Editing Polygamy (section)

==Polygamy in Westeros==
In [[Westeros]], for both the highborn and lowborn, marriage is chiefly between two people, a man and a woman. The [[Faith of the Seven]] does not permit polygamy, and considers it a sin.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aenys I}}

===The First Men===
During the [[Age of Heroes]], the legendary [[Florys the Fox]], cleverest of the children of [[Garth Greenhand]], kept three husbands, each ignorant of the existence of the others. They were the progenitors of [[House Florent]], [[House Ball]], and [[House Peake]]. The founders of [[House Tarly]], twin sons of Garth Greenhand called [[Herndon of the Horn]] and [[Harlon the Hunter]], built their castle atop [[Horn Hill]] and took to wife the beautiful [[woods witch]] who dwelled there, sharing her favors for a hundred years. The brothers did not age so long as they had intercourse with her whenever the moon was full.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Garth Greenhand}}

King [[Garland II Gardener|Garland II "The Bridegroom" Greenhand]], [[King of the Reach]] in the time before the [[Andals]] came to Westeros, had multiple wives. In order to marry the daughter of Lord [[Lymond Hightower]], Lord of [[Oldtown]], he put aside his other wives. This union, combined with the marriage of Lord Lymond and King Garland's daughter, brought [[Oldtown]] into the kingdom of [[House Gardener]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: The Gardener Kings}}{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reach: Oldtown}}

According to the songs, [[Storm King]] [[Ronard Storm|Ronard "the Bastard"]] of [[Storm's End]] had twenty-three wives.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Stormlands: House Durrandon}}

===House Targaryen===
Lord [[Aenar Targaryen]] took multiple wives with him when he left [[Valyria]] for [[Dragonstone]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest}} His descendant, King [[Aegon I Targaryen]], took to wife both his sisters, [[Visenya Targaryen|Visenya]] and [[Rhaenys Targaryen|Rhaenys]]. This was unusual, as per tradition he was expected to wed only his older sister, but not without precedent. It was said by some that Aegon wed Visenya out of duty and Rhaenys out of desire.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest}}

During the [[Aegon's Conquest|Conquest]], Aegon received a proposal from the [[Storm King]], [[Argilac Durrandon]], who offered his daughter [[Argella Durrandon|Argella]] as a wife to Aegon. Stating he did not need a third wife, Aegon refused the suggestion. Queen Regent [[Sharra Arryn]] of the [[Kingdom of Mountain and Vale]] offered herself in marriage to Aegon, but Aegon refused her offer as well.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest}}

Aegon I's younger son, [[Maegor I Targaryen|Maegor]], is the last Targaryen currently known to have had multiple wives. He had been married to Lady [[Ceryse Hightower]] in {{Date|25}}, but in {{Date|39}}, he took [[Alys Harroway]] to wife in a Valyrian ceremony led by his mother, Dowager Queen [[Visenya Targaryen]],{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Maegor I}} after they could not find a [[septon]] to perform the marriage.{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}} This marriage upset the [[Faith of the Seven|Faith]], especially the [[High Septon (Maegor I)|High Septon]]. When Maegor refused to set Alys aside, King [[Aenys I Targaryen]] sent them into exile in [[Pentos]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aenys I}}{{Ref|FAB|The Sons of the Dragon}} 

When Aenys died in {{Date|42}}, Maegor returned from Pentos, and a courtesan named [[Tyanna]] arrived not much later, together with Queen Alys. Maegor took Tyanna to wife that same year. In {{Date|45}}, Maegor's first wife, Ceryse, died due to sudden [[illness]]. Two years later, Maegor married his three [[Black Brides]], widowed women of proven fertility, in a single ceremony.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Maegor I}}

With the death of their [[dragon]]s during and after the [[Dance of the Dragons]], House Targaryen saw a decrease in their power and threat that they needed to be able to get away with committing the sin of polygamy in [[Westeros]]. According to [[George R. R. Martin]],  
{{Quote|[[Maegor I Targaryen|Maegor the Cruel]] has multiple wives, from lines outside his own, so there was and is precedent. However, the extent to which the Targaryen kings could defy convention, the Faith, and the opinions of the other lords decreased markedly after they no longer had dragons. If you have a [[dragon]], you can have as many wives as you want, and people are less likely to object.<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/2997 Asshai.com Forum Chat (July 27, 2008)]</ref>}}

Despite the lack of dragons, it is possible that King [[Aegon IV Targaryen]] promised his [[bastard]] son [[Daemon I Blackfyre|Daemon Blackfyre]] that he could marry both [[Rohanne of Tyrosh]] and Aegon's daughter Princess [[Daenerys Targaryen (daughter of Aegon IV)|Daenerys]]. King Aegon's successor, King [[Daeron II Targaryen]], however, did not permit the second marriage.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Daeron II}}

There has been no mention of a Targaryen or Valyrian woman ever having more than one husband at a time. Nonetheless, in {{Date|299}} Ser [[Jorah Mormont]] proposes the idea to Queen [[Daenerys Targaryen]] as a possible meaning for "the dragon has three heads",{{Ref|ASOS|8}} a phrase that Daenerys had heard in her visions at the [[House of the Undying]].{{Ref|ACOK|48}} Daenerys speaks of the possibility to Prince [[Quentyn Martell]] a year later, suggesting that her marriage to [[Hizdahr zo Loraq]] need not be the end of Quentyn's hope to marry her, but his adverse reaction to her [[dragon]]s causes her to dismiss the idea.{{Ref|ADWD|50}}

===The Iron Islands===
On the [[Iron Islands]], a man can have one true- and freeborn "[[rock wife]]". However, he can also have "[[Salt wife|salt wives]]", usually women captured on raids. Salt wives are considered more than mere concubines, and any sons born of such unions are not considered [[bastard]]s, but can inherit should their father have no surviving sons by his rock wife. The number of salt wives a man can support is considered to be an indication of his power, wealth, and virility.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Iron Islands}}{{Ref|ACOK|11}}

===Dorne===
In [[Dorne]], it is not uncommon for a nobleman or a noblewoman to have a spouse for political reasons and a [[paramour]] for love. While the Dornish are not very concerned if a child is born out of marriage, children by paramours are nevertheless considered to be [[Bastardy|bastards]], and thus have to use the surname "Sand", while the children by the spouse use the family name and inherit.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Dorne: Queer Customs of the South}} 

===Beyond the Wall===
North of the [[Wall]], the [[wildling]] [[Craster]] has [[Craster's wives|multiple wives]]. By {{Date|299}}, he is married to nineteen women, many of whom are also his daughters.{{Ref|ACOK|23}} [[Ygon Oldfather]] has eighteen wives.{{Ref|ADWD|69}}

===Other incidents===
In the era of King [[Jaehaerys I Targaryen]], there was a [[Kingsguard]] [[knight]] named Ser [[Lucamore Strong]], called "Lucamore the Lusty", who had three wives and sixteen children. Knights of the Kingsguard are not allowed to have wives or children, so when Lucamore's deceit was discovered, his own brothers of the Kingsguard gelded him, and the king sent him to the [[Wall]].{{Ref|AFFC|13}}