KingStannisFan Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Would this be accepted ANYWHERE but except maybe in Dorne? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinner Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Maybe if you were a younger son or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alysanne Donnelly Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Commoners marry lords if they are rich enough and the lord/lady is low enough on the hierarchy. Sybelle Spicer married Lord Westerling. Princess Arianne can't even marry a highborn bastard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Wraith Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Well the current Lord Corbray married a merchant's daughter for a big dowery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codename: Nymeria Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Um, Duncan the Small and Jenny of Oldstones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie7707 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I would assume that as a lord you can marry whomever you please...that doesn't mean that the other nobles won't look down on your family. And I would also think that it would severely damaged marriage prospects for your future children. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Little Sister Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 I would assume that as a lord you can marry whomever you please...that doesn't mean that the other nobles won't look down on your family. And I would also think that it would severely damaged marriage prospects for your future children. Agree. If you can make your own marriage pact or are willing to tarnish the family name for love then it is possible. Tyrion and Tysha is another lord/commoner wedding that we know about. Obviously, Tywin dismantled it to preserve the family name he had worked so hard to get back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie7707 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 The more interesting question is, could a female noble...like Lady Waynwood...who is the head of her house take a male smallfolk as a husband? I don't think this is mentioned. But if a Lord can marry "down" why not a Lady who has no father to answer to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor227 Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 It's a big hit to the prestige, especially for powerful older families, but the money can be incredibly good, especially if you stand to inherit a large commercial enterprise that brings in the gold. After all, there are plenty of families in Westeros that are proud but poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaibaman Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 While other nobles may turn their noses up at one of their peers marrying a commoner, I would tend to think other commoners would like them more especially if they live on that lord's lands. I mean Crown Prince Duncan Targaryen marrying Jenny of Oldstones did cause some political ramifications and made the royal family lose much gravities among the nobility. On the other hand this was considered a very popular move among the smallfolk who really loved Jenny because she was one of their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrhex Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Would this be accepted ANYWHERE but except maybe in Dorne? Why would anyone in Dorne accept this? A paramour is one thing, a wife is another. The closest thing would be for someone really far the line to marry into a bastard or to the merchant class for money. A regular commoner is acceptable only for the really lower nobility (landed/household knight), and would still raise eyebrows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimJames Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Depends on the gender. If a Lord or even a Lord Paramount decided to take a Peasent Girl as his wife, then at worst he'll loose esteem in the eyes of his peers. On the other hand, a Lady or Lady Paramount hoping to marry her stable boy might have a few more legal hurdles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ainara S Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Yes, if you are willing to get called something like Prince of Dragonflies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrow of the Morning Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Marriages between a commoner and a lord are possible, but is rare. In general only lesser houses like knightly houses or noble houses too poor or bankrupt marry peasants, in general, when the dowry is high. Houses like the Lannisters, Tyrrels and rich noble houses like Redwyne and Hightowers don't marry commoners. Prince Duncan was a exception, since he married for love. In real life it happened sometimes. The princes Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I, married Ralph of Monthermer, a peasant squire of her late husband. When her father discovered he arrested Monthermer, but Joan protested saying “It is not considered ignominious, nor disgraceful for a great earl to take a poor and mean woman to wife; neither, on the other hand, is it worthy of blame, or too difficult a thing for a countess to promote to honor a gallant youth.” It suggests that, even it was not common, noble man married peasants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryLittleGravitasIndeed Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Would this be accepted ANYWHERE but except maybe in Dorne? If by accepted you mean grudgingly tolerated with multiple other consequences sure. If by accepted you mean viewed as neutral- nope. The whole Prince of Dragonflies thing nearly led to civil war- even after the prince was pulled out of the line of succesion. I think most nobles would fight rather than accept someone with commoner blood as their liege and for good reason since nobility is all about blood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Fforde Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 The more interesting question is, could a female noble...like Lady Waynwood...who is the head of her house take a male smallfolk as a husband? I don't think this is mentioned. But if a Lord can marry "down" why not a Lady who has no father to answer to? A man could be born a commoner, but be raised up to a knight or a lord to make it more palatable (if they are in a good position with a ruling monarch/lord who has the power to do this), such as Bronn marrying Lollys Stokeworth. I think Davos also reflects on his sons' improved future prospects now that he is a lord, even though he was born in Flea Bottom, so the second generation have it even better still. A common woman, however, doesn't really have this as an option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyrhex Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 A man could be born a commoner, but be raised up to a knight or a lord to make it more palatable (if they are in a good position with a ruling monarch/lord who has the power to do this), such as Bronn marrying Lollys Stokeworth. I think Davos also reflects on his sons' improved future prospects now that he is a lord, even though he was born in Flea Bottom, so the second generation have it even better still. A common woman, however, doesn't really have this as an option. Val is a Wildling nobody. As part of the inegration of the Wildlings into Westerosi society Stannis had translated her position to that of "princess" and is conditioning the acceptance of Winterfell and the title of lord paramount of the North on marriage to her. It's far more rare, but not unheared of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Fforde Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 ^^ Good catch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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