The Prince of Pentos is the titular ruler of the Free City of Pentos. He is chosen from the forty leading families of the city, and has a mostly ceremonial function.[1][2]
Duties
The prince has largely ceremonial duties,[1] performing functions such as presiding over balls and feasts in Pentos. When he rides about the city in a palanquin of ivory and gold, three heralds go before him, carrying the golden scales of trade, the iron sword of war, and the silver scourge of justice.[2]
On the first day of every New Year, the Prince must deflower the maid of the fields and the maid of the seas.[2] This ancient ritual, which may arise from the mysterious origins of pre-Valyrian Pentos, is meant to ensure the continued prosperity of Pentos on land and at sea.[1]
The prince has a pleasant life, but when the Pentoshi believe the gods are angry at them—for example, a lost war or a famine—they sacrifice their prince, cutting his throat to appease the gods. They then choose a new prince from amongst the forty families, who may bring more luck to the city.[2][1] Some nobles chosen to become prince have thus refused the honor.[3][1]
History
The Prince of Pentos has long been chosen from the so-called forty families with high and noble birth. Each prince ruled for life, with his successor almost always coming from a different family.[1] As time passed, however, power shifted to the council of magisters, with the prince's power becoming nominal.[1]
Over the course of the last two centuries, Braavos and Pentos fought six wars, with four ending in Pentoshi submission. The last one, which ended in 209 AC, went so poorly that Pentos had no fewer than four princes chosen and sacrificed within a single year. The fifth one, Prince Nevio Narratys, convinced the magisters to sue for peace after a rare victory—one rumored to have been purchased by Nevio himself through bribery.[1]
In 262 AC, a prince fled Pentos after being selected. He was twenty-three years old when the magisters of Pentos chose him to be their new prince, hours after they had beheaded the previous one. Instead of accepting their offer, he fled to the Disputed Lands and never returned to Pentos. He became known as the Tattered Prince, captain of the Windblown, a free company of sellswords.[3][1]
Illyrio Mopatis, a merchant born in poverty, eventually grew so respectable that a cousin of the Prince of Pentos let him wed his maiden daughter. After Illyrio married his second wife, Serra, a slave from Lys, the palace gates were closed to him thereafter, but he did not care, as he considered the price small enough for her.[2][4]
Current Events
A Dance with Dragons
Illyrio Mopatis explains the role of the Prince of Pentos to Tyrion Lannister. The current prince summons the magisters of the city to a session when Tyrion is in Illyrio's manse.[2]
In Meereen, Meris informs Ser Barristan Selmy that the Tattered Prince wants Pentos as his reward if the Windblown were to join the cause of Daenerys Targaryen, but the Queen of Meereen refuses the offer.[5]
After Daenerys's disappearance from Daznak's Pit, the Tattered Prince sends the Windblown to assist Prince Quentyn Martell, who intends to tame one of Daenerys's dragons, with Quentyn agreeing to the sellsword's demand of Pentos as his reward.[6][7] Quentyn is mortally wounded in his scheme, however.[8]
Once Quentyn has passed away, Barristan meets with Quentyn's remaining companions, Ser Gerris Drinkwater and Ser Archibald Yronwood, and agrees to send the Dornish knights backs to the Tattered Prince. Barristan wants the mercenary captain to help him release the Meereenese hostages held by the Wise Masters of Yunkai during the second siege of Meereen; as a reward, the Tattered Prince will be given Pentos.[7]
Known Princes of Pentos
- The prince before Aegon's Conquest, who hosted the young Aegon Targaryen when he visited Pentos on Balerion before his conquest of Westeros.[9]
- The prince in 58 AC, who met the Sealord of Braavos in King's Landing to settle their differences.[10]
- The prince in 116 AC, who hosted Prince Daemon Targaryen and Lady Laena Velaryon.[11][N 1]
- The prince in 129 AC, who agreed to foster Princes Aegon and Viserys Targaryen until Rhaenyra Targaryen took the Iron Throne.[12]
- The prince in 133 AC, whose daughter was the first lady presented to King Aegon III Targaryen in the Maiden's Day Ball.[13]
- Nevio Narratys, the fifth prince elected in 209 AC. He bribed the Braavosi to accept peace with Pentos after a victorious battle.[1]
- The prince executed in 262 AC.[3][1]
- The Tattered Prince, who fled Pentos to avoid being made a sacrifice.[3]
- The cousin of Illyrio Mopatis's first wife.[4]
- The current Prince of Pentos.[2] He has a menagerie that includes a pride of lions.[2]
Quotes
Illyrio: In Pentos we have a prince, my friend. He presides at ball and feast and rides about the city in a palanquin of ivory and gold. Three heralds go before him with the golden scales of trade, the iron sword of war, and the silver scourge of justice. On the first day of each new year he must deflower the maid of the fields and the maid of the seas. Yet should a crop fail or a war be lost, we cut his throat to appease the gods and choose a new prince from amongst the forty families.
Tyrion: Remind me never to become the Prince of Pentos.[2]
When the Tattered Prince was three-and-twenty, as Dick Straw told the story, the magisters of Pentos had chosen him to be their new prince, hours after beheading their old prince. Instead he'd buckled on a sword, mounted his favorite horse, and fled to the Disputed Lands, never to return.[3]
—thoughts of Quentyn Martell
Notes
- ↑ In the television adaptation, House of the Dragon, he is named Prince Reggio Haratis.
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 The World of Ice & Fire, The Free Cities: Pentos.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 1, Tyrion I.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 25, The Windblown.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 5, Tyrion II.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 52, Daenerys IX.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 60, The Spurned Suitor.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 70, The Queen's Hand.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 68, The Dragontamer.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne - Their Triumphs and Tragedies.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold.
- ↑ Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows.