Depends a lot on the castle – size is a factor, the military requirements on the castle are a factor, the social and economic requirements on the castle are a factor, the availability of local supplies and labor are a factor.
Regardless, they were never cheap. During the 14th century, for example, maintenance of a baronial castle was around ¼ of one’s income, and could lead to debts of a thousand marks. In the 15th century, for example, one Scottish lord spent 800 pounds a year on maintenance.
At the high end, take something like Edward I redeveloping the Tower of London in the 13th century for over twenty thousand pounds. That works out to around 16,000 dragons.
We’re generally of the same mind here. Daeron’s peace treaty with Dorne created the appearance of Dornish victory, rather than a peace with honor.
More importantly, Daeron failed, in the eleven years between the signing of the peace treaty and the Blackfyre Rebellion, to reconcile half of the kingdom to his policies. Had Daeron better managed royal patronage in the intervening years, he might have been able to buy off enough of the opposition to prevent a rebellion. But he did not do this.
Given their respective roles as warrior and subordinate, Tygett and Kevan were almost certainly there. Gerion probably not.
Tygett however could have been good option to leave to Casterly Rock in case another army must be raised right? But I suppose Tywin could have thought that there would be no need since Rebels had practically won already.
Also, Tygett’s temperment is much better suited to being in the field and on the attack as opposed to an organizational role on the homefront.
Historically, oats were often used for fodder, as opposed to wheat which is generally more expensive to produce and retained for exclusive human consumption.
Indeed, there was a connotation between oats and poverty (in part, because oats can be grown on poor soil which tended to go to the poorest people) – in Ben Johnson’s Dictionary, the definition of oats was “a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people,” suggesting the poverty and backwardness of the Scots in his mind.
A quick look through A Search of Ice and Fire shows oats primarily being eaten in porridge and often given to animals; the oatcakes are primarily there as hard rations, as wheat-based cakes would go off quicker.
Well, we can already make some educated guesses from the text. To begin with:
“the Rhoynar brought considerable wealth with them; their artisans, metalworkers, and stonemasons brought skills far in advance of those achieved by their Westerosi counterparts, and their armorers were soon producing swords and spears and suits of scale and plate no Westerosi smith could hope to match. Even more crucially, it is said the Rhoynish water witches knew secret spells that made dry streams flow again and deserts bloom.”
That’s a very attractive package for a Dornish lord or King, so I can see a good number of them signing up for material gain.
Equally important, the gender balance of the Rhoynish invasion/migration helped to encourage houses to join them – with eight out of ten Rhoynish being women, Nymeria’s policy of mass marriage incorporated hundreds of Dornish houses into the Rhoynar or vice versa, depending on how you look at it, with no one losing anything and the local Dornish getting wealthy brides.
Moreover, from the text we can see some geographical splits between the Dornish houses. The Yronwoods, who were ruling half of Dorne, viewed the Rhoynar as a threat to their predominance, and were joined by their bannermen, the Jordaynes, Qorgyles, Blackmonts, and Wyls.
If you look at a map, this coalition is concentrated in Northern/Western Dorne, but in the eastern and more northerly part of that region. By contrast, the Fowlers, Tolands, Daynes, and Ullers (who allied with Nymeria and the Martells) are mostly regional rivals who occupied the western and southern sections of the same region – these lords likely joined due to pre-existing tensions with the Yronwoods.
Further evidence of this self-interest comes from the fact that, of the six kings who Nymeria sent to the wall, two of them – Vorian of House Dayne and Garrison of House Fowler – were former allies. When you consider that Benedict of House Blackmont and Albin of House Manwoody were also mountain kings who “claimed dominion over the Red Mountains,” one definitely gets the sense that the Martells’ control over the western borders of their kingdom was shaky at best for some time.
Most definitely. Maegor would have needed a war to legitimize his reign and help to unify the kingdom after the rebellions during Aenys’ reign, and Dorne was the unfinished business.
Gods show mercy on Dorne, because Maegor would not have had any.
What if Baelor refused the crown and it passed to Viserys II? How much different would things? Eg, would Viserys II have continued Daeron’s war?
Almost certainly yes. Westeros was outraged that Daeron I had been murdered under a banner of peace, and Baelor’s decision to seek unconditional peace was highly unpopular. So Westeros would have gone to war for revenge, starting with the mass execution of the hostages that Viserys II had been preparing for before Baelor countermanded him.
As to other changes, well, Viserys II rules a lot longer and the Westerosi monarchy isn’t weakened by Baelor’s religious mania and freespending ways. Daena, Elaena, and Rhaena don’t get sent to the Maidenvault. Daeron II may well not have been married to Myriah Martell.
This in turn probably butterflies away the Blackfyre Rebellion, dramatically changing the fortunes of House Targaryen.
RFTIT Tumblr Backup 