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House Martell

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House Nymeros Martell of Sunspear, usually simply called House Martell, is one of the Great Houses of The Seven Kingdoms and the ruling house of Dorne. "Nymeros" indicates "of the line of Nymeria," referring to the union of the Martells with the Rhoynish warrior Queen Nymeria. Prince of Dorne rules Dorne from Sunspear in south eastern Dorne.

The Martells of old used a spear as their emblem, while Nymeria and her Rhoynar used the sun as theirs. When Nymeria wed Lord Mors Martell, the symbols were combined into a gold spear piercing a red sun on an orange field. Their words are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.

History:[]

Nymeria's War:[]

At the time of the Rhoynish Wars, the Martells were one of the lesser ruling families of Dorne. At the time of the arrival of the Rhoynish warrior Queen Nymeria, the lands of the Martells were dwarfed by those of House Yronwood. Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship, saw an opportunity in the arrival of the Rhoynar, and took Nymeria to wife. Combining their strength, the two managed to unite all of Dorne under their rule in Nymeria's War.

The union of their peoples saw the Martells abandon many of their older Andal customs in favor of those of the Rhoynar. Nymeria named Mors Prince of Dorne instead of king, and their lands and title passed down to their eldest child, their daughter, regardless of Nymeria marrying again after Mors's death and giving birth to a male child. The Spear Tower and the Tower of the Sun, the towers of Sunspear's Old Palace, were built in the Rhoynish fashion.

Aegon's Conquest:[]

During Aegon's Conquest, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen confronted the aged Princess of Dorne, Meria Martell, at Sunspear. When Meria refused to submit to the Targaryens, Rhaenys departed Dorne. The Targaryens returned, starting the First Dornish War. When their forces arrived at Sunspear, Meria had vanished. King Aegon I and Queen Rhaenys Targaryen declared themselves victorious and left Lord Rosby as castellan of Sunspear as they returned to King's Landing. However, the Dornishmen quickly came out of hiding, retaking Sunspear. Lord Rosby was captured, and thrown from a window atop The Spear Tower by Princess Meria herself.

In later phases of the war, the Targaryens burned every Dornish stronghold at least once, with the exception of Sunspear and its shadow city. According to the Dornishmen, the Targaryens were did not dare to attack Sunspear as they feared that Princess Meria might have purchased a device from Lys to slay their dragons. In his Conjectures Archmaester Timotty suggests that Aegon hoped to turn the Dornish against the Martells by leaving them the only ones unharmed, and letters have been discovered in which Marcher lords claimed to the Dornish that the Martells had bought their safety. However, the tactics did not work.

After nine years, the First Dornish War came to an end. When the elderly Princess Meria died, her son Nymor assumed rule over Dorne. Desiring peace, he sent his daughter Deria to King's Landing with an escort as an peace envoy. She brought with her the skull of Rhaenys's dragon Meraxes and a letter from Prince Nymor. Although at first determined to refuse the peace offer, Aegon agreed to it after reading Nymor's letter.

The Targaryen Insult:[]

When Prince Rhaegar Targaryen won the tourney at Harrenhal, he passed over Elia Martell, his wife, to name Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty. A year later, he apparently abducted Lyanna, sparking Robert Baratheon's Rebellion.

The Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen had already killed Lord Rickard Stark and Brandon Stark who had believed Prince Rhaegar to have kidnapped Lyanna Stark. Which had led to House Stark, House Arryn and House Tully joining Robert Baratheon in his rebellion, if it wasn't for the fact that Rhaegar and Lyanna were able to prove that they were in love and that Rhaegar hadn't kidnapped her, that they had got married. They were able to end the Rebellion before in really began. The matter of The Mad King was also dealt with before the Dornish got involved.

Prince Doran Martell, furious at Elia's mistreatment, was slow to lend aid to the Targaryens during the war, if it wasn't for Oberyn Martell fearing for his sister and his niece and nephew being in the capital with The Mad King. He marched half of the House Martell army with the intent to bring them back to Dorne, thinking she would be angry at the Prince, he was surprised to find out that Elia was involved with the idea of wedding Lyanna Stark.

Something no matter how much Elia or Oberyn have told Doran Martell, he didn't believe them, his trust in his new king, Rhaegar I Targaryen, has become very low, he has taken the insult on his house very personally, not so much on Lyanna Stark or Jaehaerys Targaryen, but on Rhaegar I Targaryen. I think very few people in Dorne have forgiven the King.

Family[]

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