How come most major lords only have one castle?

[Tarellen]

Seriously I mean some of these lords are decsened from kings and still rule like there kingly anesector have done. So how come most major lords only have one castle? In real life major lords and king had mutiple castle which they traveled to. I can see in westeros them not travling much because of years long winters but what about the summer? How come lord stark only has winterfell as his only major castle? Same with lord tyrell. 

[Lord Ravenstark]

They probably own a major castle, and many smaller ones, keeps and holds. If I remember well, in one of the Blackwoods discussions they mention they must give some castles.

[Melisandre's White Pubes]

CK2: GoT Mod Answer - Low Stewardship score and the mod has a much lower base demesne limit.  Best to use those extra holdings on cities that provide funds and give any other castles to your sons to avoid prestige penalties for unlanded sons.

Real life answer - that's how the feudal system works.  A lord could technically own other castles on their land, but then they would still be essentially run by a castellan.  Better to grant them to loyal nobles to keep them loyal, and to not have to worry about what happens if something bad happens with the non-nobles you appointed to run them for you, like they get ambitious or end up having someone else lay a claim on them while you are incommunicado.

 

[purple-eyes]

That will be too complicated for GRRM to write.

One house has one castle is easier for writer as well as for reader.

By the way, Targ had two, but Summerhall was burned by themselves.

Arryn also had two. Peake also had three. Does Frey have two too?

[thelittledragonthatcould]

They probably don't. We know there are other Holdfasts within the Stark lands. We don't really have to be given their names or which nobles care for them in the Starks absence but they certainly exist. Many major Lords would have multiple holdfasts within their lands but we only really need to know about their main Place of residence unless they are like the Arryns or Targaryens who have two main places of residence (one for summer and one for winter).

[purple-eyes]

10 minutes ago, thelittledragonthatcould said:

They probably don't. We know there are other Holdfasts within the Stark lands. We don't really have to be given their names or which nobles care for them in the Starks absence but they certainly exist. Many major Lords would have multiple holdfasts within their lands but we only really need to know about their main Place of residence unless they are like the Arryns or Targaryens who have two main places of residence (one for summer and one for winter).

Targ should have built a Winterhall somewhere in the north.

Then when it is hot, they can go to north, when it is cold, they can go to south.

you know, like Florida and Maine........

 

[Kaibaman]

I think lords of Westeros do own more than one castle however the main castle that are mentioned in their name are their primary seat of power. I suppose like real life lords they could add multiple estates to their names but I guess in Westeros its their best castle that's really worth mentioning (especially if its an ancestral one).

Also there is mention of minor lords who own more than one castle which they would later lose. The Peakes once own three castles but are now down to one because of their participation in the Blackfyre Rebellion. The same went for the Osgreys who once owned four castles at the peak of their power.

[StarkofWinterfell]

Just because something is not mentioned doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's assumed they own a lot of land and castles.

I mean, all of the families and houses mentioned are not all of the houses in Westeros.

[Tarellen]

23 hours ago, purple-eyes said:

Targ should have built a Winterhall somewhere in the north.

Then when it is hot, they can go to north, when it is cold, they can go to south.

you know, like Florida and Maine........

 

They should have taken land all across westeros while they still had dragons and built up an impressive land holding. 

[Young Nan]

It seems like they do have other holdings, just that they aren't discussed as much.  Some of the houses explicitly do have more than one castle, the Targaryens for instance had the Red Keep, Dragonstone, and Summerhall.  The Martells have Sunspear and the Water Gardens. The Karstarks were originally a lesser branch of Starks holding a keep in the name of the main Starks, before it eventually became Karhold.  

 Ned Stark, when discussing Bran's future with Arya, mentions that one day Bran could be the master of his own keep that he would hold in Robb's name.  So they probably do have some minor keeps or holdfasts that we just don't hear about.    

[thelittledragonthatcould]

3 minutes ago, Tarellen said:

They should have taken land all across westeros while they still had dragons and built up an impressive land holding. 

They likely did. Obviously we know of Kings Landing, Dragonstone in the Crownlands, Summerhall in the Stormlands, the Tower of Joy in Dorne and Pennytree in the Riverlands and we know that the Standfast lands would have reverted back to the Crown should Eustace have died without issue:

"The grant was only for a time, though. The paper said that if Ser Eustace were to die without a male heir of his body, Standfast would revert to the crown, and Lord Webber's privileges would end."

We also hear of both Aegon IV and Daeron II bestowing lands upon Daemon so clearly the Crown does have lands that they are either reclaiming or giving away.

 

[thelittledragonthatcould]

3 minutes ago, Tarellen said:

They should have taken land all across westeros while they still had dragons and built up an impressive land holding. 

They likely did. Obviously we know of Kings Landing, Dragonstone in the Crownlands, Summerhall in the Stormlands, the Tower of Joy in Dorne and Pennytree in the Riverlands and we know that the Standfast lands would have reverted back to the Crown should Eustace have died without issue:

"The grant was only for a time, though. The paper said that if Ser Eustace were to die without a male heir of his body, Standfast would revert to the crown, and Lord Webber's privileges would end."

We also hear of both Aegon IV and Daeron II bestowing lands upon Daemon so clearly the Crown does have lands that they are either reclaiming or giving away.

 

[Ashur]

One of the mundane things that I really miss in ASOIAF is more information on castle building and day-to-day castle and land management.

Apart from the examples above, I think is fair to suppose that some houses have indeed other castles given the vastness of their possessions. For example, we know from Griff's POV that the Conningtons used to have very extensive possesions in the Crownlands. They should have had other castles apart from Griffin's Roost. 

[Tarellen]

23 minutes ago, Ashur said:

One of the mundane things that I really miss in ASOIAF is more information on castle building and day-to-day castle and land management.

Apart from the examples above, I think is fair to suppose that some houses have indeed other castles given the vastness of their possessions. For example, we know from Griff's POV that the Conningtons used to have very extensive possesions in the Crownlands. They should have had other castles apart from Griffin's Roost. 

Yeah I wouldn't have mined to know how a nobles estae was run. Also the conningtons are the first family I've heard of to have had signifganat holdings in two regions. Quote?

[The Mountain That Flies]

Unless Martin was trying to factor in a plot line about a secondary house trying to supplant the primary one, pushing this kind of stuff would over-complicate an already politically dense story. Re-using names like that just to build a believable history is not as worthwhile as having vastly different houses.

[TerrorVoid]

One castle to one family. If family gets new castle, new branch is created. I.e. Karstarks, Tyrells of Brightwater.

Major castles are rare. There are tens, definitely not hundreds of them. Tens build trough 8k years. They are absurdly costly investment. Toguh, it leads us to question, about how much truth there is in westeross history.

[ChillyPolly]

Well.  They don't have jet airplanes.  So they live in, and directly control, one castle - the one they are in.  Other castles they give to their vassals to control for them.  It's like the feudal system.  In this way, Ned controls all the castles in the North.

[Son of Man]

It takes longer to build castles compared to a condo.  The land also has to be productive enough to support the running of a castle.  IE, it's expensive.

[Tarellen]

1 hour ago, ChillyPolly said:

Well.  They don't have jet airplanes.  So they live in, and directly control, one castle - the one they are in.  Other castles they give to their vassals to control for them.  It's like the feudal system.  In this way, Ned controls all the castles in the North.

Or in the summer they could move from castle to castle to rule there lands more effectively 

[Nittanian]

23 hours ago, StarkofWinterfell said:

Just because something is not mentioned doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It's assumed they own a lot of land and castles.

I mean, all of the families and houses mentioned are not all of the houses in Westeros.

 

I agree.

Quote

Tyrell demanded the lands and castles of Lord Alester Florent, his own bannerman, who'd had the singular ill judgment to back first Renly and then Stannis. (ASOS Tyrion III)

 

Quote

"Roose Bolton, who is named our Warden of the North, requires that I give up my claim to Lord Hornwood's lands and castles but swears my other holdings shall remain untouched." (ADWD Davos III)