#producer of heirs and legitimate grandsons

[winepresswrath]

Could you elaborate on what the yanli-jc wwx conspiracy is?

They are just generally in cahoots re: making sure he's safe and bringing him home, sometimes in defiance of their parents or society or just the likely fact of his death. The first time Wei Wuxian runs away Jiang Cheng wants to follow him because he's worried he'll get hurt. Jiang Fengmian says no, and when Jiang Cheng sneaks out in defiance of his father's wishes with his little rucksack in hand, Yanli is waiting at the gates to support him and tell him to bring Wei Wuxian home safe, implicitly siding with him against their dad in the matter of whether Wei Wuxian might be in real trouble and if so, whether Jiang Cheng's help might be valuable.

The second time is during the sunshot campaign while Wei Wuxian is missing- she comes in when he's brooding over Wei Wuxian's sword and tells him how grown up he is, fusses over him a bit and asks him to bring him back. Jiang Cheng fervently agrees, and looks actively relieved and pleased she's asking this of him- it's blatantly obvious he was going to do it anyway, but her support and faith mean a lot to him which I think is significant because he's usually so worried about failure and he knows Wei Wuxian has been thrown in the burial mounds and is almost certainly dead, but he's not actually frightened he'll fail her, he's just glad they're on the same page. He gets extra support this round because Lan Wangji is also refusing to believe Wei Wuxian is dead and taking joint missions to Yiling with Jiang Cheng and his own turn at sword brooding.

Breaking the pattern, in CQL she was originally going to go with him to talk to Wei Wuxian after he takes the Wens to the burial mounds but he kind of sneaks off without her when he sees her with Zixuan and then doesn't manage to bring Wei Wuxian home to her; she has a sad prophetic dream about it. The conspiracy is broken!

Until! They conspire to bring Yanli to Yiling so Wei Wuxian can see her wedding clothes. I personally think it's implied by the response to Zixuan's request for Wei Wuxian to be allowed at Jin Ling's hundred days ceremony that they were in on that together- either way they're both playing their part, because everyone from the Lan to the JIn know Jiang Cheng would happily take Wei Wuxian back and Yanli misses him. Whether they planned it or just moped really obviously is debatable buy money is on them being in on it together with Zixuan and maybe even Lan Wangji.

And then of course there's Nightless City, where Jiang Cheng notably does not try to get to Wei Wuxian but Yanli does, and then he finds him and loses him all over again so he can have a much more prolonged and less emotionally supportive round of refusing to believe Wei Wuxian is dead.

Bonus Round: The only time Yanli sends Wei Wuxian after Jiang Cheng it's when he's been captured by the Wen because he was already on top of the send Wei Wuxian home safe to Jiejie agenda.

[warwickroyals]

Sunderland's Royal Jewel Vault (27/∞) ♛

↬ The Westminster Aquamarines

The Sunderlandian royal family has several magnificent parures of aquamarine jewellery. One of these collections, the Westminster Aquamarines, features some of the royal family’s oldest and most iconic jewels; uncovering their history takes us back nearly two hundred years. In 1830s, Sunderland was a lone constitutional monarchy in North America, bordered by the United States in the northeast and Mexico to the southwest. The early 19th century had seen the country’s steady expansion westward thanks to territorial acquisitions from the Spanish and British. This period of territorial and economic growth, however, was cut short by the early death of Sunderland’s Hereditary Prince in 1835. Hereditary Prince Frederick James was just shy of thirty, the only son of King Louis III and his beloved first wife, Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom. Freddie was also the only legitimate male-line grandson of King Louis II, as a result, his death complicated Sunderland’s succession. The question of who would succeed Louis III ignited a fierce rivalry among the King’s younger brothers, as they scrambled to marry and produce an heir to the throne. The Duke of Lennox and St. George, the King’s first brother and heir presumptive, married an obscure German princess. The Duke of Glencairn, the King’s second brother, married the daughter of a wealthy British statesman. But it was the King’s fifth brother, Prince Augustus, the Duke of Westminster, who looked for a bride closer to home. Lady Martha Whitley was twenty years younger than her husband-to-be, a descendant of the Prussian nobility that migrated to Sunderland following the election of Prince Heinrich of Prussia as King Louis I of Sunderland, Martha hailed from one of Sunderland’s oldest aristocratic families. Unlike some of her foreign, and significantly younger, sisters-in-law Martha was shrewd and held a deep familiarity of Sunderland's court life, this was reflected in her impressive jewelry collection. On her wedding day, Martha was gifted a small box of aquamarine pendants of various shapes and sizes. As Martha’s prominence at court grew, the aquamarines became known as the Duchess of Westminster’s Aquamarines. Over the years, the Duchess incorporated the aquamarines into a few pieces of jewelry including a necklace and a pair of earrings. The tensions surrounding Sunderland’s succession died down when the British-born Prince George of Glencairn became king in 1860. By then Westminsters had three children, Prince Louis, who became Duke of Westminster following his father’s death in 1877; Prince Thomas, and Princess Elizabeth Anne. The family was popular with nobility and the public alike, but they weren’t without their scandals. After Prince Louis enraged King George by marrying without permission, his subsequent children were declared illegitimate and barred from inheritance. Finding a suitable wife for Prince Thomas, now heir to the Westminster Dukedom, became a top priority. In 1876, Prince Thomas met and fell in love with Princess Marie of Hanover, a male-line great-granddaughter of King George III and therefore a British princess. The couple married in 1880, but struggled to have children. In 1887, their only surviving child was born in the presence of Queen Alexandra. The little princess, given the lengthy name Alexandra Anne Martha Georgina Dagmar Gloriana Marie, would be known to history as Princess Anne of Westminster. Growing up, Anne was placed in the direct care of her Dear Granny Martha.

My grandmother was magnificent. She was kind but strict, with old-fashioned ideas about how a princess should be brought up. - Queen Anne of Sunderland, circa 1953

The Duchess of Westminster had high hopes for her only male-line granddaughter. Indeed, Anne’s maternal cousins were well-connected to the British and Danish royals, as well as the Imperial families of Russia and Germany. By the time Anne was twenty, she’d been taken on several trips to Europe, excursions she came to loathe. Anne’s anxiety worsened when she was rejected by several families. After her mother died in Austria, Anne returned from Europe “alone and feeling rather sorry for myself”. Back in Sunderland, Anne made friends with her second cousin once-removed, Prince George, the Duke of Woodbine and eldest son of the Prince and Princess of Danforth. Over the years, the pair’s friendship developed into a romance and in 1911, King George allowed the couple to marry. That same year, the Duchess of Westminster died, and Anne inherited the largest jewel collection in the royal vault, aquamarines included. Anne and George married in 1913. Anne, now Duchess of Woodbine, was one the most dynastically important ladies at court and she set to work reworking her grandmother’s jewels into spectacular works of art. For King George and Queen Alexandra’s 1920 Diamond Jubilee, Anne commissioned Garrard to work the aquamarines into a parure that included a necklace, a choker, two brooches, and a pair of earrings. The parure paired nicely with the aquamarine Georgiyevna Tiara, which entered the family in the early 1920s. To this day, the Georgiyevna aquamarines are often mistaken for those of the Westminster set, showing how ubiquitous they’ve become with the main-line royal family’s collection. When Anne became Queen in 1930, she wore the aquamarines. Despite her overflowing jewellery box, the aquamarines were evidently her favourite and became synonymous with her name and legacy. The Westminster aquamarines have remained iconic long after Queen Anne’s time. Queen Irene became another famous wearer of the suite, wearing the choker as both a necklace and a headband in the 1980s. Queen Anne was an important figure to Irene during the early years of her marriage, and she wears nearly all of the jewels her grandmother-in-law left to her. In the 2010s, Tatiana, then the Princess of Danforth was seen in bits and pieces of the suite, notably the choker, signalling that the jewels will be carried on into the next generation.

Queen Anne of Sunderland, wife of King George II, wears the Westminster aquamarines with the Georgiyevna tiara for a promotional image, circa 1930

Queen Irene of Sunderland, wearing a powder blue satin evening gown along with the Westminster aquamarine choker as a headband, attends a gala dinner on April 30, 1984 in Auckland, New Zealand

[fadingstudentbananacookie]

HotD fans are annoyed about Alicent being more worried that people are going to find out she was sleeping with Cole than mourning her grandson Jaehaerys' death and comforting Helaena.

I understand that, and as a TG stan, I am also frustrated, but it also, ironically, gives us an in-depth analysis of Alicent's trauma.

Her sexual abuse at the hands of Viserys (and Larys) for years upon years has stunted her capacity for emotional growth. Her isolation in the Red Keep and her relationship with Otto, who only regards her as his pawn, worsens her mental state.

She's more worried about her teenage-era drama, shagging someone, and being scared of having people find out (especially her father) than she is about her grandson's death or comforting her grieving daughter. This is her trying to live a true life in a fucked up world, discovering her desires and allowing herself to be selfish. By no means does this validate or exempt her from criticism.

I'm pretty sure there are many noble ladies in Westeros who, after being widowed, took their husband's household guards as lovers. Most of them probably didn't feel as guilty about it as Alicent does and went about their days frolicking.

But we also need to understand that her having sex with Cole would be considered an act of high treason against the King (her son) and could call into question the legitimacy of all four of her children (as Rhaenyra's). It's a misogynistic and patriarchial world she lives in. All the suffering she's been through would be for nothing if her virtue is questioned.

In the anguish state that Aegon is in after the loss of his child, it's very likely he can order Cole's execution and put Alicent under house arrest. (Then she'll be the Queen in Chains all over again, locked up in a castle, never free to do what she wants. She's already a pawn in Otto and Daemon's games, but regained some of her autonomy after Viserys' death).

This is not good, especially during a war, where warring factions must appear as a single unit and not seem weak to their enemies, as Otto said.

So, feel free to criticize her, but let's not try to mitigate her fears and say that she's making her situation everyone's problem. It will be a HUGE fucking problem for the Greens if anyone discovers her affair.

....

In the show, Aegon being crowned King is considered usurpation, which I do NOT agree with at all. In Fire&Blood, Aegon's claim to the Iron Throne is equal to or perhaps, I dare say, more legitimate than Rhaenyra's for two main reasons:

1). He is the eldest son of the King. Therefore, it is his birthright as inheritance custom dictates.

2). Rhaenyra's sons from her first marriage are bastards. It cannot be more straightforward than that.

This raises the question of whether Rhaenyra would even make a good queen if she could not do her duty to produce legitimate heirs as her half-brother did. Are you telling me the realm will wait until Rhaenyra dies and Jacaerys ascends the throne to start a war based on legitimate bases?

[wessexroyalfamily]

The History of the Succession to the Crown shows the historical succession to the throne of Wessex starting with the 1st monarch to rule from the throne, King Henry I of Wessex, at the top of the chart leading to the current sovereign Queen Anne II of Wessex at “25″ at the bottom. 

The symbol/flower next to an individual is which royal house they belong to. There is also a brief description about each house that has ruled Wessex. 

Note this chart only shows how each monarch is related to each other and their descent from Henry I of Wessex, not necessarily an entire family tree or the current line of succession. 

The First Act of Succession 

The First Act of Succession was established when Henry Carnarvon became the first King of a sovereign Wessex after the fall of the Saxon Empire. HE declared that the throne will pass through his male line, and it successfully passed from father to son until his great-grandson King Edmund I failed to produce a living male heir. When King Edmund I realized that there wouldn’t be any male heirs left, he signed the Enfield Declaration which declared the throne would pass the heirs daughter, Princess Mary Carnarvon of Wessex. 

The Second Act of Succession 

When Mary Carnarvon gave birth to her son, the future King Henry II of Wessex, The Second Act of Succession was officially passed, declaring that all possible claimants to the throne must descend from Princess Mary. Mary and her husband Edward Beaufort, The Duke of Worcester would go on to have five children, but only her youngest daughter Anne who married The Duke of Dorset would have any children to ascend to the throne. 

The throne then passed to Anne’s son King Edmund II and passed neatly from father to son, until the death of Edward IV of Wessex. Edward IV has no male children, but he did have a daughter. Some nobles thought that Princess Joan (Edward IV daughter) was the rightful successor, while others thought that Edward IV’s brother Prince Henry, The Duke of Worcester was the more suitable heir. 

Those who supported Princess Joan of Wessex  argued that the Second Act of Succession referred to “heirs general” and as the senior heir of Princess Mary Carnarvon, and it didn’t matter that she was female. Those for Prince Henry, The Duke of Worcester argued that the Second Act of Succession only referred to heirs male and would only allow for a female succession if the male line of Princess Mary Carnarvon goes extinct. Henry’s supporters won and the throne then passed to Edward IV’s brother, who reigned as King Henry III of Wessex. 

It wasn’t until Princess Anne of Cornwall ascended the throne as Queen Anne I of Wessex that Wessex got its first female consort. 

The Third Act of Succession 

On her accession, Queen Anne I decided to limit the possible heirs to the throne to only her descendants, thus ending any claims of other West-Saxon nobleman who descended from House of Beaumont, and wished to challenge her for the throne. All subsequent monarchs under the Third Act, and later Fourth Act of Succession, must descend from Queen Anne I and her husband Prince George Bagration to be eligible to the throne. 

The Fourth Act of Succession

The Fourth Act of Succession is the current Act governing the succession to the throne. It has three basic rules. 1) an individual must be a descendant of Anne I through one of her five legitimate children, 2) members of the occult  are banned from inheriting the throne, 3) and the line of succession follows male preference primogeniture.

Succession to the Crown Chart | Princess Royal Chart | Counsellors of the State | The Earl of Gloucester |

[eschercaine]

About the parentage of the three Velaryon princes...

Just my rant. If you don’t like it, back out now.

The House of the Dragon producers made the Velaryons black and changed Rhaenys’ hair color to make it obvious that Rhaenyra’s children were bastards.

The Velaryons shares the Valryian look of the Targaryens.

House Velaryon is of Valyrian descent, and its members often have Valyrian features, such as silver-gold or silver hair and purple eyes. Some Velaryons have blue eyes. — Fire & Blood, The Sons of the Dragon

In contrast to the tv show, book!Rhaenys has black hair because she inherited it from her mother, Jocelyn Baratheon.

Rhaenys was a great beauty. She had black hair and lilac eyes. By the time she was fifty-five, she had a lean, lined face and her black hair was streaked with white. — Although The Princess and the Queen, published in 2013, stated that Rhaenys had silver hair, this has been changed for the publication of Fire & Blood, where she is described to have had black hair, like other Baratheon descendants.

Jace, Luke, and Joffrey could’ve inherited their dark hair from either or both their parents. Laenor’s maternal grandmother is a Baratheon. However, we have no knowledge about Corlys’ parents. Rhaenyra’s maternal grandfather was an Arryn.

Regarding Harwin Strong, the alleged father of the Velaryon princes, we don’t know the color of his hair or eyes or the shape of his nose, so we can’t actually confirm that he resembled the children. The book asks us to assume they looked like him because the accusations were made in the first place.

Breakbones was said to be the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms in his day. He was described as being massive and redoubtable. — Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession

The only confirmed member of the House Strong whose hair color we know is Lucamore the Lusty, once a member of the Kingsguard.

Lucamore was described as an amiable, strapping, broad-shouldered, young blond bull. He was a great favorite of the smallfolk in tourneys and was well loved at court. — Fire & Blood, The Long Reign - Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Policy, Progency, and Pain

...and he’s blonde.

About the accusations, wasn’t it Vaemond Velaryon and the Greens started those rumors?

With his trueborn children dead, by law his lands and titles should pass to his grandson Jacaerys… but since Jace would presumably ascend the Iron Throne after his mother, Princess Rhaenyra urged her good-father to name instead her second son, Lucerys. Lord Corlys also had half a dozen nephews, however, and the eldest of them, Ser Vaemond Velaryon, protested that the inheritance by rights should pass to him… on the grounds that Rhaenyra’s sons were bastards sired by Harwin Strong. The princess was not slow in answering this charge. She dispatched Prince Daemon to seize Ser Vaemond, had his head removed, and fed his carcass to her dragon. — The Rogue Prince

Yes, what Rhaenyra did to Vaemond was cruel. But she’d been made the subject of these rumors for 6 years by the Greens, and it had gotten to a point where Alicent and her children were taking them as fact and using them as justification to attack her sons.

Imagine that Rhaenyra’s children were legitimate. How should she have responded? Vaemond openly declared that he was going to oppose the legitimacy of both the heir to the throne and his future liege lord for very self-serving reasons.

Perhaps I’m just reaching here, but what if the Velaryon princes indeed had a Valyrian looks but were written down as having brown hair and brown eyes to demonize Rhaenyra? To show that she’s unfit to rule because she birthed three illegitimate children?

After all, Grand Maester Mellos was in charge of writing the court chronicles during King Viserys’ reign before dying and also a Green supporter.

In 120 AC, Mellos in his writings is the one that suggested that the fire at Harrenhal that killed Lord Lyonel Strong and his heir, Ser Harwin Strong, was ordered by Viserys. Mellos implies that the king had come to accept the rumors that his grandchildren by his daughter, Rhaenyra, were really bastards sired by Harwin, thus he desired to keep the truth concealed and kill the man who had dishonored his daughter. — Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon - A Question of Succession

I enjoy watching Game of Thrones: Histories and Lore. So when I began to watch the story about the Targaryen civil war, I’m quite interested.

These are the Velaryon princes, Jace, Luke, and Joffrey plus Aegon the Younger and Viserys.

This is Prince Lucerys Velaryon.

I’m quite interested that they all have silver-blonde hair instead of brown hair. Or perhaps it’s just an error on the colorist’s part.

[captainswanapproved]

An Indecent Proposal- Chapter 18

A03,Prologue, Chapter 1,Chapter 2,Chapter 3, Chapter 4,Chapter 5,Chapter 6,Interlude,Chapter 7,Chapter 8,Chapter 9,Chapter 10,Chapter 11,Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17

Daemon x Rhaenyra Multichapter AU:

Daemon leaves Rhaenyra at her wedding feast. Rhaenyra marries Laenor. After a year of trying to do their duty and produce an heir, Rhaenyra writes to Daemon.

She needs a true Targaryen heir.

It only needs to be an arrangement of business, she says. And it would result in Daemon���s child one day taking the Iron Throne.

Daemon accepts the proposal and returns to court.

Only, ventures like these are never simple. As much as they would wish to, Daemon and Rhaenyra cannot let go of the past, or the feelings they once had for each other.

123 AC

Corlys Velaryon only truly cared about three things in this world. His lady wife, his children, and the future and legacy of House Velaryon.

Before his death, Laenor had asked that his son Lucerys be named heir to Driftmark.

But now, it had been revealed to him that Laenor had no true heirs. Prince Lucerys, in fact, belonged to Prince Daemon.

This very problem haunted Corlys as he fell ill, suffering from a dreadful sickness the maesters declared to be from Essos.

If he was meant to go to the Stranger, then who would inherit Driftmark?

As he saw it, three options stood before him. His daughter Laena. His brother Vaemond. Or Lucerys Targaryen.

Laena was married, and quite happy in King’s Landing. Eventually, she and her husband would go to Harrenhal, which Ser Harwin stood to inherit. Corlys did not think she would have much interest in returning to her childhood home.

Vaemond had no wife or children, and while he was still young enough to produce heirs, he was reckless and irresponsible. Under his rule, Driftmark might fall to ruin.

Then there was Lucerys Targaryen. He was not his blood, and no longer had the Velaryon name since he was legitimized by the King. But he was young, engaged to Corlys’s own granddaughter, and with the history of intermarriage between House Targaryen and House Velaryon, perhaps the prince was in possession of some amount of Velaryon blood.

But in truth, none of these three options was the ideal heir to Driftmark.

And so, he called his beloved wife back home.

Rhaenys arrived on the back of Meleys on a stormy day, drenched to the bone. Her gown clung to her body, and though his own body was overcome with fever, he still longed for her as he always had.

Rhaenys kissed her husband. “How are you faring, my love?”

“Not well at all,” Corlys said, “and yet, I still wish to rip that gown off and have my wicked way with you.”

Rhaenys smiled. “There will be time enough for that once you are recovered.”

“And if I do not recover?”

“You will. I command you to.”

“Rhaenys, we must discuss the matter, if only for my peace of mind. We must choose an heir.”

“Lucerys is your heir,” Rhaenys said.

“Lucerys is not our grandson. In name or blood.”

“It was Laenor’s final wish,” Rhaenys said. “Would you seriously consider giving the title to Vaemond? He would destroy everything you have worked so hard to build.”

“There is Laena,” Corlys said.

Rhaenys shook her head. “Laena doesn’t want it. She told me so before I left.”

“You truly wish for me to pass Driftmark to a Targaryen?”

“Yes. Luke is betrothed to Baela. One day they will have a son of their own, one with Velaryon blood. If you deny Lucerys, you will insult Rhaenyra and Daemon, and more importantly, you will insult Laenor.”

“Laenor is dead,” Corlys said. “He was the last trueborn Velaryon son and he died without issue.”

Rhaenys paled and her mouth tightened.

“What is it?” Corlys asked.

“I am going to tell you a secret, and you must never share it with another soul.” Rhaenys leaned over her husband and shared the secret she had been keeping for nearly three years.

Corlys’s expression darkened. “You and Laena have been lying to me.”

“We had to,” Rhaenys said. “You have been in the Stepstones, and we could not put such a thing in writing. I am sorry for the deception, but you can rest assured knowing that both of our children are leading happy lives.”

“And this is why you have pledged your loyalty to Princess Rhaenyra?”

“Yes. Their marriage was a sham, but Laenor loved Rhaenyra, and he respected Daemon. He made me swear that I would support them. But even without that, Rhaenyra is the best hope for a brighter future. She is capable and idealistic. She will make the realm better.”

“And her son?”

“Luke is a sweet boy. We can arrange for him to be your ward. You can teach him the traditions of our house, and he will honor them. I am sure of it.”

Corlys sat in silence for a long while after that, but at length he said, “Very well. Lucerys shall remain my heir.”

He was rewarded with a long and passionate kiss. “You will not regret it, my love.”

“I only hope Lucerys will not inherit my position for many years to come.”

***

Alicent left Viserys sated and sleepy. She prayed that this coupling would result in a child, for she did not know how much longer she could bear to have him touch her.

She was still furious that he had legitimized Rhaenyra’s bastards. Her own children were now so far down the line of succession that it would be impossible for Aegon to take the throne without fist slaughtering his half-sister, uncle, and every one of his nieces and nephews.

Her father had assured her that this was not the end of the world. When Viserys was out of the way, they would deal with Rhaenyra, Daemon, and their children, he had written. But Alicent was not so sure. They had six dragon between them, even if four were only hatchlings, and Alicent’s children had none.

Several missives sat on the desk in Alicent’s chambers. The top one was written in an unfamiliar hand. Alicent tore the letter open and read.

My Queen,

My brother Lord Corlys is gravely ill. He is intent upon keeping Lucerys Targaryen as his heir. This is an insult. I would not have the greatest navy in the Seven Kingdoms controlled by a boy of six. Nor would I have my birthright passed out of my family for the sake of a bastard boy.

I write to beg for your support before I travel to King’s Landing to petition the Crown.

If you grant me your support in this matter, than my ships and men will be at your disposal when your eldest makes a claim for the throne.

Vaemond Velaryon

This was an insult to honor and decency. Rhaenyra and her children had already stolen away Aegon’s birthright. She would not allow the bastard boy to claim Driftmark. It did not matter that her foolish husband had legitimized the brats.

With the rumors of Rhaenyra’s children settled, the small folk had turned their attention back to whispering about Daeron who was growing to resemble his father more and more with every passing moon, despite the effort she made to dye his hair.

Alicent penned a quick response and sent to Vaemond Velaryon. She would punish Rhaenyra and her bastards and gain access to the finest fleet in all of Westeros in one fell swoop.

***

Rhaenys Targaryen was loyal to a fault. As soon as she heard of Vaemond’s  planned challenge, she flew back to King’s Landing to inform Rhaenyra and Daemon in person.

So it was that on a day in the sixth moon of 123 AC that Rhaenys met with the Princess, Prince Consort, and Lucerys Targaryen in the Godswood.

Luke was dressed in Targaryen colors. The boy ran to Rhaenys and embraced her. In the years since Laenor’s flight, she had taken care to spend time with him. After all, he would one day be the Lord of High Tide and husband to her granddaughter. But the boy had drawn her in with his sweetness and charm. He called her grandmother, despite the fact that they both knew it to be a falsehood.

Rhaenys ruffled the boy’s hair and kissed his brow. “Good morrow, sweet boy. Tell me, how are your lessons with the dragon keepers going.”

“Muña and Kepus say that Meraxes, Vermax, and Arrax will soon be big enough to mount. They grew quickly in Dragonstone.”

“That is excellent news, my dear. But now we all must speak of something serious. Come to the table. Your mother called for your favorite lemon cakes.”

Rhaenys took the boy’s hand and led him back to his parents. Then she took the seat beside him at the iron table.

“What news do you bring from Driftmark, Cousin?” Daemon asked.

“Corlys has taken a turn for the worse. His survival is not guaranteed. As such, Vaemond intends to challenge Luke’s claim to Driftmark.”

“He cannot,” Rhaenyra said.

“Unfortunately, he can,” Daemon said. “But he will need the support of the Crown. Which he will not get. Viserys will defend Luke’s claim.”

“Are you certain? Vaemond was planning on seeking the Queen’s support, and Viserys has been rather enamored as of late.”

“He will,” Daemon said, though he sounded less than certain.

“Lucerys has our unfailing support. I intend to speak for Corlys when Vaemond makes his claim.”

“Kepus, Muña, Grandmother, I do not want Lord Corlys to die!” Fat tears were welling in Luke’s violet eyes.

Rhaenyra put an arm around Luke. “I know, sweet boy. But he is strong.”

“If he dies, I will have to leave home. I don’t want that,” Luke said.

“Ser Laenor wanted you to inherit his title, my love. One day, your brother and sister will rule the Seven Kingdoms, and you will support them. Driftmark and Dragonstone have always stood together.”

Luke looked from his mother to Rhaenys, his lip quivering.

“All will be well, Luke,” Rhaenys said. “My husband is strong. And one day, you and Baela will be happy at Driftmark. Many of us must leave home. It is our duty.”

Luke did love his cousin Baela, though she was three years his junior and too young to join them in their lessons. But he loved his life with his dragon, parents, and siblings. He did not want everything to change. “Would it be terrible if Vaemond was the heir instead of me?”

All three of the adults assured him that it would be. Lucerys Targaryen had been raised to follow duty and honor, and though he was a decade away from reaching his majority, he took this upbringing seriously. If he was meant to be the Lord of High Tide, he would do his best to meet the expectations of his family. He supposed the first challenge of that undertaking was standing before the Iron Throne against Vaemond Velaryon. But for the moment, he chose to eat another lemon cake.

***

Three days later, hundreds of people gathered in the throne room to witness the dispute over the future heir of Driftmark.

Rhaenyra, Daemon and their children stood in the throne room, dressed in their Targaryen best. They were joined by Rhaenys, Laena, and her twins, who were unfailingly loyal, and in support of Luke’s claim to Driftmark.

Alicent and her children were wearing the green of House Hightower and standing beside Vaemond Velaryon.

Rhaenyra wondered if she would ever be able to convince Viserys that Alicent was manipulating him for her own ends. Though Rhaenyra loved her father, he was loyal to a fault, and Alicent had earned his loyalty years ago, comforting him in the wake of Aemma’s death.

Viserys sat on the Iron Throne.

“We have gathered here today in the wake of Lord Corlys’s illness,” Viserys began. “Should he succumb to it, Driftmark will pass into the hands of a new heir. Alas, there is some dispute over who that heir might be. Princess Rhaenyra may speak first on behalf of her son.”

Rhaenyra stepped forward. “Your Grace, Driftmark should go to my son, Prince Lucerys Targaryen. It is true that he is not a Velaryon by blood, but Ser Laenor’s final wish was for Prince Lucerys to be named heir to Driftmark. Lord Corlys and Princess Rhaenys support Lucerys’s claim, as does the Lady Laena Strong. Lady Baela will one day marry Prince Lucerys, and she is the granddaughter of the current Lord of the Tides. House Velaryon and House Targaryen have always enjoyed a strong alliance. To pass over Prince Lucerys would be a grievous mistake.”

Viserys nodded and Rhaenyra stepped back.

Vaemond Velaryon approached the throne. “Your Grace, I am Lord Corlys’s brother. Lucerys Targaryen is a boy of six. By tradition, I should be the heir of Driftmark. I will make a strong match and produce true Velaryon heirs.”

“Is this all you have to say in the defense of your claims?” Viserys asked. “Have you any legitimate support? Princess Rhaenys, what do you have to say about your good-brother’s claim?”

Rhaenys stepped forward. “My good-brother is a scoundrel. He would be a disgrace to Driftmark and House Velaryon. Prince Lucerys is an excellent young man. With proper training, he will make House Velaryon proud, regardless his parentage. My son, Ser Laenor, claimed Lucerys as his own and knew that he was the correct choice.”

Rhaenyra watched Alicent carefully. The woman’s expression was guarded. Vaemond Velaryon, however, was infuriated. “Honor and decency support my claim to Driftmark.”

“And what exactly do you mean by this?” Viserys demanded in a booming voice.

“I do not care that they have been legitimized. My nephew was a fool. Prince Lucerys is a bastard. And his mother is a whore.”

Viserys rose from the throne and drew his dagger. “That is treason. I will have your tongue for this.”

But Rhaenyra looked to Daemon. “There will be no need, Father. Prince Daemon will bring me his head.”

Daemon drew Dark Sister and with one mighty swing, Vaemond Velaryon’s life was over.

Several women and children screamed, but Daemon merely turned to the king, wiped the blood off Dark Sister and said, “He can keep his tongue, Your Grace.”

Viserys was stunned but soon regained his composure. “Prince Lucerys Targaryen will remain the heir of Driftmark. We shall all pray for Lord Corlys’s swift recovery.”

“Your Grace,” Rhaenys said, stepping forward again, firmly ignoring the broken body of her kin.

“Yes, Princess?”

“I propose that when my husband recovers, Prince Lucerys goes to Driftmark as a ward. Lord Corlys will teach him how to be a proper Lord of the Tides.”

Viserys looked to Rhaenyra. “Princess Rhaenyra, does this meet with your approval?”

Rhaenyra nodded. “It would be our honor.”

“Very well. Consider this matter settled.”

Rhaenyra and Daemon led their children out of the throne room. Once they were in the courtyard Luke gathered his courage and approached his parents. “Muña, I am afraid for the future.”

“There is no need to be afraid, my love.” Rhaenyra said. “You will learn and you will make everyone proud.”

[the-daily-dreamer]

Hi love!

Thank you for the tag <3

Everyone should vote before they read my thoughts, so spoiler ahead!

—————

Ok. So I picked “let her keep him, but name Aegon your heir”, and here’s my thought process.

We all know that Viserys royally screwed up with how he handled the situation from the moment Aemma was murdered.

Ideally, he wouldn’t have remarried at all. Thereby avoiding a crisis to begin with because there would be no chance at a rival claim for heir. But in the circumstance that he has already remarried, Aegon is an option, and Rhaenyra has been married and produced a bastard son…the options become limited.

I chose letting her keep it because the child because I tend to be tender-hearted and don’t think that a child should be punished for their parents mistakes. Also in this case, this is his grandson so naturally he will want it to be safe.

However, I would add that there would be far more consequences in my version of events. She would lose her status as heir and it would be given to Aegon (and seeing as he’s not too much older than Jace there would be more time to correct his behavior and raise him well), I would try to have her marriage to Laenor would be annulled (as consequence of the child being outed as a bastard), and a new marriage between her and Harwin would be pushed for along with a legitimization of Jace as a Strong should the marriage occur.

By doing this I think most people get a semi-happy ending. Laenor isn’t trapped in a marriage that’s against his nature and happiness. Rhaenyra is free to marry the man she has been fond of. Jace is raised without fear of his parentage and is raised as a true born son of his actual father, Harwin. And Alicent and her children are protected with Aegon as heir (which is a return on the social contract of the marriage between Alicent and Viserys).

I know this is a simple and hopeful idea of what to do, and I’m sure there would be consequences from the Velaryons and the the people ruled under Harrenhal, but it’s the best solution I could come up with. I’d love to hear anyone else’s thoughts!

I am adding antis and pro of both in the tags just cuz i want to see their opinions!

[dwellordream]

“Henry's marriage to Catherine had long since grown cold. Though his wife remained, and would remain, loyal and devoted, Henry was in very different case. The raptures of the early days had faded and the consequent demands upon him for self-discipline and generosity had found him wanting. Catherine was five years his senior. In I527 he was still in his prime, in his mid-thirties, she over forty. As king he could satisfy desire all too easily, for who would refuse a king easily, especially a king such as he? Fidelity was rare among monarchs and the temptation besetting him, in particular, strong.

At first Henry had been a gallant husband. Catherine had accompanied him to every feast and triumph, he had worn her initials on his sleeve in the jousts and called himself 'Sir Loyal Heart'. He had shown her off to visitors, confided in her, run to her with news. Though there had been talk of a lady to whom he showed favour while campaigning in France, he had slipped home ahead of his army and galloped to Catherine at Richmond in order to lay the keys of the two cities he had captured at her feet.

We cannot know when he first succumbed to the temptation of adultery, but it must have been within five years of his marriage, when there appeared on the scene one Elizabeth Blount, a lady-in-waiting of Queen Catherine and a cousin of Lord Mountjoy - and she may not have been the first. She caught the king's eye during the New Year festivities in I5I4, that is, shortly after he had returned from the first campaign in France. Bessie Blount eventually bore him a son, in I519. Subsequently she married into a gentle family, the Talboys of Lancashire, with a dower of lands in that county and Yorkshire assigned by act ofParliament. Hers, then, was a fate less than death; and her son, the duke of Richmond, was occasionally to acquire considerable political and diplomatic significance.

Next there was Mary Boleyn, since 1521 wife of William Carey, daughter of a royal councillor and diplomat, and sister of Anne. That Mary was at one time Henry's mistress, and this presumably after her marriage, is beyond doubt. Years later there was a strong rumour that she too had born Henry a son, but we cannot be sure. Anyway we may guess that the liaison was over by l526, and when her younger sister climbed on to the English throne, with perhaps pardonable pique, she dismissed Mary from the court. The latter was to do well enough, with her family at the centre of affairs during the reign of her niece, Elizabeth I - which was more than could be said of Bessie Blount. And finally there was Anne, Thomas Boleyn's younger daughter.

Following in the wake of her sister, who had been in the entourage that accompanied Mary Tudor to France in 1514, Anne had crossed the Channel about 1519 to enter the household of Queen Claude, wife of Francis I, an amiable lady who had several young girls in her care and supervised their education. The newcomer to the royal school must have been about twelve years old. She stayed in France until the out- break of war in 1522 and then came home, by which time she was on the way to becoming an accomplished and mature girl. She does not seem to have been remarkably beautiful, but she had wonderful dark hair in abundance and fine eyes, the legacy of Irish ancestors, together with a firm mouth and a head well set on a long neck that gave her authority and grace.

On her return, if not before, her future had apparently been settled, ironically by Henry and Wolsey. She would marry Sir James Butler, an Irish chieftain and claimant to the earldom of Ormond, to which the Boleyns, rivals of the Butlers, had long aspired. Anne was therefore to mend the feud by uniting families and claims. Had this familiar kind of device been executed, and had this been the sum total ofher experience ofhow marriage and politics could interweave, things might have been very different for England, if not for Ireland. But Butler's price was too high and Anne remained in England.

Her father, aided perhaps by her grandfather, the second duke of Norfolk, had meanwhile brought her to Court, as he had her sister before her. There she eventually attracted attention, first from Sir Thomas Wyatt, the poet, a cousin of hers; then from Henry Percy, son of the earl of Northumberland and one of the large number of young men of quality resident in Wolsey's household. Alas, Percy was already betrothed. At the king's behest, Wolsey refused to allow him to break his engagement and, summoning him to his presence, rated him for falling for a foolish girl at Court. When words failed, the cardinal told the father to remove his son and knock some sense into him. Percy was carried off forthwith- and thus began that antipathy for Wolsey that Anne never lost.

But it may well be that, when Henry ordered Wolsey to stamp on Percy's suit, it was because he was already an interested party himself and a rival for the girl's affection of perhaps several gay courtiers, including Thomas Wyatt. The latter's grandson later told a story ofhow Wyatt, while flirting once with Anne, snatched a locket hanging from her pocket which he refused to return. At the same time, Henry had been paying her attention and taken a ring from her which he thereafter wore on his little finger. A few days later, Henry was playing bowls with the duke of Suffolk, Francis Bryan and Wyatt, when a dispute arose about who had won the last throw.

Pointing with the finger which bore the pilfered ring, Henry cried out that it was his point, saying to Wyatt with a smile, 'I tell thee it is mine.' Wyatt saw the ring and understood the king's meaning. But he could return the point. 'And if it may like your majesty,' he replied, 'to give me leave that I may measure it, I hope it will be mine.' Whereupon he took out the locket which hung about his neck and started measuring the distance between the bowls and the jack. Henry recognized the trophy and, muttering something about being deceived, strode away.

But the chronology ofAnne's rise is impossible to discover exactly. All that can be said is that by I525-6 what had probably hitherto been light dalliance with an eighteen or nineteen year-old girl had begun to grow into something deeper and more dangerous. In the normal course of events, Anne would have mattered only to Henry's conscience, not to the history of England. She would have been used and discarded - along with those others whom Henry may have taken and who are now forgotten. But, either because of virtue or ambition, Anne refused to become his mistress and thus follow the conventional, inconspicuous path of her sister; and the more she resisted, the more, apparently, did Henry prize her.

Had Catherine's position been more secure she would doubtless have ridden this threat. Indeed, had it been so, Anne might never have dared to raise it. But Catherine had still produced no heir to the throne. The royal marriage had failed in its first duty, namely, to secure the succession. Instead, it had yielded several miscarriages, three infants who were either still-born or died immediately after birth (two of them males), two infants who had died within a few weeks ofbirth (one ofthem a boy) and one girl, Princess Mary, now some ten years old. His failure to produce a son was a disappointment to Henry, and as the years went by and no heir appeared, ambassadors and foreign princes began to remark the fact, and English diplomacy eventually to accommodate it, provisionally at least, in its reckoning.

Had Henry been able to glimpse into the second halfofthe century he would have had to change his mind on queens regnant, for his two daughters were to show quality that equalled or outmeasured their father's; and even during his reign, across the Channel, there were two women who rendered the Habsburgs admirable service as regents ofthe Netherlands. Indeed, the sixteenth century would perhaps produce more remarkable women in Church and State than any predecessor - more than enough to account for John Knox's celebrated anti-feminism and more than enough to make Henry's patriarchal convictions look misplaced. But English experience of the queen regnant was remote and unhappy, and Henry's conventional mind, which no doubt accorded with his subjects', demanded a son as a political necessity.

When his only surviving legitimate child, Mary, was born in February 1516, Henry declared buoyantly to the Venetian ambassador, 'We are both young; if it was a daughter this time, by the grace of God sons will follow.' But they did not. Catherine seems to have miscarried in the autumn of 1517 and in the November of the following year was delivered of another still-born. This was her last pregnancy, despite the efforts of physicians brought from Spain; and by 1525 she was almost past child-bearing age. There was, therefore, a real fear of a dynastic failure, of another bout of civil war, perhaps, or, if Mary were paired off as the treaty of 1525 provided, of England's union with a continental power.

Catherine, for the blame was always attached to her and not to Henry, was a dynastic misfortune. She was also a diplomatic one. Charles's blunt refusal to exploit the astonishing opportunity provided by his victory at Pavia and to leap into the saddle to invade and partition France had been an inexplicable disappointment. Of course, had Henry really been cast in the heroic mould he would have invaded single- handed. But established strategy required a continental ally. Eleven years before, in 1514., Ferdinand of Spain had treated him with contempt and Henry had cast around for means of revenge, and there had been a rumour then that he wanted to get rid of his Spanish wife and marry a French princess.

Whether Henry really contemplated a divorce then has been the subject of controversy, which surely went in favour of the contention that he did not - especially when a document listed in an eighteenth-century catalogue of the Vatican Archives, and thought to relate to the dissolution of the king's marriage - a document which has since disappeared - was convincingly pushed aside with the suggestion that it was concerned with Mary Tudor's matrimonial affairs, not Henry's. Undoubtedly, this must dispose of the matter even more decisively than does the objection that, in the summer of 1514, Catherine was pregnant. In 1525, however, the situation was different. Charles had rebuffed Henry's military plans and, by rejecting Mary's hand, had thrown plans for the succession into disarray.

For a moment the king evidently thought of advancing his illegitimate son - who, in June 1525, was created duke of Richmond. But this solution was to be overtaken by another which Henry may have been contemplating for some time, namely, to disown his Spanish wife. Catherine, therefore, was soon in an extremely embarrassing position. Tyndale asserted, on first-hand evidence, that \Volsey had placed informants in her entourage and told of one 'that departed the Court for no other reason than that she would no longer betray her mistress'.' When Mendoza arrived in England in December 1526, he was prevented for months from seeing the queen and, when he did, had to endure the presence of Wolsey who made it virtually impossible to communicate with her. It was the ambassador's opinion that 'the principal cause of [her] misfortune is that she identifies herselfentirely with the emperor's interests'; an exaggeration, but only an exaggeration.

The king, then, had tired of his wife and fallen in love with one who would give herself entirely to him only if he would give himself entirely to her; his wife had not borne the heir for which he and the nation longed, and it was now getting too late to hope; he had been disappointed by Catherine's nephew, Charles V, and now sought vengeance in a diplomatic revolution which would make the position of a Spanish queen awkward to say the least. Any one of these facts would not have seriously endangered the marriage, but their coincidence was fatal. If Henry's relations with Catherine momentarily improved in the autumn of 1525 so that they read a book together and appeared to be very friendly, soon after, probably, Henry never slept with her again.

The divorce, which came into the open in early 1527 was therefore due to more than a man's lust for a woman. It was diplomatically expedient and, so some judged, dynastically urgent. As well as this, it was soon to be publicly asserted, it was theologically necessary, for two famous texts from the book of Leviticus apparently forbade the very marriage that Henry had entered. His marriage, therefore, was not and never had been, lawful. The miscarriages, the still-births, the denial of a son were clearly divine punishment for, and proof of, transgression of divine law. Henry had married Catherine by virtue of a papal dispensation of the impediment of affinity which her former marriage to Arthur had set up between them.

But Leviticus proclaimed such a marriage to be against divine law - which no pope can dispense. So he will begin to say. And thus what will become a complicated argument took shape. Henry had laid his hand on a crucial weapon - the only weapon, it seemed, with which he could have hoped to achieve legitimately what he now desired above all else. How sincere he was is impossible to determine. More than most, he found it difficult to distinguish between what was right and what he desired. Certainly, before long he had talked, thought and read himself into a faith in the justice of his cause so firm that it would tolerate no counter-argument and no opposition, and convinced himself that it was not only his right to throw aside his alleged wife, but also his duty - to himself, to Catherine, to his people, to God.

At the time, and later, others would be accused of planting the great scruple, the levitical scruple, in Henry's mind. Tyndale, Polydore Vergil and Nicholas Harpsfield (in his life of Sir Thomas More) charged Wolsey with having used John Longland, bishop of Lincoln and royal confessor, to perform the deed. But this was contradicted by Henry, Longland and Wolsey. In 1529, when the divorce case was being heard before the legatine court at Blackfriars, Wolsey publicly asked Henry to declare before the court 'whether I have been the chiefinventor or first mover of this matter unto your Majesty; for I am greatly suspected of all men herein'; to which Henry replied, 'My lord cardinal, I can well excuse you herein. Marry, you have been rather against me in attempt- ing or setting forth thereof' - an explicit statement for which no obvious motive for misrepresentation can be found and which is corroborated by later suggestions that Wolsey had been sluggish in pushing the divorce forwards.

Longland too spoke on the subject, saying that it was the king who first broached the subject to him 'and never left urging him until he had won him to give his consent'. On another occasion Henry put out a different story: that his conscience had first been 'pricked upon divers words that were spoken at a certain time by the bishop of Tarbes, the French king's ambassador, who had been here long upon the debating for the conclusion of the marriage between the princess our daughter, Mary, and the duke of Orleans, the French king's second son'. It is incredible that an ambassador would have dared to trespass upon so delicate a subject as a monarch's marriage, least of all when he had come to negotiate a treaty with that monarch.

Nor was it likely that he should have sug- gested that Mary was illegitimate when her hand would have been very useful to French diplomacy. Besides, the bishop of Tarbes only arrived in England in April 1527, that is, a few weeks before Henry's marriage was being tried by a secret court at Westminster. The bishop could not have precipitated events as swiftly as that. No less significantly, another account ofthe beginnings of the story, given by Henry in 1528, says that doubts about Mary's legitimacy were first put by the French to English ambassadors in France - not by the bishop of Tarbes to his English hosts.

He and his compatriots may have been told about the scruple or deliberately encouraged by someone to allude to it in the course of negotiations, but did not invent it; nor, probably, did Anne Boleyn - as Pole asserted. It is very likely that Henry himselfwas the author ofhis doubts. After all, he would not have needed telling about Leviticus. Though he might not have read them, the two texts would probably have been familiar to him if he had ever explored the reasons for the papal dispensation for his marriage, and he was enough of a theologian to be able to turn to them now, to brood over them and erect upon them at least the beginnings of the argument that they forbade absolutely the marriage which he had entered.

Wolsey said later that Henry’s doubts had sprung partly from his own study and partly from discussion with 'many theologians'; but since it is difficult to imagine that anyone would have dared to question the validity of the royal marriage without being prompted by the king, this must mean that the latter's own 'assiduous study and erudition' first gave birth to the 'great scruple' and that subsequent conference with others encouraged it. Moreover, Henry may have begun to entertain serious doubts about his marriage as early as 1522 or 1523, and have broached his ideas to Longland then - for, in 1532, the latter was said to have heard the first mutterings of the divorce 'nine or ten years ago'.'

By the time that Anne Boleyn captured the king, therefore, the scruple may already have acquired firm roots, though probably not until early 1527 was it mentioned to Wolsey who, so he said, when he heard about it, knelt before the king 'in his Privy Chamber the space of an hour or two, to persuade him from his will and appetite; but I could never bring to pass to dissuade him therefrom'. What had begun as a perhaps hesitant doubt had by now matured into aggressive conviction.”

- J.J. Scarisbrick, “The Repudiation of the Hapsburgs.” in Henry VIII

[busdriver-55]

Heir and Heiress AU

If Stars Never Gleam by Evangel10n: Rey is invited to spend the holidays at the Solo estate with Leia, Han, and their awful son, Ben. Ben Solo and Rey Palpatine both loathe each other with ferocity backed up by years of being childhood enemies. Will this be the year they settle their differences, letting the past die once and for all, or will they crash and burn? All The Money In The World by @hersisterskeeper: Ben Organa-Solo was well aware and rather fond of his reputation. He had been made aware of his place in life via a New York Post cover when he had graduated high school, which called him a party animal and heartbreaker and some more things of the like, and well, he rather liked the sound of that, thanks very much. He's the wild child of the rich Skywalker family and is very good at his job. Meanwhile, Rey Kenobi, an heiress in her own right and a Vogue photographer, is very careful and aware of risks that should and shouldn't be taken. To her, Ben Solo is her worst nightmare: careless, reckless, just asking to end up dead from his vices-- not unlike her parents. Not even all the money in the world could make this worth it-- right? Unfortunately, thanks to a Ben Solo hissyfit, she's responsible for getting his photo in the next issue of Vogue, which leads to her personally dragging Ben down a long and convoluted road to redemption-- kicking and screaming. Claiming a Fortune and a Family by ClaireLou: Rey Snoke has bent to her Fathers demands, Marry Billionaire Ben Solo and produce a Grandson. Both men have something to gain from this business deal. Ben Gets back a lost family treasure and Reginald Snoke gains a legitimate Heir to the Snoke fortune. But what about Rey? Rey made Ben believe she was in it solely for the money, that was her only choice, the real reason is something she cant share until she provides a Grandson for her father. Being married to Ben Solo was supposed to be just a transaction, Baby then money, then island, but it was proving to be a little bit more. She needs to keep her secrets hidden, but that's so hard when the passion she shares with her husband makes her want to reveal everything. Of Gods and Muses by X_Craven: Ben Solo was a world-renowned jeweller until a car accident scarred and crippled him for life. He's sequestered himself in the mountains, still working on his craft, but not once showing himself in public. His mother arranges a marriage for him with the Palpatine Heiress to expand the business and hopefully get her son out of the dark and into the sunlight once more. A Night at the Opera by born_awkward2: Prince Benjamin marries eighteen year old heiress Rey Palpatine by proxy and promptly leaves England for the continent, returning three years later after hearing his wife is going to have the marriage dissolved due to non-consummation. Aware also that his business manager, Snoke, has almost complete control over his fortune. Visiting the opera he claps eyes on the most exquisite woman he has ever seen. He asks his friend Armitage Hux who she is. Hux replies; ‘Your wife’ ... A String Attached To Your Heart by Lenkia: Ben never cared for soulmates. It destroyed his parent's lives. He'll be damned if it'll happen to him too. So when he meets Rey, his 16-year old, rich soulmate, he immediately denies her. Ben is not going to jail. Even if laws are different for Soulmate Connections, he still has some kind of morality! But when he finds out about Rey's loneliness, the identical feeling of being unwanted as a child matching his, guilt almost drowns him. Feeling the need to help her from the pain he suffered too, Ben bonds with Rey to fill out her loneliness. Totally innocent. Nothing odd. But it won't take long before the association starts to affect... 

[orsuliya]

I'm the only one who laughed when Wang Lin just said to his son: "okay go to war if you want, live or die, it's your problem, but first give me a grandson TOMORROW", like Huan Mi isn't even pregnant, nor will she be in 100 years because the couple does not have sex, and everyone in the house quite knows it, and yet Daddy Wang seriously asks for this impossible compromise 😂😂😂 I can't help to love him. He's not a good father but I still love him

Time for honesty hour! My very first reaction to Daddy Wang’s demand? You want a grandson, better make him yourself! I kid you not. Although on a second thought, it really should have been: You want a grandson, better get yourself another son.

Ah, Daddy Wang, he’s one of a kind. Despicable, to be sure, and a smug bastard to boot, but what a magnificent bastard all the same! And ever oh so hilarious! Now, he might have not won me over before his supposed death, although he had his moments (ahem, Turnip in a pond!), but after that? Either absence makes the heart grow fonder or he took a level in Magnificent Bastard during his little vacay to the underworld. Or perhaps the mess that Cheng quickly becomes during his absence revealed the extent of his true competence. Or all of the above.

Although I will never forgive him for trying to get rid of Miracle Baby. It was such a stupid, startlingly short-sighted move and not just because Miracle Baby is our Lord and Saviour. Let’s leave aside all the political implications, there is also the matter of that pressing lack of grandsons. Turnip is pretty much it as far as Daddy Wang’s potential imperial heirs go and Turnip, as we know, is neither all that reliable or, more concerningly, all that competent at the ever-important business of producing legitimate grandsons.

And no, even wearing the bling-blingiest robe that ever robed or bling-blinged shall not redeem Daddy Wang in my eyes.

[meleys-the-red-queen]

So, genuine questions:

1. Rhaenyra has 2 other legitimate children, Aegon III and Viserys II. Would it still be an issue if these children were placed ahead of the three oldest? If the children are never denounced as bastards and then made legitimate, then what are they? You can’t call them bastards because Laenor, Corlys, and Viserys never denounced them as such. All three (though the only two that matter in this context are Laenor and Corlys) call the boys their sons/grandsons. So that’s what they are. It’s also possible that Laenor couldn’t have children, so his sexuality actually played no part in his ability to produce an heir.

2. Our options here are:

Rhaenyra, who you said is arrogant and impulsive. Younger Rhaenyra I could agree, but older Rhaenyra shows reluctance to engage in war because of the potential cost to the realm and her family, especially with dragons involved on both sides. That doesn’t seem impulsive or arrogant to me, in terms of what a ruler should be concerned about. She made sure her children knew of their history and house, of the other great houses. She acknowledged that without the dragons, they are just like everyone else.

Aegon, who never showed interest in ruling, was never set up to rule by Viserys, raped a serving girl, watches kids fighting in a pit, ignores his wife, and as we saw in the season 2 trailer, was eager to go to war.

It’s all well and good to take a neutralistic side and say “well both suck and wouldn’t make good rulers” but we don’t have the option of “fuck em both, put someone else up there” because Jaehaerys made Viserys his heir and the next king. The succession falls to one of two choices. If we take the king’s word as law, and the loyalty of most of the houses of Westeros, the answer is Rhaenyra. If we take precedent, it’s Aegon. Precedent is not law, especially when the law is whatever the king says.

If Rhaenyra can be compared to someone who inherits everything but squanders it, which I’m curious to see examples of where she does this in the show/book, what does that make Aegon?

3. Who else should Rhaenyra have had relations with to produce better looking “bastards?” The kids would’ve been bastards either way so it’s not like that in and of itself is the issue. Let’s say her three oldest got lucky and were born with the Targaryen hair, like Rhaenyra’s half-siblings. But Laenor and Rhaenyra again acknowledge that they didn’t conceive them together (something that only they and the audience knows), wouldn’t it still be an issue of “Rhaenyra is trying to put bastards on the thone?” Who is the other option to help produce Valyrian looking children? Either way, the children wouldn’t be Laenor’s, then it would still be putting bastards on the throne, and it would still be a mark against Rhaenyra.

I have to circle back to the fact that all of these reasons why Rhaenyra is allegedly going to be a terrible queen only came up after Otto himself said “It wouldn’t matter if she was Jaehaerys come again. Rhaenyra is a woman.” She was usurped because she was a woman. Nothing else. If she was all of these bad things, and the realm didn’t want her, why did she have majority of Westeros on her side? Surely if she was that terrible, the minute Aegon became king, the other houses would’ve switched to his side.

Even from a non-modern lense and looking back in history, as GRRM often took inspiration from, there have been independent ruling queens before. Whether or not they were good rulers or worthy of the throne was irrelevant. Just because there hadn’t been any yet in the ASOIAF universe doesn’t mean there never could be. Social progress always begins with shaking the foundation a bit. Otherwise there would be no progress. If it wasn’t Rhaenyra, it would be another queen sometime later down the line (assuming the monarchy didn’t collapse).

The amount of blood-purity comments I see in HOTD discussions is honestly wild to me because it’s like. There’s legitimately people saying Rhaenyra can’t or shouldn’t be queen because she’s trying to put “bastards” in the line of succession.

1. Who. The hell. Cares. Who their actual biological father is? Why do we care? What difference does it make? Laenor, Corlys, Viserys recognized them and reaffirmed them in the line of succession MULTIPLE TIMES. No one *who is actually important to the issue* cares who the boys’ biological father is, and their claim comes from their mother, the named heir, the Queen, who can then decide who her heir is, just like Jaehaerys did, and just like Viserys did. Laenor was a gay man, they said they tried to conceive. They couldn’t. What other option was there? Laenor seemed to have no problem with Harwin helping them sire their children while he went off and enjoyed himself.

(Also, the plot to usurp Rhaenyra came long before the three Velaryon boys were born because *she was a woman.* The appearance of her three oldest boys was just another convenient excuse)

2. Would a child in modern day conceived through surrogacy or sperm donation be considered illegitimate/a bastard if one of the parents dies but still has that child in their will? Can the other family members contest it on the basis of “well they’re not blood related so they can’t inherit anything.” Nope. Because that child is recognized and legally theirs, therefore entitled to whatever the parent/family says.

[ddagent]

So, I know Olenna killed Joffrey, but I still wouldn't have put it past Tywin to kill his grandson in order to set up a chain of events forcing his eldest son to finally marry and produce legitimate heirs.

[randomnameless]

On the topic of “revised history”, I remembered I heard during some class at uni something about origo gentis being used as a corner stone to create a national identity, and of couse thought about some bullshit regarding FE16 :

Warning : serious nonsensical bullshit under the cut

basically, origo gentis are epic chronicles that are actually a load of historical bullcrap but they paint “your ancestors” in a superb good light with dubious genealogy stuff to make sure that you will be proud to be a part of your gent because your gent is so awesome and descends from enlightned people who aren’t alive anymore :’( or to legitimize a conquest (Wilhelm the Conqueror wasn’t some douchebag from Normandy wanting to be famous, he was actually mandated by an old celtic/britton (?) king to help him defend against those barbarian saxons! So of course he’s totally legitimate!)

And that is how, in the 8th century some guys, using a fanfiction written in the 6th by Gregory of Tours, came to the conclusion that Franks were actually the descendants of Trojan refugees who founded Sicambria in Hungary and Franks weren’t germanic barbarians, nope m8, they (we) totally were descendants from the advanced and refined greek civilisation.

So of course one would be proud to be Frank, leading one of the basis of some sort of Frank identity while also reclaiming some greek/roman heritage because everyone had a hard-on for ancient Rome back in the days.

With that being said,

Fodlan AU : Liber Historiae Faergusum (apologies for pig latin i didn’t play a lot of Square Enix games when i was younger)

thank @ultrakatua​ for launching me on the general vagueness in the game about Seiros’ descendants

After Loog got rid random Adrestian Emperor and managed to get his independance, the Faergusians thought they needed something else than Archbishop Rheond (rhea with a blond wig)’s approval, especially to create a true Faergusian culture and not just be known around as “those barbarians in the north”.

Pan said to slender Adrestia saying it was ruled by shapeshifting beasts hiding in the light, but Kyphon got rid of Pan.

Still, they had to find a reason to explain why they removed themselves from Saint Seiros’ Empire, given how Seiros is the mythical hero of the era and Blaiddyd was just one of her randoms, a mere Elite, of course everyone would prefer to be a part of the Empire blessed by Seiros, more advanced, than part of the Kingdom, now blessed by the Church, but hey, Archbishop Rheond’s blessing isn’t on par with Seiros’. Also, the Emperors descend from Seiros herself, a Saint. Loog is only one of Blaiddyd’s descendants, it isn’t as prestigious.

One of Dominic’s descendants then thought about writing an origo gentis for Faergus. He founded a special order composed of theologists and philosophers which came to be later reknown around the continent for its intellectual tradition (it became an obligation for every member of House Dominic to attend the Magical Academy because Dominic = savants in Faergus). The members of the Western Church were also involved in the Dominician Order - Central Church told them not to interfere with political matters but the members of the Western Church retorked that Seiros herself participated to the creation of the Empire, so they’re doing the same thing here.

Rhea raided a secret cache of chamomile after receiving that answer

What they came with was : 

Just before marching to his last battle, Emperor Wilhelm and Saint Seiros had another son - Lycaon’s brother. Since that new son was second, he was not in line for the throne.

The war ended, but Lycaon was assassinated. Lycaon had no surviving male heir, so the throne should have passed to his younger brother

the male heir picked by the Empire wasn’t actually Lycaon’s child, but a bastard fathered by a member of the senate, the Emperor always had doubts about his son’s parentage but no one found his will, only his “treacherous” wife assisted to his death

The Senate tried to use this position to get rid of Great Emperor’s Wilhelm’s line and seize control of Adrestia ; Second son was sent to the northern limes to protect the empire from the barbarians of Sreng and also maintain peace

Meanwhile, in Adrestia, Lycaon’s not child had a son with one of his Lycaon’s I daughter, eww incest, so the Adrestian line is completely rotten but they managed to keep a Crest of Seiros

technically it would not be incest if Lycaon’s son wasn’t really his, but the Western Church then theologised something about milk-siblings being like full-blooded siblings if they shared the same wet-nurse and of course they did

plus if you acknowledge that Lycaon had no son his daughter couldn’t produce and Emperor or a new Imperial line because she was a woman and male primogeniture was trendy/and useful here so it became part of the Western Church’s dogma of that time.

Second son was doing such a splendid job that everyone rallied behind him as the true Emperor of Adrestia, but he did not want to start a new war in the already recovering Fodlan, so he remained in the North (of course, the actual Faergus).

He founded Firdiad and married Blaiddyd’s last daughter

Blaiddyd’s line is actually the one who should rule over Adrestia

which made Pan return a few decades later saying they should totally war against the Empire to recover their birthright and slaughter the Archbishop for some reason

Kyphon’s great grandson kicked Pan away again

But Adrestia became decadent and rotten to the core, only seeking their own enrichment and their own pleasure instead of “defending the people” like Seiros herself would have done had she not died in mysterious circumstances

Loog had actually all authority, lineage and spiritual, to have founded the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus and Adrestia sucks - we Faergusians are the real descendants of the heroes who won against Nemesis, not those decadent people of Adrestia!

This bullshit was believed for around 200 years (to Rhea’s chagrin, she nearly emptied her secret marijuana stash but young!Jeralt made her reconsider the idea of being stoned for the next 300 years) until Margrave Gautier of this era said fuck, why should we hail the fact that we come from the Empire, we won our independance with weapons, strength and bravery from Loog, it is him who should be hailed as a hero, not the fact that he descends from Great Emperor Wilhelm.

Everyone was okay with dropping the origo gentis, save for the Western Church who came to believe it, because hey, they supported the real Seiros line, unlike those losers from the Central church who were supporting the Empire - they should be the ones calling the shots!

(but no one cared about them, save for Pan who mysteriously returned and began slithering around “yes the central church sucks, you should kill the Archbishop”)

Sadly, the fact that they dropped the Adrestian narrative had been a stone in the creation of the Leicester Alliance - who pretty much adored and loved the glorious history of Adrestia and tried to replicate it, instead of embracing the Kinngdom’s more martial values.

Rhea was overjoyed when the mention of her supposed child disappeared from history, only to be revived by Seteth when he returned 20 years before the beginning of the game, politely asking her what the fuck

they both had chamomile

[ao3feed--reylo]

Claiming a Fortune and a Family

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Z0Lo6U

by ClaireLou

Rey Snoke has bent to her Fathers demands, Marry Billionaire Ben Solo and produce a Grandson. Both men have something to gain from this business deal. Ben Gets back a lost family treasure and Reginald Snoke gains a legitimate Heir to the Snoke fortune. But what about Rey? Rey made Ben believe she was in it solely for the money, that was her only choice, the real reason is something she cant share until she provides a Grandson for her father. Being married to Ben Solo was supposed to be just a transaction, Baby then money, then island, but it was proving to be a little bit more. She needs to keep her secrets hidden, but that's so hard when the passion she shares with her husband makes her want to reveal everything.

Words: 9849, Chapters: 2/10, Language: English

Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Rey (Star Wars), Ben Solo, Snoke (Star Wars), Hux (mentioned), Finn (Star Wars), Poe Dameron, Phasma (Star Wars), Original Child Character(s), Leia (mentioned), Maz

Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey & Snoke (Star Wars), Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Kylo Ren

Additional Tags: AU, Arranged Marriage, Unwanted wife, Unwanted husband, Family Secrets, Rey Solo, Paying for it, Multi Chapter, Mills and Boon, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Sharing a Bed, sharing feelings is not easy, Bens abit of an arse, not forever though, Rey has her reasons, very good reasons, Pregnancy, based on a book, Sort of kidnapping, but in a good way, Pregnancy Related Illness, Poorly child (nothing major), Getting away from a bad dad, Lots Of Name Calling, Arguements aplenty, Why cant they just tell each other the truth, Everyone has really good reasons for doing what they are doing, If they told each other we wouldnt have a story

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2Z0Lo6U

[nanshe-of-nina]

Nope. Edward IV and his father, Richard, 3rd Duke of York, specifically argued that their claim to the throne was superior to that of Henry VI because they were descended from Lionel of Antwerp while Henry was descended from Lionel's younger brother, John of Gaunt.

Lionel of Antwerp's grandson, Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, was at least unofficially considered the heir presumptive to Richard II, but he was passed over after Richard II's deposition, because Roger was still quite a teenager while Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV) was an adult.

Edmund of Langley was younger than John of Gaunt, so it would have made little sense for the Yorkists to claim the throne over Henry VI on that basis.

If Henry IV's four sons had managed to produce more than one surviving legitimate child between them, the issue of the Mortimer and Beaufort claims to the English throne probably would have never arisen at all.

I find it so weird when people talk about Henry VII’s ‘dollop of royal blood’ as if royal blood really was something that was scientifically measured before someone could declare their claim to the English throne. For example, Rosemary Horrox (who I admire greatly as a historian btw) once said:

That a young man with no claim to the throne – beyond being the grandson of Henry V’s widow and the son of a great-great-granddaughter of Edward III – could in 1485 amass enough support to overthrow the reigning king can be seen as just the final stage in the cascade of depositions which followed that of Henry VI in 1461.

The thing is, when Richard of York presented his claim to the English throne in 1460 he was exactly what Henry Tudor was in 1485: the son of a great-great-granddaughter of Edward III, and many people today think he had a valid claim. You could go on and on about the Beauforts being legitimised sufficiently or not, but to measure the exact quantity of royal blood compared to other contestants is just pointless. For comparison:

Edward III → Lionel of Antwerp (son) → Philippa Plantagenet (granddaughter) → Roger Mortimer (great-grandson) → Anne Mortimer (great-great-granddaughter) → Richard of York (‘the son of a great-great-granddaughter of Edward III’) → Edward IV and Richard III (the grandsons of a great-great-granddaughter of Edward III etc)

Edward III → John of Gaunt (son) → John Beaufort (grandson) → John Beaufort (great-grandson) → Margaret Beaufort (great-great-granddaughter) → Henry Tudor (‘the son of a great-great-granddaughter of Edward III’)

[schoolcalidity]

Henri II un anglo franco normardo que comienza una saga que explica las capas tectónicas de la historia de la dominación anglo-germana católica romana en Hispania/ Al- Andalus/ Sefarad. Se ve cómo entre ellos se casan, se matan, se reproducen y se pasan los territorios como pelotas. Guerras y competencias pero siempre entre las familias. 

House of Plantagenet

Henry II

(1154–1189) is considered by some to be the first Plantagenet king of England.

Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, adopted Plantagenet as his family name in the 15th century. Plantegenest (or Plante Genest) had been a 12th-century nickname for his ancestor Geoffrey, Count of Anjou and Duke of Normandy. One of many popular theories suggests the common broom, planta genista in medieval Latin, as the source of the nickname.[1]

Los Angenvins 

Angevin kings of England //// Angevin Empire

Angevin is French for "from Anjou". The three Angevin kings were Henry II, Richard I and John. "Angevin" can also refer to the period of history in which they reigned. Many historians identify the Angevins as a distinct English royal house. "Angevin" is also used in reference to any sovereign or government derived from Anjou. As a noun, it refers to any native of Anjou or an Angevin ruler, and specifically to other counts and dukes of Anjou, including the ancestors of the three kings who formed the English royal house; their cousins, who held the crown of Jerusalem; and to unrelated members of the French royal family who were later granted the titles and formed different dynasties, such as the Capetian House of Anjou and the Valois House of Anjou.[4] Consequently, there is disagreement between those who consider Henry III to be the first Plantagenet monarch, and those who do not distinguish between Angevins and Plantagenets and therefore consider the first Plantagenet to be Henry II.[5][6][7][8]

Angevin zenith

Of Henry's siblings, William and Geoffrey died unmarried and childless, but the tempestuous marriage of Henry and Eleanor, who already had two daughters (Marie and Alix) through her first marriage to King Louis, produced eight children in thirteen years:[22]

William IX, Count of Poitiers (1153–1156)

Henry the Young King (1155–1183)

Matilda, Duchess of Saxony (1156–1189)—married Henry the Lion, Duke of Bavaria. The eldest amongst the couple's children, Richenza, is probably the daughter English chroniclers call Matilda, who was left in Normandy with her grandparents in 1185 and married firstly to Geoffrey, count of Perche, and secondly to Enguerrand de Coucy. The eldest son, Henry, became duke of Saxony and count palatine of the Rhine. His brother Otto was nominated by his uncle Richard I as earl of York and count of Poitiers before being elected emperor in opposition to the Hohenstaufen candidate. Otto was crowned in Rome but he was later excommunicated and declared deposed. Childless, Otto lost power following the defeat of the Welf and Angevin forces at the Battle of Bouvines. The youngest child, William of Winchester married Helena daughter of Valdemar I of Denmark. Their only son, also called Otto, was the sole male heir of his uncle Henry. The ducal house of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the British royal house of Windsor both descend from him.[23]

Richard I, King of England (1157–1199). He had no legitimate offspring, but is thought to have had two illegitimate sons, of whom little is known, called Fulk and Phillip, Lord of Cognac.[24]

Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (1158–1186)—married Constance daughter of Duke Conan of Brittany and became duke of Brittany by right of his wife. The couple's son Arthur was a competitor to John for the Angevin succession.[25]

Eleanor, Queen of Castile (1161–1214)—married King Alfonso VIII of Castile. The couple's children included King Henry of Castile and four queen consorts, Berengaria, Queen of Leon, Urraca, Queen of Portugal, Blanche, Queen of France and Eleanor, Queen of Aragon.[26]

Joan, Queen of Sicily (1165–1199)—married firstly King William II of Sicily and secondly Count Raymond VI of Toulouse. Her children included Raymond VII of Toulouse.[27]

John, King of England (1166–1216)  

La historia se perpetua en varias generaciones y matrimonios que dejan claro que el norte de la peninsula lógicamente por mar se corresponde con Inglaterra y Francia por igual. 

Henry III had nine children:[59]

Edward I (1239–1307)

Margaret of England (1240–1275). Her three children predeceased her husband, Alexander III of Scotland; consequently, the crown of Scotland became vacant on the death of their only grandchild, Margaret, Maid of Norway in 1290.[60]

Beatrice, Countess of Richmond (1242–1275). She initially married John de Montfort of Dreux, and later married John II, Duke of Brittany.

Edmund Crouchback (1245–1296), who was granted the titles and estates of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and the earldom of Leicester after Henry defeated Montfort in the Second Barons' War. Henry later granted Edmund the earldoms of Lancaster and Ferrers. From 1276, through his wife, Edmund was Count of Champagne and Brie.[61] Later Lancastrians would attempt to use Henry IV's maternal descent from Edmund to legitimise his claim to the throne, spuriously claiming that Edmund was the eldest son of Henry III but had not become king due to deformity.[62] Through his second marriage to Blanche, the widow of Henry I of Navarre, Edmund was at the centre of European aristocracy. Blanche's daughter, Joan, was queen regnant of Navarre and queen consort of France through her marriage to Philip IV. Edmund's son Thomas became the most powerful nobleman in England, adding to his inheritance the earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury through his marriage to the heiress of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln.[63]

Four others who died as children: Richard (1247–1256), John (1250–1256), William (c. 1251/1252–1256), Katherine (c. 1252/3–1257) and Henry (no recorded dates).

Henry was bankrupted by his military expenditure and general extravagance. The pope offered Henry's brother Richard the Kingdom of Sicily, but the military cost of displacing the incumbent Emperor Frederick was prohibitive. Matthew Paris wrote that Richard stated: "You might as well say, 'I make you a present of the moon – step up to the sky and take it down'." Instead, Henry purchased the kingdom for his son Edmund, which angered many powerful barons. The barons led by Henry's brother-in-law Simon de Montfort forced him to agree to the Provisions of Oxford, under which his debts were paid in exchange for substantial reforms. In France, with the Treaty of Paris, Henry formally surrendered the territory of his Angevin ancestors to Louis IX of France, receiving in return the title duke of Aquitaine and the territory of Gascony as a vassal of the French king.[43]

Death of Simon de Montfort at the

Battle of Evesham

Disagreements between the barons and the king intensified. The barons, under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, captured most of southeast England in the Second Barons' War. At the Battle of Lewesin 1264, Henry and Prince Edward were defeated and taken prisoner. De Montfort assembled the Great Parliament, recognized as the first Parliament because it was the first time the cities and boroughs had sent representatives.[64] Edward escaped, raised an army and defeated and killed de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.[65] Savage retribution was inflicted upon the rebels, and authority restored to Henry. With the realm now peaceful, Edward left England to join Louis IX on the Ninth Crusade; he was one of the last crusaders. Louis died before Edward's arrival, but Edward decided to continue. The result was disappointing; Edward's small force only enabled him to capture Acre and launch a handful of raids. After surviving an assassination attempt, Edward left for Sicily later in the year, never to participate in a crusade again. When Henry III died, Edward acceded to the throne; the barons swore allegiance to him even though he did not return for two years.[65]

Constitutional change and the reform of feudalism

Edward I married Eleanor of Castile, daughter of King Ferdinand of Castile, a great grandson of Henry II through his second daughter Eleanor in 1254. Edward and Eleanor had sixteen children; five daughters survived to adulthood, but only one son survived Edward:[66]

Eleanor, Countess of Bar (1264/69−1298)

Three daughters (Joan, Alice, and Juliana/Katherine) and two sons (John and Henry) born between 1265 and 1271. They died between 1265 and 1274 with little historical trace.

Joan, Countess of Gloucester (1272–1307)

Alphonso, Earl of Chester (1273–1284)

Margaret, Duchess of Brabant (1275–1333)

Mary of Woodstock (1278–1332), who became a nun

Isabella (1279–1279)

Elizabeth, firstly Countess of Holland and on widowhood, secondly Countess of Hereford (1282–1316). Among her eleven children were the earls of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton, and the countesses of Ormond and Devon.

Edward II

Two other daughters (Beatrice and Blanche), who died as children.

Following Eleanor's death in 1290, Edward married Margaret of France, daughter of Philip III of France, in 1299. Edward and Margaret had two sons, who both lived to adulthood, and a daughter who died as a child:[67]

Thomas (1300–1338), whose daughter Margaret inherited his estates. Margaret's grandson, Thomas Mowbray, was the first duke of Norfolk, but Richard II exiled him and stripped him of his titles.

Edmund, Earl of Kent (1301 to 1330). Edmund's loyalty to his half-brother, Edward II, resulted in his execution by order of the rebel Mortimer and his lover, Edward's queen, Isabella. His daughter, Joan, inherited his estates and married her own cousin, Edward the Black Prince; together, they had Richard, who later became the English king.

Eleanor (1306–1311).

Más adelante ....  Fighting in the Hundred Years' War spilled from the French and Plantagenet lands into surrounding realms, including the dynastic conflict in Castile between Peter of Castile and Henry II of Castile. The Black Prince allied himself with Peter, defeating Henry at the Battle of Nájera. Edward and Peter fell out when Peter was unable to reimburse Edward's military expenses leaving him bankrupt.[75] The Plantagenets continued to interfere, and John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, the Black Prince's brother, married Peter's daughter Constance, claiming the Crown of Castile in her name. He invaded with an army of 5000 men. Fighting was inconclusive before Gaunt agreed a treaty with King Juan of Castile.[76] Terms of the treaty included the marriage of John of Gaunt's daughter Katherine to Juan's son, Enrique.[77]

entonces... John of Gaunt (1340–1399), after Blanche's death in 1369, John married Constance of Castile, trying unsuccessfully to obtain the throne of Castile. The marriage produced two children:Catherine of Lancaster (1372–1418)—married Henry III of Castile, with whom she was a great-grandmother of Catherine of Aragon, first wife of Henry VIII of England.John (1374–1375)Constance died in 1394, after which John married Katherine Swynford on 13 January 1396. Their four children were born before they married. The pope legitimised them in 1396, as did Richard II by charter, on the condition that their children could not ascend the throne:John (c. 1371/1372–1410)—grandfather of Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII's mother.Henry (1375–1447)Thomas (1377–1427)Joan (1379–1440)—Joan's son, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and her grandson, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, were leading supporters of the House of York.Edmund (1341–1402)—founder of the House of York. He had three children with Isabella of Castile:Edward (1373–1415)—killed at the Battle of Agincourt.Constance (1374–1416)Richard—(1375–1415)Blanche (1342)—died as a child.Mary of Waltham (1344–1362)—married John V, Duke of Brittany. No issue.Margaret (1346–1361)—married John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. No issue.Joan (b. 1351)Thomas (1355–1397)—murdered or executed for treason by order of Richard II; his daughter, Anne, married Edmund Stafford.Edward's long reign had forged a new national identity, reinforced by Middle English beginning to establish itself as the spoken and written language of government. As a result, he is considered by many historians in cultural respects the first 'English' post-conquest ruler.[74]

No paraban jamás! sigue la tradición:

House of York

Edward III made his fourth son Edmund the first duke of York in 1362. Edmund was married to Isabella, a daughter of King Peter of Castile and María de Padilla and the sister of Constance of Castile, who was the second wife of Edmund's brother John of Gaunt. Both of Edmund's sons were killed in 1415.

María de Padilla (c. 1334 [1]–Seville, July 1361) was the mistress of King Peter of Castile.

María Díaz de Padilla

Arms of María de Padilla

Born1334

Died August 1361 (aged 26–27)

Juan García de Padilla  1st Lord of Villagera and María González de Henestrosa

Religion

Roman Catholicism

She was a Castilian noblewoman, daughter of Juan García de Padilla (died between 1348 and 1351) and his wife María González de Henestrosa[2] (died after September 1356). Her maternal uncle was Juan Fernández de Henestrosa, the King's favorite between 1354 and 1359[3] after Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque fell out of favor, and the mediator in an apparent pardon for Fadrique Alfonso, King Peter's half-brother. She was also the sister of Diego García de Padilla, Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava.[3]María’s family, members of the regional nobility,[4] originally came from the area of Padilla de Abajo, near Castrojeriz in the province of Burgos.

She is described in the chronicles of her time as very beautiful, intelligent, and small of body.[5]

Real Monasterio de Santa Clara en Astudillo (Palencia) founded by María de Padilla

Relationship with King Peter of Castile

King Peter met María in the summer of 1352 during an expedition to Asturias to battle his rebellious half-brother Henry. It was probably her maternal uncle, Juan Fernández de Henestrosa, who introduced them, as mentioned in the chronicle of King Peter’s reign written by Pero López de Ayala.[6] At that time, María was being raised at the house of Isabel de Meneses, wife of Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque, a powerful nobleman. They became lovers and their relationship lasted until her death despite the King’s other marriages and affairs. The Padillas were raised to various offices and dignities. Her uncle, Henestrosa, became Alcalde de los fidalgos.[7]

In the summer of 1353, under coercion from family and the main court favorite, Juan Alfonso de Alburquerque, Peter wed Blanche of Bourbon, the first cousin of King John II of France. Peter abandoned Blanche within three days when he learned that she had an affair with his bastard brother Fadrique Alfonso en route to Spain, and that the dowry was not coming.

Children

María and Peter had three daughters: Beatrice (born 1354), Constance (1354–1394), and Isabella (1355–1392), and a son, Alfonso, crown-prince of Castile (1359 - October 19, 1362).

Two of their daughters were married to sons of Edward III, King of England. Isabella married Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, while the elder, Constance, married John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, leading him to claim the crown of Castile on behalf of his wife. Constance's daughter, Catherine of Lancaster, married Henry III of Castile in order to reunify any claim to succession that may have passed via Constance.

El Horror que nos somete: 

The Order of Calatrava (Spanish: Orden de Calatrava Portuguese: Ordem de Calatrava) was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164. Most of the political and military power of the order dissipated by the end of the 15th century, but the last dissolution of the order's property did not occur until 1838.

Origins and foundation

It was founded at Calatrava la Vieja in Castile, in the twelfth century by St. Raymond of Fitero, as a military branch of the Cistercian family.[1][2] The etymology of the name of this military order, Calatrava, conveys the meaning: "fortress of Rabah".

Rodrigo of Toledo describes the origins of the order:

Castle of Calatrava la Nueva, former parent headquarters of the order

"Calatrava is the Arabic name of a castle recovered from the Moslems, in 1147, by the King of Castile, Alfonso VII, called el Emperador. Located in what was then the southernmost border of Castile, this conquest was more difficult to keep than to make, especially at a time with neither standing armies nor garrisons were known. In part to correct this deficiency, the military orders such as Knights Templars were founded, where men could fulfill a vow of perpetual war against the Muslim. The Templars, however, were unable to hold Calatrava, and the king found further volunteer warriors when Raymond, Abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Fitero offered himself.

Los sueños de Re-conquista.. pero cual de ellas? sino la Romana por alusión y conexiones subterráneas?

Battles during the Reconquista

The first military services of the Knights of Calatrava were highly successful, and in return for the exceptional services they had rendered they received from the King of Castile new grants of land, which formed their first commanderies. They had already been called into the neighbouring Kingdom of Aragon, and been rewarded by a new encomienda (landed estate), that of Alcañiz (1179). But these successes were followed by a series of misfortunes, due in the first instance to the unfortunate partition which Alfonso had made of his possessions, and the consequent rivalry which ensued between the Castilian and Leonese branches of his dynasty. On the other hand, the first successes of the Reconquista in the 12th century, soon met up with a new wave of Islamic warriors, the invasion of the Almohads from Morocco. The first encounter resulted in a defeat for Castile. 

Battle of Alarcos

After the disastrous Battle of Alarcos, the knights abandoned their bulwark of Calatrava to the Almohads (1195). Velasquez lived long enough to witness the failure of his daring scheme. He died the next year in the monastery of Gumiel (1196).[3] The order in Castile appeared to be finished, and the branch of Aragon sought primacy. The Knights of Alcañiz actually proceeded to elect a new grand master, but the grand master still living in Castile claimed his right. Finally, by a compromise, the master of Alcañiz was recognized as second in dignity, with the title of Grand Commander for Aragon.

The scattered remains of Castilian knights sheltered in the Cistercian monastery of Cirvelos, and there began to regroup and expand. They soon erected a new bulwark, Salvatierra Castle, where they took the name, which they kept for fourteen years, of Knights of Salvatierra (1198). But Salvatierra itself fell to the Almohad Caliphate in 1209.

Summoned by Pope Innocent III, foreign crusaders joined Iberian Christians. An early battle was the reconquest of Calatrava (1212), which was returned to its former masters. In the same year the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa turned the tide of Muslim domination in Spain. Having recovered its stronghold, and resumed the title of Calatrava (1216), the order nevertheless removed to more secure quarters of Calatrava la Nueva, eight miles from old Calatrava (1218). In 1221 the Order of Monfragüe was merged into that of Calatrava.

With the decline of Muslim power, new orders sprang up, including the Alcántara in the Kingdom of León and Avis in Portugal. Both began under Calatrava's protection and the visitation of its grand master. This age marks the climax of Iberian chivalry: it was then that King Ferdinand the Saint, after the definitive coalition of Castile and León (1229), in (1235) captured the capital of the old caliphate, Cordova, soon afterwards Murcia, Jaén, and Seville. The European crusade seemed at an end. Encouraged by these victories, Ferdinand's successor, Alfonso X, the Wise, planned a crusade in the East and contemplated marching, with his Castilian chivalry, to restore the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem (1272).

Calatrava had developed abundant resources of men and wealth, with lands and castles scattered along the borders of Castile. It exercised feudal lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals. Thus, more than once, we see the order bringing to the field, as its individual contributions, 1200 to 2000 knights, a considerable force in the Middle Ages. Moreover, it enjoyed autonomy, being by its constitutions independent in temporal matters and acknowledging only spiritual superiors—the Abbot of Morimond and, in appeal, the pope. These authorities interfered, in consequence of a schism which first broke out in 1296 through the simultaneous election of two grand masters, García Lopez and Gautier Perez.

Lopez, dispossessed a first time by a delegate of Morimond, appealed to Pope Boniface VIII, who quashed the sentence and referred the case to the general chapter at Cîteaux, where Lopez was re-established in his dignity (1302). Dispossessed a second time, in consequence of a quarrel with his lieutenant, Juan Nuñez, Lopez voluntarily resigned in favour of Nuñez, who had taken his place (1328), on condition that he should keep the commandery of Zurita; as this condition was violated, Lopez again, for the third time, took the title of Grand Master in Aragon, where he died in 1336. These facts sufficiently prove that after the fourteenth century the rigorous discipline and fervent observance of the order's earlier times had, under the relaxing influence of prosperity, given place to a spirit of intrigue and ambition.

Peter of Castile entered into a conflict with the order. That prince had three grand masters in succession sentenced to death, as having incurred his suspicion: the first of these was beheaded (1355) on a charge of having entered into a league with the King of Aragon; the second, Estevañez, having competed for the grand mastership with the king's candidate, García de Padilla, was murdered in the royal palace, by the king's own treacherous hand; lastly García de Padilla himself, a brother of the royal mistress, fell into disgrace, upon deserting the king's party for that of his half brother, Henry the Bastard, and died in prison (1369).

The following is an incomplete list of former Grand Masters of the Order of Calatrava, the current grand master of the order is King Felipe VI of Spain

Don García (1164–1169)

Fernando Icaza (1169–1170)

Martín Pérez de Siones (1170–1182)

Nuño Pérez de Quiñones (1182–1199)

Martín Martínez (1199–1207)

Ruy Díaz de Yanguas (1207–1212)

Rodrigo Garcés (1212–1216)

Martín Fernández de Quintana (1216–1218)

Gonzalo Yáñez de Novoa (1218–1238)

Martín Ruiz de Cevallos (1238–1240)

Gómez Manrique (1240–1243)

Fernando Ordóñez (1243–1254)

Pedro Yáñez (1254–1267)

Juan González (1267–1284)

Ruy Pérez Ponce de León (1284–1295)

Diego López de Santsoles (1295–1296)

Garci López de Padilla (1296–1322)

Juan Núñez de Prado (1322–1355)

Diego García de Padilla (1355–1365)

Martín López de Córdoba (1365–1371)

Pedro Muñiz de Godoy y Sandoval (1371–1384)

Pedro Álvarez de Pereira (1384–1385)

Gonzalo Núñez de Guzmán (1385–1404)

Enrique de Villena (1404–1407)

Luis González de Guzmán (1407–1443)

Fernando de Padilla (a few months in 1443)

Alfonso de Aragón y de Escobar (end of 1443–1445)

Pedro Girón Acuña Pacheco (1445–1466)

Rodrigo Téllez Girón (1466–1482)

García López de Padilla (1482–1487)

Catholic Monarchs (from 1487 onwards)

King Juan Carlos I of Spain

King Felipe VI of Spain (Incumbent)

sigue con Isabella de Castilla una saga de la que pocos hablan para descifrar los poderes que llevamos soportando años y siglos: 

Isabella was the youngest of the three daughters of King Peter of Castile by his favourite mistress, María de Padilla (d.1361).[1]

On 21 September 1371 Edward III's fourth son, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, married Isabella's elder sister, Constance (d. 1394), who after the death of their father in 1369 claimed the throne of Castile. Isabella accompanied her sister to England, and on 11 July 1372, at about the age of 17, married John of Gaunt's younger brother, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, fifth son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, at Wallingford, Oxfordshire, as part of a dynastic alliance in furtherance of the Plantagenet claim to the crown of Castile.[2] According to Pugh, Isabella and Edmund of Langley were 'an ill-matched pair'.[3]

As a result of her indiscretions, including an affair with King Richard II's half-brother, John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter (d. 1400), whom Pugh terms 'violent and lawless', Isabella left behind a tarnished reputation, her loose morals being noted by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham. According to Pugh, the possibility that Holland was the father of Isabella's favourite son, Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, 'cannot be ignored'.[4]

In her will Isabel named King Richard as her heir, requesting him to grant her younger son, Richard, an annuity of 500 marks. The King complied. However, further largesse which might have been expected when Richard came of age was not to be, as King Richard II was deposed in 1399, and according to Harriss, Isabella's younger son, Richard, 'received no favours from the new King, Henry IV'.[5]

Isabella died 23 December 1392, aged about 37, and was buried 14 January 1393 at the church of the Dominicans at Kings Langley.[6] After Isabella's death, Edmund of Langley married Joan Holland, sister and co-heir of Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent (9 January 1382 – 15 September 1408), with whom his daughter, Constance, had lived as his mistress (see above).[7]

Isabella was appointed a Lady of the Garter in 1379.[8]

Prodecencia: The Castilian House of Burgundy[1] is a cadet brach of the House of Ivrea descended from Raymond of Burgundy. Raymond married Urraca of the House of Himénez. Two years after his death, Urraca succeeded her father and became queen of Castille and Leon; Urraca's and Raymond's offspring ruled the kingdom from 1126 up to Peter of Castile, 1369. 

Origins

Raymond was the fourth son of William I, Count of Burgundy (from the House of Ivrea) and arrived in the Iberian peninsula probably in 1086 with the army of Odo I, Duke of Burgundy, who siege the city Tudela, Navarre. In April 1087 the army abandoned the siege and returned home, but Odo, Raymond and Henry (Raymond's cousin) went west at the court of Alfonso VI king of Castile and León. There, Odo arranged the marriage of king's first daughter Urraca to Raymond on 1087; the couple received the county of Galicia as dowry.[2]In 1093 Alfonso VI married his second daughter Teresa to Henry and gave them the county of Portugal, which evolved to a kingdom.[3] In 1107 Raymond died; the next year died Sancho, king's only son and in 1109 the king himself. Urraca succeeded him up to her death and then next ruler was her son Alfonso VII, first king of Castile and León from the Castilian House of Ivrea: 

The founder of the family's fortunes was a petty Burgundian count named Anscar, who, with the support of his powerful brother, the archbishop of Rheims Fulk the Venerable, brought Guy III of Spoleto to Langres to be crowned King of France in 887. Their plot failing, Anscar accompanied Guy back to Italy to seek that vacant throne and, in gratefulness to Anscar, Guy created the March of Ivrea to bestow on his Burgundian faithful. Anscar's descendants held the march until 1030. Perhaps the most illustrious scion of the house was his grandson Berengar, the first of three Anscarids to be crowned king of Italy.Berengar seized the throne in 950 after the death of Lothair II. He was opposed, immediately, by Lothair's widow Adelaide, whom he imprisoned after his attempt to force her marriage to his son, Adalbert II, failed. Emperor Otto I came down the peninsula and forced him to do homage in 952. For the next eleven years, Berengar and his co-crowned son governed Italy until Otto finally formally deposed them in 963.From 1002 to 1014 Arduin of Italy held the Italian throne in opposition to the German Henry II

 Castilian branch of Ivrea

Raymond, fourth son of Count William I of Burgundy, travelled to Castile-León in the late eleventh century and there married Urraca, the future monarch. She was succeeded by their son, Alfonso VII. Subsequent monarchs of Castile and León were their agnatic descendants until the 16th century, although the crown had passed to an illegitimate cadet branch, the House of Trastámara, in the late 14th century.

Country

Holy Roman Empire

Kingdom of Italy

Frankish Empire

Papal States

County of Burgundy

Galicia

Castile

and

León

Ethnicity

Frankish

–

Burgundian

Founded9th century

Founder

Anscar I

Final rulerItaly:

Arduin

Burgundy:

Joan II

Castile, Galicia and León:

Peter

Orange:

Philibert

Titles

Pope (Elective)

King of Italy

King of Galicia

King of Castile

King of León

Margrave of Ivrea

Count of Burgundy

Count of Mâcon

Holy Roman Empress

Queen of France(Regent)

La hermana Constance of Castile (1354 – 24 March 1394) was claimant of the Castilian throne after the death of her father Peter, King of Castile and León, also known as Peter the Cruel. Her mother was María de Padilla, whom Peter had secretly married, but was then forced to repudiate; however he kept her as his mistress.Constance of CastileDuchess of LancasterBorn1354Castrojeriz, CastileDied24 March 1394 (aged 39–40)Leicester Castle, LeicestershireBurialChurch of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, LeicesterSpouseJohn of Gaunt, 1st Duke of LancasterIssueCatherine, Queen of CastileHouseCastilian House of IvreaFatherPeter of CastileMotherMaría de PadillaReligionRoman CatholicismConstance was married, at Roquefort, near Bordeaux, Guienne, on 21 September 1371, to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, who was the third son of Edward III of Englandand Philippa of Hainault, as his second wife. Constance's younger sister, Infanta Isabella, married Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth son of King Edward III and Queen Philippa.On 9 February 1372 Constance made a ceremonial entry into London as Queen of Castile, accompanied by Edward, the Black Prince, and an escort of English and Castilian retainers and London dignitaries. Crowds lined the streets to see her as she processed to the Savoy Palace in the Strand where she was ceremonially received by her husband, who had proclaimed himself King of Castile and León on 29 January.[1]The surrender of Santiago de Compostela to John of Gaunt. Constance is the lady on horseback.This was the way for Gaunt to obtain a kingdom of his own (he had been offered Scotland as a youth by the childless David II but nothing came of this), as his nephew Richard II and the descendants of his brother Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, stood between him and the Crown of England. John of Gaunt claimed the title of King of Castile jure uxoris, and insisted that English nobles address him as "my lord of Spain", but was unsuccessful in his attempts to obtain the crown. Their daughter Catherine of Lancaster was married to the king of the Trastámara line, Henry III of Castile, thus uniting these two rival claims.Constance died at Leicester Castle and was buried at the Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, Leicester.[2][3]

y le sigue Berengaria (Castilian: Berenguela; nicknamed the Great (Castilian: la Grande); 1179 or 1180 – 8 November 1246) was queen regnant of Castile[1] in 1217 and queen consort of León from 1197 to 1204. As the eldest child and heir presumptive of Alfonso VIII of Castile, she was a sought after bride, and was engaged to Conrad, the son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. After his death, she married her cousin, Alfonso IX of León, to secure the peace between him and her father. She had five children with him before their marriage was voided by Pope Innocent III.Berengaria1753 statue in MadridQueen of Castile and ToledoReign6 June – 31 August 1217PredecessorHenry ISuccessorFerdinand IIIQueen consort of LeónTenure1197–1204Born1179 or 1180BurgosDied8 November 1246 (aged 66)Las Huelgas near BurgosBurialLas Huelgas near BurgosConsortConrad II, Duke of Swabia(m. 1187; died 1196)Alfonso IX of León(m. 1197; annulled 1204)Issuemore...Ferdinand III of CastileAlfonso, Lord of MolinaBerengaria, Latin EmpressHouseCastilian House of IvreaFatherAlfonso VIII of CastileMotherEleanor of EnglandReligionRoman CatholicismWhen her father died, she served as regent for her younger brother Henry I in Castile until she succeeded him on his untimely death. Within months, she turned Castile over to her son, Ferdinand III, concerned that as a woman she would not be able to lead Castile's forces. However, she remained one of his closest advisors, guiding policy, negotiating, and ruling on his behalf for the rest of her life. She was responsible for the re-unification of Castile and León under her son's authority, and supported his efforts in the Reconquista. She was a patron of religious institutions and supported the writing of a history of the two countries.