for the Targaryens, with their smaller force severely weakened and in danger of routing. Aegon and his sisters deployed all three dragons at once, the only time this happened in the war. Their fires scoured the battlefield, killing more than four thousand men (including King Mern) and giving the battle its name: the Field of Fire. King Loren surrendered to Aegon's authority, whilst Mern's castle of Highgarden was surrendered by his steward, Harlen Tyrell. Aegon accepted their oaths of fealty, naming Loren as Lord of Casterly Rock and the Westerlands and Harlen as Lord of Highgarden and the Reach.
[edit] Conquest of Oldtown
Aegon's march after the Field of Fire took him to Oldtown, the largest city in Westeros at that time. On the advice of the High Septon, Lord Hightower threw open the gates and acknowledged Aegon as the rightful King of Westeros. Aegon dated the his reign from his entry into the ancient city. With the Faith of the Seven's acknowledgment of Aegon's rightful place as King of Westeros, much remaining opposition among the Faithful dwindled.
[edit] Battle with Dorne
Aegon led an invasion of Dorne in an attempt to secure that territory as well. However, the Dornish refused to give open battle out of fear of Aegon's dragons, instead striking supply lines and engaging in guerilla warfare. Their attacks bled Aegon's army to the extent that he concluded that taking and holding Dorne would be too costly, and chose to withdraw and permit Dorne's continued independence.
[edit] Conquest of the North
A host of northmen under the leadership of the King in the North, Torrhen Stark, marched south towards the Riverlands and Aegon mustered his force to meet him on the banks of the Red Fork of the Trident, east of Riverrun. Torrhen intended to engage Aegon in battle, but viewing Aegon's vast host and his dragons made Torrhen realise his folly and instead he bent the knee in submission. Aegon named him Lord of the North and of Winterfell. In later years, an inn was built on the site of this event, known as the Inn of the Kneeling Man.
[edit] Conquest of the Vale
House Arryn of the Vale also acknowledged King Aegon's supremacy, but the details of how this was accomplished are unclear.
[edit] Aftermath
Thus Aegon I Targaryen, now known as Aegon the Conqueror, took control of six of the Seven Kingdons. Dorne remained unconquered and was acknowledged as a sovereign state under the rule of the Martells of Sunspear. Aegon devoted the remainder of his realm to consolidation and building a new capital at King's Landing. Aegon had the swords of his foes melted and reforged into his seat of power, the Iron Throne.
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Wars in A Song of Ice and Fire#War of Conquest. |
