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The Rightful Heir to the Iron Throne


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Westoros have a monarchical system and what is the base of a monarchical system: The Divine Right of Kingship; what this mean, according to this theory, is that the legitimacy of the King and his right to rule come directly from God.

From Wikipedia: "The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm, including (in the view of some, especially in Protestant countries) the Church. According to this doctrine, only God can judge an unjust king. The doctrine implies that any attempt to depose the king or to restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and may constitute a sacrilegious act".

GRRM has base his ASOIAF novels in medieval customs and traditions so those apply to Westeros; the rebellion that deposed King Aerys II was an unlawful and sacrilegious act and an illegal act can't produce any kind of rights thus only the heirs of Aerys II have a lawful and divine right to the IT.

There's only one point we need to assess and that's the position of the Church. I always thought of the Citadel in Oldtown as the Vatican of Westeros and the Faith of The Seven is the official church of the seven kingdom and the beginning of the Targeryan dynasty is dated to the moment that Aegon I was crown by the High Septon of Oldtown, that IIRC was two years after landing in the continent. As a state into another state Oldtown has relationship with rest of the seven kingdoms and obviously they kept the relationships with the IT after the murder of King Aerys but did they officially anointed or recognize as lawful the ascension to the throne of Robert Baratheon? There's no evidence of any of that. Seems to me that they tolerated him but never recognized as the rightful King.

Aegon took crowns from

-King Torrhen Stark

-King Lorren Lannister

-King Argilac Durrendon

-King Ronnel Arryn

-King Mern Gardner

-King Harren Hoare

So going by the logic that deposing a king is sacrilegious, the Targaryens never had a claim.

Also there is no evidence that they didn't recognize Robert. It could just as easily seem as they did tolerate him AND recognize. I'm assuming they did, since there was little fuss about him being everyone's king.

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My point is, laws such as we know nowdays DO NOT exist in 7 Kingdoms.

I would like to point out that the legitimacy of state power is not simply based on "law" in our world either. The US were legally part of the United Kingdom, until they weren't, through a revolution. Italy was a monarchy, until it became a republic, through a process that involved a partial revolution, a war, a popular referendum, etc.

When we are talking about history, the technicalities of law are simply one of the arguments, rarely the most important.

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Honestly have never even considered the fact that Stannis' Targ claim comes from a female lol. So there's that. But he's still older than dany and a male. Regardless of where his claim comes from, I think Stannis would technically still be the Targ heir. But as I said, it's irrelevant because it's a Baratheon throne now anyway.

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It all depends on how you look at it. If you think the Targaryens have exclusive right to the Iron Throne then obviously you will need to think that Stannis or Daenerys is the heir. Stannis should actually be able to be discounted because he is a traitor to the throne, from a Targaryen perspective, and thus can't inherit.

If you think that might makes right, then Myrcella is actually the heir. To me I don't see the difference of claiming the throne through force of arms or through guile and deception. Both of them are pretty much based on the same principle; we can take and hold the throne and therefore it belongs to us.

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The Targaryen deposed SEVEN kings. Andals deposed hundreds of kings. First Men deposed (but later became friends) the squirrel people.

But Aegon I was blessed by the official Church of Westeros none of those little Kings were blessed. Inour world the Catholic Church have the power to decide those things and apparentlythe Faith of the Sevens have the same power judging by the fact that the Targeryan dinasty officially begging when Oldtown anointed Aegon I as the legitimate King of Westeros.

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But Aegon I was blessed by the official Church of Westeros none of those little Kings were blessed. Inour world the Catholic Church have the power to decide those things and apparentlythe Faith of the Sevens have the same power judging by the fact that the Targeryan dinasty officially begging when Oldtown anointed Aegon I as the legitimate King of Westeros.

Actually this idea of the Catholic Church being the universally recognised referee of power legitimacy in medieval Europe is not true. Divine right does not mean church right. No European monarch ever accepted the Church as a superior power able to decide over succession disputes. Actually, it was the other way around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investiture_Controversy

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It all depends on how you look at it. If you think the Targaryens have exclusive right to the Iron Throne then obviously you will need to think that Stannis or Daenerys is the heir. Stannis should actually be able to be discounted because he is a traitor to the throne, from a Targaryen perspective, and thus can't inherit.

Then again, he would be heir of the traitor, for Robert was the one who took the Iron Throne from the Targaryen. If the Targaryen have exclusive rights then Stannis would, technically, would come third in line after Aegon and Daenrys (if neither one of them have children).

Only then would come Dorne, and only then would come Myrcella.

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Then again, he would be heir of the traitor, for Robert was the one who took the Iron Throne from the Targaryen. If the Targaryen have exclusive rights then Stannis would, technically, would come third in line after Aegon and Daenrys (if neither one of them have children).

Only then would come Dorne, and only then would come Myrcella.

Very true. I can't claim that I have any deeper understanding for the details of Westerosi geneology but I'm eager to learn new things. :)

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Actually this idea of the Catholic Church being the universally recognised referee of power legitimacy in medieval Europe is not true. Divine right does not mean church right. No European monarch ever accepted the Church as a superior power able to decide over succession disputes. Actually, it was the other way around: http://en.wikipedia....ure_Controversy

That in no way contradict what I'm saying. In the beginning Emperors and King appointed Bishops and the Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope were territorial Princes and Judges.

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That in no way contradict what I'm saying. In the beginning Emperors and King appointed Bishops and the Bishops, Cardinals and the Pope were territorial Princes and Judges.

Yes and no. But, in any case, no medieval European kingdom accepted your idea of the Roman Catholic Church as a superior power able to judge on the legitimacy of claims. Divine right doesn't mean Church right, it is a direct link between God and a monarch.

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