Worth noting that in both the case of Tywin and Robb, they aren’t “disinheriting” someone. Jaime is the eldest male Lannister, and it’s only his Kingsguard oath which makes him ineligible to inherit. Once he’s out of the Kingsguard, he’s the next claimant to Casterly Rock; Tyrion isn’t “disinherited” as much as he’s just pushed down the ladder.

Ditto Jon. Once Robb legitimates him, he becomes the oldest extant male heir (though it would be interesting to see what would happen if definitely trueborn Rickon or Bran showed up). Sansa isn’t being disinherited, but rather is just one further step removed from inheriting.

Agreed in Robb’s case, although I think the text could support either reading, since Robb was very insistent that the Lannisters not get a claim to Winterfell.

But disagree on Tywin. Jaime’s oath is very much binding, and Tywin hadn’t even made the offer to bootstrap Ser Barristan being dismissed to get his preferred heir back when he told Tyrion that he would never inherit King’s Landing.

I have a small doubt, nothing major but something I am curious about. How was time accounted before Aegon I? Surely they didn’t use X years BC

From the WOIAF, it seems like they used a system of years since a major event – so years since the Pact, or years since the Old Night, or years since the Andal Invasion, or years since the Doom – and then scholars later adjusted everything to BC/AC after the Conquest.

hi again, i’m the anon from the robb disinheriting sansa question, you mentioned that robert could’ve removed joffrey but didn’t. but why didn’t he? he wasn’t the most hands on king or father but he was aware of joffreys multiple failings, he even said to ned that the though of joffrey ruling with cersei whispering in his ear was the only reason he hadn’t abdicated yet.

Because he thought he had more time, and then when he had to confront the issue he was dying and drugged out of his mind.

Were there, historically, any repercussions or limits to how and when a lord could choose to disinherit one or more of his heirs? Robb could cite the fact that Sansa is a woman forcefully married into the family of his mortal enemies and Tywin could point out that Tyrion is a dwarf (and thus cursed by the gods) but could any heir be disinherited at any time by their liege?

There could be – civil wars have definitely been started over disinheritances or disputed successions. On the other hand, there are plenty of cases where that didn’t happen – Alfred the Great, for example, succeeded his brother despite his brother having adult sons, but Alfred had more support among the nobility of Wessex so managed to tough it out.

It really depends on the political circumstances.

Hello maester Steven, i was wondering how did robb manage to remove sansa as his heir by just writing it in his testament? From what i have read it seems to be pretty difficult, neither robert nor tywin were able to disinherit joffrey or tyrion even at the height of their power. Thanks for your answer!

Robert could have, but decided not to, although Eddard basically did it for him by altering his will; Tywin was waiting for Jaime to be removed from the Kingsguard, but fully intended to disinherit Tyrion.

As for how Robb did it, he basically wrote it down in his will that Jon was his heir specifically, ahead of all other claimants.

aspis vs scutum?

These are two forms of shields used by the ancient Romans at various times. The aspis is theshield we think of when we think of the Greek hoplite and (pre-Alexandrian) phalanx: a large round shield, covered in bronze, and largely supported by the shoulder and the Argive grip. Borrowing as they had much of their military technology from the Greek-influenced Etruscans, the early Romans used this kind of shield quite heavily.

However, the aspis wasn’t that well-suited to the more flexible and less tightly-packed ranks of the maniple (a tactical formation that the Romans borrowed from their neighbors the Samnites) and so the Romans replaced the aspis with the iconic scutum. By contrast, the scutum was a curved rectangle, with iron edging and an iron boss in the center of the shield:

Without all of that heavy bronze plating, the scutum was much lighter, so that it could be wielded easily in one hand without the need for shoulder support, which made it easier to hold up the shield while throwing the pilum or stabbing with the gladius, as opposed to relying solely on spear thrusts. Moreover, the longer scutum did a better job at covering the legs and feet during combat, so that despite being lighter than the apsis, it actually provided more protection. And finally, the scutum’s design allowed for tactical innovations: the testudo formation, for example, wouldn’t really work with the aspis because it would be more exhausting to lock shields and you wouldn’t be able to huddle together closely enough, leaving gaps.

So yeah, scutum all the way.