House Baratheon, Retainers, and Bannermen
House Baratheon is the youngest of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms and is the principal house in the Stormlands, which it won after slaying the last of the Storm Kings. It is said to be founded by an illegitimate son of House Targaryen. Its seat is at Storm's End, a formidable castle that has never fallen to siege or storm. Its coat of arms displays a black stag on a field of gold; a crown was added after Robert Baratheon took the Iron Throne. Its words are Ours is the Fury.
Fifteen years before the events of the series, Robert Baratheon rebelled against the ruling House Targaryen in protest of Lyanna Stark's disappearance. With the support of House Stark, House Arryn, House Tully, and later House Lannister, Robert won the throne and his line became known as House Baratheon of King's Landing, the new royal family. Robert's brother Renly Baratheon was awarded Storm's End, which should have been Stannis Baratheon's by rights. Instead, Stannis was given the poorer and less powerful Dragonstone, the Targaryen seat. This became a source of tension between Robert and Stannis. Robert married Cersei Lannister, and the royal children are Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. However, the children are not fathered by Robert but by Cersei's twin brother, Jaime Lannister. After Robert's death in A Game of Thrones, Joffrey is crowned king.
Because of Joffrey's parentage, Stannis and Renly rebel and claim the throne for themselves. Renly becomes head of the main Baratheon branch, House Baratheon of Storm's End, and Stannis forms a cadet branch known as House Baratheon of Dragonstone. After Joffrey's coronation, the royal branch displays Joffrey's personal sigil, the Baratheon black-and-gold stag and the Lannister red-and-gold lion combatant, on its coat of arms. Renly branch continues to use the black stag on gold, and Stannis displays a red flaming heart with the crowned stag within on a field of yellow.
Read more about this topic: List Of A Song Of Ice And Fire Characters
Famous quotes containing the word house:
“You see how this House of Commons has begun to verify all the ill prophecies that were made of it—low, vulgar, meddling with everything, assuming universal competency, and flattering every base passion—and sneering at everything noble refined and truly national. The direct tyranny will come on by and by, after it shall have gratified the multitude with the spoil and ruin of the old institutions of the land.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)