A Question that’s been bugging me that I’ve never spotted an answer to that your post about Stannis reminded me of: Why did Stannis marry Selyse in the first place? I’m sure that the marriage was arranged for him as Stannis doesn’t strike me as someone to pursue her, plus he was never fond of her anyway, so I assume that Robert (or Jon Arryn in Robert’s name) set up the match. But what did anyone besides the Florents get out of it? She’s not the daughter of the Florent lord and the family is huge, so the lands are never coming to the Baratheons, barring a miracle. Selyse is not regarded a pretty and she had a cousin of close to the same age that I assume Robert thought was hot because he deflowered her in the marriage bed while the marriage feast was still going on. It shouldn’t matter what she looks like for a political marriage, but it’s been shown many times that the bride’s appearance gets taken into account all the time, so it’s a negative that a presumed positive counterbalances. Are the Florents so influential that marrying a daughter on a second son gives the Royal family something worth the hand in marriage of the king’s brother?
I’ve always suspected that Robert set up Stannis’ marriage to Selyse as a slight to him the same way that, IIRC, he gave him Dragonstone as his seat instead of Storm’s End. I’d be interested in your thoughts.
David Hunt
If I recall correctly, GRRM said it was a combination of Robert’s lack of attention to the necessities of his reign, and I’ve read some analyses that suggest that Jon Arryn thought that a possibility that Robert might support House Florent’s claim to Highgarden might keep the Tyrells looking to curry favor rather than aggressively supporting Targaryen revanchism.
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