Editing Cregan Stark (section)

==History==
===Early life===
Cregan was born in {{Date|108}}{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}} as the eldest son of [[Rickon Stark (son of Benjen)|Rickon Stark]], [[Lord of Winterfell]] and [[Warden of the North]], and Lady [[Gilliane Glover]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|Appendix: Stark Lineage}} He had a younger brother, who died in {{Date|119}}, and, according to ''[[The Testimony of Mushroom]]'', a [[bastard]] half-sister, [[Sara Snow]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}

When Lord Rickon passed away in {{Date|121}}, he was succeeded by the thirteen-year-old Cregan. Rickon's brother, [[Bennard Stark]], ruled the [[north]] as [[regent]] during Cregan's minority. Bennard was slow to relinquish power when Cregan turned sixteen and [[Customs#Age of majority|came of age]] in {{Date|124}}, however, and relations were tense between uncle and nephew.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}

In {{Date|126}}, Cregan took up rule of the north by having Bennard and his three sons imprisoned. The young lord then married Lady [[Arra Norrey]], a friend from childhood, but she died in {{Date|128}} while giving birth to a son. Cregan named his infant heir [[Rickon Stark (son of Cregan)|Rickon]] after his late father.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}

===The Dance of the Dragons===
For over a century after the [[Targaryen Conquest]], House Stark remained largely disinterested in royal politics and aloof from affairs at court. Upon the death of King [[Viserys I Targaryen]] in {{Date|129}}, the [[blacks]] of Queen [[Rhaenyra Targaryen]] opposed the [[greens]] of King [[Aegon II Targaryen]] during the [[Dance of the Dragons]].{{ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens}} [[Jacaerys Velaryon]], [[Prince of Dragonstone]], was sent to gain additional support for his mother Rhaenyra's claim to the [[Iron Throne]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}

After flying on his [[dragon]], [[Vermax]] to the [[Eyrie]], [[Sisterton]], and [[White Harbor]], Jacaerys arrived at [[Winterfell]] to negotiate with Lord Cregan. According to Grand Maester [[Munkun]], Cregan and the prince got along well, as Jacaerys reminded Cregan of his late younger brother. After spending time drinking, hunting, and training, Cregan and Jacaerys swore an oath of brotherhood. In contrast to Munkun's writings, Septon [[Eustace (Dance of the Dragons)|Eustace]] claimed that Jacaerys spent his time trying to convert Lord Stark from the [[old gods]] to the [[Faith of the Seven]]. [[Mushroom]] claimed that Cregan had a half-sister, [[Sara Snow]], who slept with Jacaerys, and that an angry Cregan only relented after being told that Jacaerys and Sara had secretly wed in the [[godswood of Winterfell]]. Archmaester [[Gyldayn]] is skeptical of Mushroom's ribald stories, however.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}} Regardless, Lord Cregan and Prince Jacaerys reached an agreement, known by Munkun as the [[Pact of Ice and Fire]], which stated that the future firstborn daughter of Jacaerys would one day marry Cregan's son, [[Rickon Stark (son of Cregan)|Rickon]]. Cregan pledged his support to the blacks.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son}}

[[Roderick Dustin]], [[Lord of Barrowton]], commanded the first host of northmen who marched south, known as the [[Winter Wolves]], older men who feared a long winter. Roddy the Ruin's host helped the blacks achieve victories over the greens in the [[riverlands]], but the Winter Wolves were eventually lost in the [[First Battle of Tumbleton]]. [[Desmond Manderly]], [[Lord of White Harbor]], also sent soldiers by sea to support Rhaenyra. The White Harbor men were led by Desmond's two sons Ser [[Medrick Manderly|Medrick]] and Ser [[Torrhen Manderly]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant}}

Prince Jacaerys was killed in the [[Battle of the Gullet]],{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold}} and Queen Rhaenyra [[Flight to Dragonstone|fled]] [[King's Landing]] after the [[Storming of the Dragonpit]]. While Rhaenyra was at [[Duskendale]] in {{Date|130}}, Cregan sent word from Winterfell that he would gather for her a host of ten thousand northmen, although their march south would need to wait until the last harvest before winter was brought in.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}} Rhaenyra was slain when she returned to [[Fall of Dragonstone|Dragonstone]].{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown}}

Although King Aegon II returned to King's Landing to rule, Lord Stark honored his word to the blacks and marched south with the second northern host in {{Date|131}}; Eustace claimed Cregan had twenty thousand men, while Munkun believed the number to be eight thousand northmen.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}} While the northmen were still on the march, the [[rivermen]] defeated [[Borros Baratheon]], [[Lord of Storm's End]], in the [[Battle of the Kingsroad]], and Aegon II was soon [[poison]]ed in the capital.{{Ref|FAB|The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II}}

===The Hour of the Wolf===
:{{Main|Hour of the Wolf}}
[[File:The_king_and_the_wolf_by_Chillyravenart.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Cregan and [[Aegon III Targaryen]] by Chillyravenart]]
Although they were allies, the northmen outnumbered the [[rivermen]] when they reached [[King's Landing]], and the [[Lads]] were intimidated by the formidable Cregan. Many of his northmen were childless, homeless, unwed, or younger sons marching to war to spare their families from supporting them in winter. Lord Stark intended to continue the war by marching on [[Storm's End]], [[Oldtown]], and [[Casterly Rock]], powerful seats of the [[greens]]. Cregan had many members of court imprisoned for the murder of King [[Aegon II Targaryen]];{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}} although he had been Aegon's foe during the Dance, Lord Stark objected to a monarch being killed by [[poison]] instead of in battle.{{ref|TWOIAF|The Targaryen Kings: Aegon III}}

Cregan held court in the [[Red Keep]] for six days, a time known as the [[Hour of the Wolf]], with the eleven-year-old Prince [[Aegon III Targaryen|Aegon the Younger]], the son of the late Queen [[Rhaenyra Targaryen]], confined to [[Maegor's Holdfast]]. The remaining green lords sent word of their disinterest in continuing the war, and women at court encouraged peace as well. Lord Stark reluctantly agreed to not march on the castles of the greens, although he insisted that the murderers of Aegon the Elder be held accountable. In order to administer justice, Lord Stark was named [[Hand of the King]] by Prince Aegon the Younger.{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}}

Ruling from the foot of the [[Iron Throne]], Cregan allowed Septon [[Eustace (Dance of the Dragons)|Eustace]] to be released but condemned Grand Maester [[Orwyle]] and Ser [[Gyles Belgrave]] of the [[Kingsguard]]. Twenty-two lesser individuals were also marked for death by Cregan. Lord Stark condemned the soldiers from [[House Strong]] who had freed Lady [[Baela Targaryen]] from imprisonment, but he agreed to spare them when Baela brandished a sword in their defense.{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}}

Cregan also condemned [[Corlys Velaryon]], [[Lord of the Tides]], who said he had acted for the good of the [[Seven Kingdoms]], and [[Larys Strong]], [[Lord of Harrenhal]], who refused to offer a defense. Baela and her sister [[Rhaena Targaryen (daughter of Daemon)|Rhaena]] convinced Prince Aegon to spare Corlys, however, to which Cregan acquiesced. According to Mushroom, Cregan agreed to the sparing of the Sea Snake through the actions of [[Alysanne Blackwood]], whom Cregan had become impressed with during their time at the Red Keep. In return for Corlys's life, Black Aly agreed to marry Cregan, a widower.{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}}

Cregan decided to personally behead the condemned with [[Ice]], the ancestral [[Valyrian steel]] greatsword of [[House Stark]]. When Lord Stark allowed Ser [[Perkin the Flea]] to join the [[Night's Watch]], however, most of the other condemned had their lives spared by asking to take the black as well. Gyles and Larys were the only two to be executed by Cregan, who resigned as Hand the following day.{{Ref|FAB|Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf}}

Within a fortnight of [[Wedding of Aegon III Targaryen and Jaehaera Targaryen|Aegon the Younger's coronation]] as King [[Aegon III Targaryen]], Cregan began his journey back to the north, having declined an offer to serve in the [[regency of Aegon III]].{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}} Many of the northmen who had marched to King's Landing with him remained in the south, however, choosing to wed women of the [[riverlands]] at [[Widow Fairs]] or taking up service as guards and men-at-arms.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}}

===The Regency era===
Upon his return to [[Winterfell]] in {{Date|132}}, Cregan wed [[Alysanne Blackwood]]. Her nephew [[Benjicot Blackwood]], [[Lord of Raventree Hall]], was in attendance.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand}} 

Later that same year, however, the North was one of the first regions in Westeros struck by the [[Winter Fever]], which continued through {{Date|133}}. The plague eventually spread to most of Westeros as far south as the Blackwater, but it was noted to be much more aggressive in cold climates. When it spread to King's Landing, it killed one fifth of the city, thus, the death rate was apparently much greater in the North, where [[White Harbor]] and [[Barrowton]] were hard hit (White Harbor is the North's only city, while Barrowton and the [[Winter town]] outside Winterfell are the only two settlements large enough to be called proper "towns"). 

With the North so badly weakened from winter famine and then the devastating sickness, the [[Free Folk|wildlings]] from beyond the Wall seized on the opportunity to launch major raids into the south. In {{Date|133}} a wildling chieftain called [[Sylas the Grim]] led a large force of 3,000 to force their way south of the Wall at [[Queensgate]] (overwhelming the Night's Watch garrison). Afterward, they proceeded to plunder the lands of the [[Gift]]. Lord Cregan rode forth from Winterfell and rallied what able-bodied men were left to his banner: [[House Glover|Glovers]] of Deepwood Motte, [[House Flint of the mountains|Flints]] and [[House Norrey|Norreys]] from the hill clans, and a hundred [[rangers]] of the Night's Watch. Cregan's combined force then hunted down and destroyed Sylas's raiding bands.{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows}}

After the death of Queen [[Jaehaera Targaryen]] later in 133 AC, Cregan objected to the suggestion of [[Unwin Peake]], [[Lord of Starpike]] and [[Hand of the King]], that King [[Aegon III Targaryen]] wed his daughter, [[Myrielle Peake]].{{Ref|FAB|Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows}}

===Later Reign===
[[File:Cregan%27s_Daughters_by_ellemnopie.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Cregan's daughters [[Mariah Stark]], [[Raya Stark]], [[Sarra Stark]], and [[Alys Stark]] by ellemnopie]]
Aegon III granted many rewards to Cregan, although a [[House Targaryen|Targaryen]] princess never did marry into [[House Stark]].{{Ref|TWOIAF|The North: The Lords of Winterfell}} Maester [[Kennet (maester)|Kennet]] served at [[Winterfell]] during Cregan's long reign.{{Ref|TWOIAF|Ancient History: The Dawn Age}}

Cregan once fought Prince [[Aemon Targaryen (son of Viserys II)|Aemon the Dragonknight]], who praised Lord Stark's skill by stating he never faced a finer swordsman.{{Ref|AGOT|66}}

Cregan's second wife Alysanne Blackwood bore him four daughters, though Rickon - his son and only child by his first wife - was his heir. At some unspecified point in later decades Alysanne died, however, and Cregan married for a third time, to [[Lynara Stark]]. Lynara was a distant minor Stark cousin, descending from a younger son of Lord [[Brandon Stark (the Boisterous)|Brandon "the Boisterous" Stark]] (who himself succeeded [[Torrhen Stark]], the last Stark king). Lynara went on to bear Cregan four sons and one daughter: due to male-preference inheritance law, all four sons stood in line of succession ahead of their four older half-sisters through Aly Blackwood. 

Cregan had a long life, which earned him the nickname of "The Old Man in the North". The exact date of Cregan's death has not yet been provided, though because he came to rule young (as soon as he turned sixteen in 126 AC) and lived to be quite old, he ruled over the North for a considerable span of decades. Cregan was still alive in 157 AC, and thus he ruled the North for at least thirty years. In 157 AC Cregan would have been 49 years of age, not yet a very old man. It is possible, though unlikely, that Cregan may have lived until the time of the [[First Blackfyre Rebellion]] in {{Date|196}} - as Cregan would have been 88 years old in that year.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Lords of Winterfell}}

Cregan is entombed in the [[crypt of Winterfell]].{{Ref|AGOT|66}}{{Ref|ACOK|69}}

===Legacy===
Cregan outlived his eldest son and heir, [[Rickon Stark (son of Cregan)|Rickon]], who died at [[Sunspear]] during the [[conquest of Dorne]] by King [[Daeron I Targaryen]] in {{Date|157}}.{{Ref|TWOIAF|The Lords of Winterfell}} Rickon was survived by two daughters, [[Sansa Stark (daughter of Rickon)|Sansa]] and [[Serena Stark|Serena]], and by the known [[Laws and justice of the Seven Kingdoms|laws]] of succession they should have been ahead of Rickon's younger brothers in line of succession. However, northern succession laws may simply be different<ref name=HW>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Category/C91/P210/ The Hornwood Inheritance and the Whents (November 02, 1999)]</ref>; there has never been a ruling Queen of Winter or ruling Lady of Winterfell, for example,<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/2763/ ruling Lady of Winterfell or Queen of Winter]</ref> and primogeniture is not necessarily binding elsewhere in the Seven Kingdoms either.<ref>Ran at [http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/120966-errors-in-the-woiaf/&page=4#comment-6801531 A Forum of Ice and Fire]: "Primogeniture is customary, but not binding... especially not to a king. We have other examples of people being passed over, or potentially passed over, for others."</ref> Whatever the case was, Cregan's second son [[Jonnel Stark]] succeeded Cregan upon his death, marrying his own half-niece Sansa.{{Ref|TWOIAF| Appendix: Stark Lineage}} Cregan's third son [[Edric Stark (son of Cregan)|Edric stark]] married Rickon's other daughter Serena.{{Ref|TWOIAF| Appendix: Stark Lineage}} Jonnel's marriage to Sansa was childless, but upon his death rule passed not to Cregan's third son Edric, but to his fourth son [[Barthogan Stark]].{{Ref|TWOIAF| The North: The Stoneborn of Skagos}} While it is possible that Edric predeceased his younger brother, Edric did have two sons and two daughters with Serena, and the daughters had children of their own,{{Ref|TWOIAF| Appendix: Stark Lineage}} and all of these should have been ahead in the line of succession to Barthogan. The exact reasons and circumstances under which Barthogan became Lord of Winterfell are as yet unknown.

Barthogan himself later died childless, when he was slain in the [[Skagos]]i rebellion during the reign of Daeron II Targaryen,{{Ref|TWOIAF| The North: The Stoneborn of Skagos}} and he was succeeded by Cregan's fifth and final son, [[Brandon Stark (son of Cregan)|Brandon]], from whom the later generations of House Stark descend. Convoluted succession challenges remained for decades, possibly through Serena and Edric's children - and between Brandon's own rival grandchildren. Brandon was succeeded by his eldest son [[Rodwell Stark]], who died without issue, after which rule passed to his younger brother [[Beron Stark]]. The grandson of Cregan, Beron, was mortally wounded fighting off an incursion by [[Dagon Greyjoy]]'s [[ironborn]], and as he lay dying in Winterfell [[The She-Wolves of Winterfell|multiple Stark widows]] pushed their children's rival succession claims against the others - only for the unlikely traveling duo [[Dunk and Egg]] to become embroiled in the ensuing events.<ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1408/ Boskone (February 17, 2006)], report 1</ref><ref>[[So Spake Martin]]: [http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/1409/ Boskone (February 17, 2006)], report 2</ref>