Jeyne Poore

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Star of the Faith.svg
Jeyne Poore
Poor Fellows.svg
Alias Poxy Jeyne Poore[1]
Allegiance Poor Fellows
Culture Stormlander
Died late 45 AC or early 46 AC[1]
a field beside the Wendwater[1]
Books

Jeyne Poore, known as Poxy Jeyne Poore, was a leader of the Poor Fellows during the Faith Militant uprising against King Maegor I Targaryen.[2][1]

Character

Jeyne is said to have been a savage captain of the Poor Fellows.[2][1]

History

Following the Faith Militant's defeats in 42 AC in the battles at Stonebridge and the Great Fork of the Blackwater, new leaders arose across the Seven Kingdoms in 43 AC. Among these were Ser Joffrey Doggett in the westerlands and Septon Moon in the riverlands. One of the Faith Militant's most savage captains, however, was Poxy Jeyne Poore, who rose to prominence because the lower order of Poor Fellows could contain both male and female members (unlike the Warrior's Sons, who were all knights). Jeyne led the Poor Fellows in the forested lands between King's Landing and Storm's End, making travel impassable. The forested terrain made Jeyne's cell more difficult to fight than others, and the kingswood was in close proximity to King's Landing.[1]

When Maegor launched a new military campaign against the Faith Militant late in the year 45 AC, he targeted Jeyne's Poor Fellows. Scores of them were hunted down, and any taken alive were hanged if they refused to join the Night's Watch. Poxy Jeyne's ferocity and knowledge of the wooded terrain, however, led to a determined resistance against Maegor's army, and she continued to elude them.[1]

Jeyne was eventually betrayed by three followers who received pardons and knighthoods for turning her over to the king. Three septons with Maegor declared Jeyne to be a witch, and the king ordered her to be burned by the Wendwater. On the day of her execution, however, three hundred Poor Fellows and peasants under the leadership of Ser Horys Hill attempted to rescue Jeyne. Her public execution was a trap to lure out her remaining followers, however, with Maegor's forces waiting and ready for them in an ambush at the Wendwater. The rescuers were surrounded and slaughtered, and Jeyne's execution continued.[2][1]

After a year of campaigning, Maegor and his army returned to King's Landing in 46 AC in triumph, along with two thousand skulls which he claimed to all have been Faith Militant.[2] The victory was somewhat hollow, however, as in several ways Maegor's overall position was actually worse than when the stormlands campaign had started. Jeyne and her followers managed to keep Maegor's main army tied down in the stormlands for a full year, harassing them with woodland skirmishes. With all of Maegor's attention focused on Jeyne Poore, however, the ringleaders of the Faith Militant in the rest of the Seven Kingdoms were left free to regrow their strength. By the time Maegor returned to King's Landingn from Jeyne's execution, Septon Moon openly preached against him to huge crowds in the riverlands, Joffrey Doggett had become the ruler in all but name of the hill country north of the Golden Tooth in the westerlands, and Dennis the Lame and Ragged Silas continued their efforts as well. Furthermore, Jeyne Poore's prolonged and determined insurgency had resulted in significant attrition - in blood, but particularly in gold. Forcing Maegor to keep his armies in the field and supplied for so long, fruitlessly hunting Jeyne in the woods, put such burdens on the already strained royal treasury that by the end of the campaign, it was completely exhausted. Maegor responded by trying to impose ruinously high taxes on the great lords of the kingdom, which only drove more and more against him.[2][1]

Behind the Scenes

Poxy Jeyne Poore might loosely have been inspired by Joan of Arc, a religiously motivated female warrior, who after being betrayed and captured was declared a witch in order to be burned at the stake.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 The Sons of the Dragon.