House Peake

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House Peake of Starpike
House Peake.svg
Coat of arms Three black castles on orange
(Tenné, three castles sable)
Seats
Head Lord Titus Peake
Region Reach
Titles
Overlord House Tyrell
Ancestral weapon Orphan-Maker (stolen from House Roxton)[2]
Founder Husband of Florys the Fox
Founded Age of Heroes[2]

House Peake of Starpike is a noble house from Starpike in the Reach. They blazon their arms with three black castles on orange.[3][4][5] The three black castles on their arms symbolize the three castles that House Peake once owned: Starpike, Dunstonbury, and Whitegrove.[6] Since they gained Dunstonbury after having driven the Manderlys from the Reach at the behest of House Gardener,[7] their arms were presumably different before this. Their motto has yet to appear.

The Peakes are Marcher lords from the Dornish Marches.[8] According to Archmaester Gyldayn, House Peake was "land poor, rich in stone and soil and pride, yet chronically short of coin" during the rule of Lord Unwin Peake.[9]

History

Kingdom of the Reach

House Peake is an ancient house of First Men origin. According to tales from the Reach, the Peakes, Florents, and Balls are each descended from one of the three husbands of Florys the Fox, a daughter of Garth Greenhand.[10]

Famous Peakes of legend include Ser Urrathon the Shieldsmasher, Lord Meryn the Scribe, Lady Yrma of the Golden Bowl, Ser Barquen the Besieger, Lord Eddison the Elder, Lord Eddison the Younger, and Lord Emerick the Avenger.[2]

The Peakes were historical rivals with House Manderly. During the reign of the Gardener kings in the Reach, King Gwayne the Fat persuaded Lords Manderly and Peake to accept his judgment on their quarrel and do fealty for their lands, without any bloodshed.[11]

Near the end of the long reign of King Garth Greybeard, a problem arose with the succession as Garth had sired no sons and only daughters, one of whom had married Lord Manderly, and another to Lord Peake. Both lords were determined that their own wife should succeed to the throne, and the rivalry between them was marked by betrayal, conspiracy and murder, and finally escalated into open war with other lords joining the cause on both sides. The anarchy that followed lasted almost a decade until Ser Osmund Tyrell, the High Steward of Highgarden, made common cause with the other lords of the Reach and defeated both the Peakes and Manderlys. Ser Osmund then placed a distant cousin of the late Garth Greybeard on the throne who ascended as King Mern VI Gardener.[12]

House Manderly was driven into exile from the Reach by Lord Lorimar Peake upon the behest of King Perceon III Gardener who feared the Manderlys' swelling power in the Reach. This allowed House Peake to acquire the Manderly seat of Dunstonbury.[7] Lord Lorimar's daughter married Perceon III's son Gwayne and was the seventh Peake maiden to become Queen of All the Reach. As a powerful house, Peake daughters had married Redwynes, Rowans, Costaynes, Oakhearts, Osgreys, Florents and Hightowers over the centuries.[2]

Targaryen Era

Lord Armen Peake and his sons perished upon the Field of Fire. Unlike the station they had enjoyed under the Gardener kings, they had no blood connection to the new Lords of Highgarden, House Tyrell, and thus had no reason to be favored.[2]

Lord Uther Peake ruled during the reign of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and married one of Queen Alysanne's companions, Lady Prunella Celtigar.[1]

At the Great Council of 101 AC, Lord Peake voted for Prince Viserys Targaryen.[2]

During the Dance of the Dragons, Lord Unwin Peake supported the greens. He took command of the green army from the Reach after the Second Battle of Tumbleton and led its retreat.[13] After the death of Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lord Unwin was given a position as one of King Aegon III Targaryen's regents. He eventually became Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King, which he later resigned when the king would not marry his daughter, Myrielle Peake.[14][2]

Lord Gormon Peake was a fierce supporter of Daemon I Blackfyre and was considered one of the finest knights during the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen. After the Peakes chose the side of House Blackfyre in the failed First Blackfyre Rebellion, they had two of their castles stripped from them, leaving them only Starpike.[4] Gormon was a part of Daemon II Blackfyre's entourage at the Whitewalls wedding tourney in 212 AC, and was subsequently executed for treason.[3][4]

The Peakes rose against the Iron Throne in the Peake Uprising in 233 AC. King Maekar I Targaryen's helm was crushed by a rock hurled from the battlements of Starpike. Lord Robert Reyne and Ser Tywald Lannister were also killed in the Storming of Starpike.[15] In the aftermath of Starpike, Roger Reyne, the new Lord of Castamere took vengeance for his father Robert's death by slaughtering seven captive Peakes before Prince Aegon Targaryen prevented him from harming others.[16]

Recent Events

A Feast for Crows

Lord Titus Peake is married to Lady Margot Lannister.[17]

A Dance with Dragons

Ser Laswell, Torman, and Pykewood Peake are exiles in the Golden Company in support of Aegon Targaryen. Laswell is sent to capture Rain House.[18]

House Peake at the end of the third century

The known Peakes during the timespan of the events described in A Song of Ice and Fire are:

With unspecified familiar relationship to the main branch there are also:

Historical Members

Before the Conquest

After the Conquest

Quotes

Gold was ever a sore point for Unwin Peake, whose own house was land poor, rich in stone and soil and pride, yet chronically short of coin.[9]

—writings of Gyldayn

Aegon: House Peake did hold three castles once, but two of them were lost.

Duncan: How do you lose two castles?

Aegon: You fight for the black dragon, ser.[4]

Behind the Scenes

House Peake is a reference by George R. R. Martin to the books of Mervyn Peake. Titus Groan is the main character of the Gormenghast series.[24] Furthermore, the history of House Peake and its sigil may refer to the three castles that the Groan family owned before it was left with only one. The remaining castle is Starpike, which is similar to Steerpike, the name of the main antagonist of the series.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows.
  3. 3.0 3.1 The Sworn Sword.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 The Mystery Knight.
  5. The Citadel. Heraldry: Houses in the Reach
  6. The World of Ice & Fire.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The North: The Kings of Winter.
  8. According to the ConCarolinas westerlands reading, King Maekar I Targaryen was slain at Starpike, while The World of Ice & Fire states Maekar was killed fighting a rebellious lord on the Dornish Marches.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Voyage of Alyn Oakenfist.
  10. 10.0 10.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: Garth Greenhand.
  11. 11.0 11.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: The Gardener Kings.
  12. 12.0 12.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Reach: Andals in the Reach.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown.
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon III.
  15. The World of Ice & Fire, The Westerlands: House Lannister Under the Dragons.
  16. 16.0 16.1 The World of Ice & Fire: The Westerlands (unabridged). georgerrmartin.com
  17. 17.0 17.1 A Feast for Crows, Appendix.
  18. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 61, The Griffin Reborn.
  19. 19.0 19.1 A Storm of Swords, Appendix.
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 A Dance with Dragons, Appendix.
  21. 21.0 21.1 Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
  22. Fire & Blood, The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency.
  23. The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Maekar I.
  24. The Citadel: Are there any nods to other works in the series?