Difference between revisions of "Winter of the Widows"

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The '''Winter of Widows''' is a poetic name that [[Maesters]] at the [[Citadel]] sometimes use to refer to the aftermath of the [[Dance of the Dragons]], as a terrible winter began near the end of the civil war which ultimately lasted six years. This [[winter]] coincided with the chaotic [[regency of Aegon III]], and ended when he [[Customs#Age of majority|came of age]] in {{Date|136}}.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}
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The '''Winter of the Widows''' is a poetic name that [[maesters]] at the [[Citadel]] use to refer to the period after the [[Dance of the Dragons]], as a terrible winter began near the end of the civil war which ultimately lasted six years. This [[winter]] coincided with the chaotic [[regency of Aegon III]], and ended when he [[Customs#Age of majority|came of age]] in {{Date|136}}.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}
  
So many men died during the disastrous civil war that in the aftermath, an unprecedented number of women came to rule over noble Houses: many of them widows ruling as [[Regency|regents]] for their young children after the deaths of their husbands, though some were also female heirs who inherited in their own right after all of their brothers or other men ahead of them in line of succession were killed.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}
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So many men died during the disastrous civil war that in the aftermath, an unprecedented number of women ruled over the noble Houses, with many of them ruling as [[Regency|regents]] for their young children after the deaths of their husbands, though some were also female heirs who inherited in their own right after all of their brothers or other men ahead of them in line of succession were killed.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}
  
 
''[[When Women Ruled: Ladies of the Aftermath]]'', by Archmaester [[Abelon]], is considered the definitive book on this era. Archmaester [[Gyldayn]] described the text as "mammoth".{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}
 
''[[When Women Ruled: Ladies of the Aftermath]]'', by Archmaester [[Abelon]], is considered the definitive book on this era. Archmaester [[Gyldayn]] described the text as "mammoth".{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}
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==Women who ruled during the Regency of Aegon III==
 
==Women who ruled during the Regency of Aegon III==
*Lady [[Johanna Lannister]], born Johanna Westerling - widow of [[Jason Lannister]], regent for his son [[Loreon Lannister|Loreon]] until he came of age in {{Date|144}}. Capably led the remnants of the shattered Lannister forces in the ongoing conflict with the Greyjoys raiding the coasts, which continued as essentially a localized war even though the Dance had formally ended.
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===Westerlands===
*Lady [[Samantha Tarly]] - widow of Lord [[Ormund Hightower]], who eventually remarried to his heir and her stepson, [[Lyonel Hightower]], who only reached the age of adulthood at sixteen just as the war ended. While not technically his regent, she was so politically influential that she was considered the functional co-ruler of [[Oldtown]].
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*Lady [[Johanna Lannister]], born Johanna Westerling, the widow of [[Jason Lannister]], regent for his son [[Loreon Lannister|Loreon]]. She capably led the remnants of the shattered Lannister forces in the ongoing conflict with the Greyjoys raiding the coasts, which continued as essentially a localized war even though the Dance had formally ended.
*Lady [[Elenda Baratheon]], born Elenda Caron - widow of [[Borros Baratheon]], regent for his son [[Royce Baratheon]] - who was born one week after his father died in battle. Also mother of his four elder daughters.  
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*Lady [[Sharis Footly]] - widow of [[Lord Footly]] of [[Tumbleton]], ruled and rebuilt the devastated town as regent for her son born after the death of her husband. The House she was born into hasn't been specified.
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===The Reach===
*Lady [[Alys Rivers]] - the mysterious "Witch Queen" who came to rule over the area around [[Harrenhal]]. The former lover of Prince [[Aemond Targaryen]] and seen to be pregnant in his presence, she later presented a young boy she claimed to be his posthumous son. As Harrenhal was at the heart of the devastated riverlands, Alys gathered to her a growing following of [[broken men]] until she established a small bandit-kingdom around the burnt-out castle. The Iron Throne was so distracted by other ongoing conflicts and then the [[Winter Fever]] of {{Date|133}} that it could not mount an effort to remove her, and she still functionally controlled Harrenhal six years after the war ended.
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*Lady [[Samantha Tarly]], the widow of Lord [[Ormund Hightower]], who eventually remarried to his heir and her stepson, [[Lyonel Hightower]], who only reached the age of adulthood at sixteen just as the war ended. While not technically his regent, she was so politically influential that she was considered the functional co-ruler of [[Oldtown]].
*Lady [[Alysanne Blackwood]] - called "Black Aly Blackwood". After Lord [[Samwell Blackwood]] died in [[Battle of the Burning Mill|one of the opening battles]] of the war, his eleven year old son, [[Benjicot Blackwood|Benjicot]], succeeded him as head of [[House Blackwood]]. At the time, Samwell's maiden sister Alysanne was sixteen years old (and thus legally an adult): while she might not have formally been Benjicot's regent, for the rest of the two year long war Aly acted as the functional co-leader of their forces along with her nephew. Early in the winter, in {{Date|132}} she married Lord [[Cregan Stark]] and removed to [[Winterfell]]. 
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*Lady [[Sharis Footly]], the widow of [[Lord Footly]] of [[Tumbleton]], who ruled and rebuilt the devastated town as regent for her son, who was born after the death of her husband.
*Lady [[Sabitha Frey]], born Sabitha Vypren - regent for [[House Frey]] after the death of her husband [[Forrest Frey]] in the [[Battle by the Lakeshore]]. Personally participated in both the [[Second Battle of Tumbleton]] and the [[Battle of the Kingsroad]]. It was rumored that while on campaign she was the lover of Black Aly Blackwood. After the war ended she declined to take a position in the [[King's Landing|capital]] and instead returned to the [[Twins]] to try to reestablish some semblance of order in the northern riverlands. Sabitha went on to organize [[Widow Fairs]] for the hundreds of commoner women left widowed by the war, hoping to match them with the over a thousand men from the Stark army who had stayed in the south rather than overburden the North during the harsh winter. Her rule was stable enough by {{Date|134}} that she was able to contribute six hundred soldiers to the royal host sent to end the succession war in the [[Vale of Arryn]].{{Ref|FAB|The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency}}
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*Lady [[Alys Rivers]], the mysterious "witch queen" who came to rule over the area around [[Harrenhal]] by late {{Date|132}}. The former lover of Prince [[Aemond Targaryen]] and seen to be pregnant in his presence, she later presented a young boy she claimed to be his posthumous son. As Harrenhal was at the heart of the devastated riverlands, Alys gathered to her a growing following of [[broken men]] until she established a small bandit-kingdom around the burnt-out castle. The Iron Throne was so distracted by other ongoing conflicts and then the [[Winter Fever]] of {{Date|133}} that it could not mount an effort to remove her.
*Lady Tyrell - even before fighting in the civil war broke out, the infant [[Lyonel Tyrell (lord)|Lyonel Tyrell]] had inherited rule of [[Highgarden]], ruled by his mother as co-regent alongside the [[castellan]] and steward of the castle.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold}} The names of his parents haven't been specified. Due to their unstable position with their lord only a babe, his regent mother chose to keep House Tyrell neutral throughout the war.
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*Lady [[Sabitha Frey]], born Sabitha Vypren, who served as regent for [[House Frey]] after the death of her husband [[Forrest Frey]] in the [[Battle by the Lakeshore]]. Personally participated in both the [[Second Battle of Tumbleton]] and the [[Battle of the Kingsroad]]. It was rumored that while on campaign she was the lover of Lady [[Alysanne Blackwood]]. After the war ended she declined to take a position in the [[King's Landing|capital]] and instead returned to the [[Twins]] to try to reestablish some semblance of order in the northern riverlands. Sabitha went on to organize [[Widow Fairs]] for the hundreds of commoner women left widowed by the war, hoping to match them with the over a thousand men from the Stark army who had stayed in the south rather than overburden the North during the harsh winter. Her rule was stable enough by {{Date|134}} that she was able to contribute six hundred soldiers to the royal host sent to end the succession war in the [[Vale of Arryn]].{{Ref|FAB|The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency}}
*Lady [[Jeyne Arryn]] - ruler of [[the Vale of Arryn]] in her own right since before the war began, she also served as as member of the council of seven regents appointed for King Aegon III, from its inception in {{Date|131}} until she died from an illness in {{Date|134}}.
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*Princess [[Aliandra Martell]] - neither a widow nor related to the Dance of the Dragons, as [[Dorne]] was still independent at the time, it is nonetheless noteworthy that during the Winter of Widows Dorne was also ruled by a woman. Aliandra's father [[Qoren Martell]] had declined to ally with either side in the Dance (content to stand back and watch the Targaryens fight each other), but he died near the end of the conflict (from unrelated reasons). As Dorne follows equal primogeniture, he was succeeded as head of [[House Martell]] by his seventeen year old daughter Aliandra. The alluring young Princess became embroiled in politics of both the Iron Throne and the [[Free Cities]] due to spillover from the [[Daughters' War]] in the [[Narrow Sea]]. She also encouraged raids across the [[Dornish Marches]] against the weakened forces of regent Elenda Baratheon.
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In addition, Lady Tyrell had already ruled as a regent, together with [[Highgarden]]'s castellan and steward, for her infant son [[Lyonel Tyrell (lord)|Lyonel]] before the [[Dance of the Dragons]] began.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens}}{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold}} With the loyalty of the lords of the [[Reach]] split between [[Rhaenyra Targaryen|Rhaenyra]] and [[Aegon II Targaryen|Aegon II]] at the start of the war, Lyonel's three regents withdrew their support for Aegon II and chose to keep House Tyrell neutral throughout the war.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold}}
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===The Vale===
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*Lady [[Jeyne Arryn]], who wuled [[the Vale of Arryn]] in her own right since before the war began, and served as as member of the council of seven regents appointed for King Aegon III, from its inception in {{Date|131}} until she died from an illness in {{Date|134}}.
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===The Stormlands===
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*Lady [[Elenda Baratheon]], born Elenda Caron, the widow of Lord [[Borros Baratheon]]. She served as regent for her son [[Royce Baratheon]], who was born one week after his father died. She remarried to Ser [[Steffon Connington]] in {{Date|132}},{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}} but became a widow for the second time in the second half of {{Date|133}}, when Ser Steffon died in battle.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows}}
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===Dorne===
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*Princess [[Aliandra Martell]], who succeeded her father [[Qoren Martell|Qoren]] at the age of seventeen as the [[Prince of Dorne|ruler of Dorne]] in the years following the war.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}} The alluring young Princess became embroiled in politics of both the Iron Throne and the [[Free Cities]] due to spillover from the [[Daughters' War]] in the [[Narrow Sea]].{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist}}
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 20:38, 7 December 2020

The Winter of the Widows is a poetic name that maesters at the Citadel use to refer to the period after the Dance of the Dragons, as a terrible winter began near the end of the civil war which ultimately lasted six years. This winter coincided with the chaotic regency of Aegon III, and ended when he came of age in 136 AC.[1]

So many men died during the disastrous civil war that in the aftermath, an unprecedented number of women ruled over the noble Houses, with many of them ruling as regents for their young children after the deaths of their husbands, though some were also female heirs who inherited in their own right after all of their brothers or other men ahead of them in line of succession were killed.[1]

When Women Ruled: Ladies of the Aftermath, by Archmaester Abelon, is considered the definitive book on this era. Archmaester Gyldayn described the text as "mammoth".[1]

In the first years after the war ended, only three out of the nine Great Houses in Westeros were ruled by adult men (Stark, Tully, Greyjoy). Three Great Houses were ruled by widow-regents (Lannister, Baratheon, Tyrell), two were ruled by women who inherited in their own right (Arryn, Martell), and the crown was ruled during the king's minority by a council of seven regents (one of which was a woman). Numerous other lordly houses were also ruled by widows in this time.

Women who ruled during the Regency of Aegon III

Westerlands

  • Lady Johanna Lannister, born Johanna Westerling, the widow of Jason Lannister, regent for his son Loreon. She capably led the remnants of the shattered Lannister forces in the ongoing conflict with the Greyjoys raiding the coasts, which continued as essentially a localized war even though the Dance had formally ended.

The Reach

  • Lady Samantha Tarly, the widow of Lord Ormund Hightower, who eventually remarried to his heir and her stepson, Lyonel Hightower, who only reached the age of adulthood at sixteen just as the war ended. While not technically his regent, she was so politically influential that she was considered the functional co-ruler of Oldtown.
  • Lady Sharis Footly, the widow of Lord Footly of Tumbleton, who ruled and rebuilt the devastated town as regent for her son, who was born after the death of her husband.
  • Lady Alys Rivers, the mysterious "witch queen" who came to rule over the area around Harrenhal by late 132 AC. The former lover of Prince Aemond Targaryen and seen to be pregnant in his presence, she later presented a young boy she claimed to be his posthumous son. As Harrenhal was at the heart of the devastated riverlands, Alys gathered to her a growing following of broken men until she established a small bandit-kingdom around the burnt-out castle. The Iron Throne was so distracted by other ongoing conflicts and then the Winter Fever of 133 AC that it could not mount an effort to remove her.
  • Lady Sabitha Frey, born Sabitha Vypren, who served as regent for House Frey after the death of her husband Forrest Frey in the Battle by the Lakeshore. Personally participated in both the Second Battle of Tumbleton and the Battle of the Kingsroad. It was rumored that while on campaign she was the lover of Lady Alysanne Blackwood. After the war ended she declined to take a position in the capital and instead returned to the Twins to try to reestablish some semblance of order in the northern riverlands. Sabitha went on to organize Widow Fairs for the hundreds of commoner women left widowed by the war, hoping to match them with the over a thousand men from the Stark army who had stayed in the south rather than overburden the North during the harsh winter. Her rule was stable enough by 134 AC that she was able to contribute six hundred soldiers to the royal host sent to end the succession war in the Vale of Arryn.[2]

In addition, Lady Tyrell had already ruled as a regent, together with Highgarden's castellan and steward, for her infant son Lyonel before the Dance of the Dragons began.[3][4] With the loyalty of the lords of the Reach split between Rhaenyra and Aegon II at the start of the war, Lyonel's three regents withdrew their support for Aegon II and chose to keep House Tyrell neutral throughout the war.[4]

The Vale

  • Lady Jeyne Arryn, who wuled the Vale of Arryn in her own right since before the war began, and served as as member of the council of seven regents appointed for King Aegon III, from its inception in 131 AC until she died from an illness in 134 AC.

The Stormlands

Dorne

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand.
  2. Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
  3. Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
  5. Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows.
  6. Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist.