How do you centralize the 7 kingdoms

[Skahaz mo Kandaq]

Just kind of fleshing out what I was thinking above: The kingdom's have not been this fractured in recent memory. There is destruction everywhere, and there will be more destruction after Long Night Part Deux.

Individual kingdoms will need help picking up the pieces and rebuilding their towns and reestablishing order. That would be a great pretext for the Crown to swoop in and offer assistance in exchange for certain concessions. Getting the Citadel to Dispatch Maesters and acolytes all across the land to suffering people, helping heal. A Civil Engineering service a la Army Corps of Engineers to restore roads and inns and castles.

The Crown, although in trouble with the Iron Bank, as a large sovereign nation on it's own continent, is still a powerful force that may be able to restore a working relationship with creditors (under new Non-Lannister Leadership) and open new credit lines that the individual Kingdoms would not. They could use those funds to assist the Lords in exchange for their pledges of the future.

The Crown could assist the lords in exchange for their pledges.  Even so, the Crown would still need superior firepower to keep the lords in line.  Gratitude doesn't go very far with some houses.  Take those Baratheon pigs, they owe their dominion over the Stormlands to the Targaryen family, and yet, they still rebelled.  Overwhelming power is the answer in order to hold the lords accountable to the Targaryen monarch. 

[idio]

The Crown could assist the lords in exchange for their pledges.  Even so, the Crown would still need superior firepower to keep the lords in line.  Gratitude doesn't go very far with some houses.  Take those Baratheon pigs, they owe their dominion over the Stormlands to the Targaryen family, and yet, they still rebelled.  Overwhelming power is the answer in order to hold the lords accountable to the Targaryen monarch. 

I agree, and continue to think the Crown needs to build up a national military to that effect.

Westeros can/would centralize when there is a compelling reason for it to do so. Lords aren't going to just give up power for no reason. Dragons are a compelling threat. Others are a compelling threat. Financial ruin, peasant uprisings demanding rights or resources, plagues that require the Crown's / Citadel's help... There are many scenarios where individual Lords on their own might realize they are unable to solve these problems alone, and may vest political capital in the Capital.

[Lychnidos]

To begin any kind of centralization, you need to firstly reduce the power of the lords, and that by a considerable margin.

[Liz Stark-Targaryen]

To begin any kind of centralization, you need to firstly reduce the power of the lords, and that by a considerable margin.

The Black Death broke the back of the feudal lords of Europe. I have no doubt that the IT and the LPs alike are coming out of the conflict we're seeing unfold with much less power. 

[idio]

The Black Death broke the back of the feudal lords of Europe. I have no doubt that the IT and the LPs alike are coming out of the conflict we're seeing unfold with much less power. 

Interesting, did not know that.

[Skahaz mo Kandaq]

The Black Death broke the back of the feudal lords of Europe. I have no doubt that the IT and the LPs alike are coming out of the conflict we're seeing unfold with much less power. 

The coming Ice Age will really remove any motivation for the small folk to follow their noble lords.  After all, when the ground is frozen and there is no food to be had, it will become every man for himself.  Basically, Westeros will start breaking off into tribes like the wildlings.  Survival increases that way, when you can forage for food to support yourself and your family, rather than support the non-laboring types (lords).  There will be disorder and chaos.  Look for human relations to go primal and become more savage.  The rule of law will break, unfortunately.  The southern lands will have to support the frozen kingdoms.  War will break out of they refuse to share.  This is likely. 

[Maester of Valyria]

First, you need a central location, defensible in times of war, with broad fertile lands and an abundance of transportation routes nearby. Now, if only I could think of a place that matched those criteria...

Found a new town at or near Harrenhal, perhaps using stones from any obsolete walls of the castle (ie most of it), and encourage inter-region trade to concentrate there. Utilise waterways for transport, and build new roads and canals. Give tax cuts to merchants who set up shop in this new town to draw more people in. Eventually, the town will grow to a city, and you can relocate the capital there. The idea is to make most regions  dependent on trade that passes through Harrenhal, so that war with other regions is considered too costly. To this end, encourage unions between border Houses of different regions.

Now that you have a nice, secure, and profitable base, the money from taxes and tolls should roll right in. trade will benefit all, and at the same time the central location and everyone being friendly makes it much easier to centralise governance. That is, until the merchants start forming Guilds, and the lords start making noises about something called a 'Parliament'...

 

[Veloknight]

I actually think the central location is overrated. King's Landing is fine as-is, because it's water-accessible, which means anyone can get to it, it's harder to besiege, and it's more relevant as a city.

Harrenhal should totally be a royal castle - they really should have some estates in every Kingdom, ideally relatively close to King's Landing and fortified. Gives a non-hereditary office to be held by younger Princes/Princesses in the same manner as Dragonstone is the crown prince's personal (temporary) seat, gives a nice waystation on royal progresses, gives a base of operation for intrigues and intelligence operations, and it's not as though Westeros has a shortage of land (and any that need be confiscated from a minor house can surely be compensated for by a marriage to some lesser royal, greatly increasing their prestige and visibility [esp. given Targaryen history of repeatedly remarrying into families once they have Targaryen bloodlines]).

The administrative benefits of a central capital are better gained through marine accessibility and multiple outposts, rather than relocating to a big castle but losing out on cultural and economic primacy, which is probably the only thing still binding the Kingdoms together - their strong links to the capital city.

[TheSovereignGrave]

You need a new capital and a new royal castle on Harrenhal grounds by Isle of Faces by the blessings of Old Gods to establish a new royal dynasty (House Stark probably) and start a new chapter in Westeros' life. King's Landing will burn in wildfire.

Also all regional seats - Winterfell, Riverrun, Storm's End, Casterly Rock, Highgarden, Sunspear, Pyke, Eyrie - symbols of autonomy and individualism of each kingdom need to go as well.

Once there is no more fragmentation of Westeros into 7 separate kingdoms and there is only one royal army and royal fleet created (one of Joffrey's few good ideas), term "Westerosi" will mean more to the realm. There needs to be no more "Dornish", "Northman","Westerman",etc. as a term.

And I truly believe that is what will happen at the end of the series. Once winter comes and cold creeps into all corners of the realm, only one house will be able to rule Westeros in such conditions - House Stark, Kings of Winter. And Jon, Arya and Sansa all have story connections to Harrenhal, while Bran is a greenseer and probably will migrate to Isle of Faces full of weirwood grove and order of greenmen. That is why I believe the seat of House Stark will move from Winterfell to Harrenhal grounds by the end of the series and symbol a new beginning for Westeros.

And the Great Houses would just sit back as the "savage, tree-worshiping" Northmen tried to destroy their identity? You'd end up with literally everyone but the North rebelling against this King. Kings can't do what they please, they can do as they please so long as it doesn't piss off enough people powerful enough to say "No, screw you". And how exactly would you go about creating this unified Westerosi identity? Obviously the North wouldn't abandon the Old Gods, but would you force the rest of Westeros to abandon the Seven? It'd be kind of difficult to have everyone in Westeros think of themselves as Westerosi first and their region second, if the regions continued to practice different faiths and traditions. And this isn't even getting into the reaction of the Lords when the ancestral seats of the Great HOuses would "have to go".

[Liz Stark-Targaryen]

And the Great Houses would just sit back as the "savage, tree-worshiping" Northmen tried to destroy their identity? You'd end up with literally everyone but the North rebelling against this King. Kings can't do what they please, they can do as they please so long as it doesn't piss off enough people powerful enough to say "No, screw you". And how exactly would you go about creating this unified Westerosi identity? Obviously the North wouldn't abandon the Old Gods, but would you force the rest of Westeros to abandon the Seven? It'd be kind of difficult to have everyone in Westeros think of themselves as Westerosi first and their region second, if the regions continued to practice different faiths and traditions. And this isn't even getting into the reaction of the Lords when the ancestral seats of the Great HOuses would "have to go".

Which is what 90% of ASOIAF and GoT fandom fail to consider in all our "Jon Snow is the LH/AA/everything & eventual king" theories. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of Jon, but people don't understand that most of Westeros won't know anything about him beyond what you've said above. What's worse, the North is poised to suffer worst in the wars/famine/pandemic/apocalypse to come, so after the Dawn, the South will have even more of a numerical majority. 

[Jaak]

Interesting, did not know that.

Well, I wouldn´t believe that. Wrong century. Black Death was 1347-1350.

Feudal lords were powerful a century after that.

But see how fast England changed from the feudal anarchy of Henry VI and War of Roses to the absolute rule of Henry VIII. Or Castile from the feudal anarchy of Henry the Impotent to the absolute rule of Carlos I and Felipe II.

How did these different kings pull it off at the same time?

Isabel I was born in 1451, launched a civil war to usurp Castilian throne from her niece Juana la Beltraneja in 1474, and won it in 1479. By the time Isabel died in 1504, she had increased the revenues of Castilian Crown from the 1474 budget of 900 000 reales per year to 26 000 000 reales.

So, how much do you think would be the revenues of Queen Daenerys after 30 years of reign?

[Scorpion92]

And the Great Houses would just sit back as the "savage, tree-worshiping" Northmen tried to destroy their identity? You'd end up with literally everyone but the North rebelling against this King. Kings can't do what they please, they can do as they please so long as it doesn't piss off enough people powerful enough to say "No, screw you". And how exactly would you go about creating this unified Westerosi identity? Obviously the North wouldn't abandon the Old Gods, but would you force the rest of Westeros to abandon the Seven? It'd be kind of difficult to have everyone in Westeros think of themselves as Westerosi first and their region second, if the regions continued to practice different faiths and traditions. And this isn't even getting into the reaction of the Lords when the ancestral seats of the Great HOuses would "have to go".

Well, I never said northmen will destroy the seats of the great houses, it will be either because of their own actions or their opposition of Dany.

If Lady Stoneheart commits Red Wedding 2.0 then Riverrun and House Tully are doomed to fall before gods, just like Twins and Freys, it works both ways. Martells and Sunspear are foreshadowed to burn because they will oppose Dany in the upcoming battle. Sweetsunray's brilliant essay foreshadows House Arryn, Eyrie and Gates of the Moon falling to natutal disasters and mountain clans, etc. I can go on and on why every major house and their seat will fall, and I think that is what Martin has in mind. He wants to put Westeros in complete shambles, to destroy its political system in order to create a newer, better and more effective one.

And after the grand final battle between dragons and White Walkers at the Battle of Dawn Westeros will be reminded why Starks and Targaryens are two magical houses, and the only religions surviving the upcoming Long Night will be religion of Old Gods, because it will be revealed as the true source of blood magic.

Just like the religions of Ancient Egypt, Greece, Romans, Achemenids,etc. disappeared due to time and circumstances, the same will happen to the most religions of ASOIAF after world-changing Long Night. I think people of Westeros, having witnessed and being reminded of true power and magic of Old Gods in the Long Night 2.0. will convert from Faith of the Seven of the Andal invaders (there is enough evidence for me that Howland Reed and Mormont women are High Septon and his septas, but you can disagree and we shall see), Drowned God of raiding ironborn (through Theon), and R'hillor (through Melisandre who I believe is Bloodraven and Shiera's daughter, she will find out that it was Bloodraven sending her these visions, not her beloved R'hillor). In other words, Old Gods have their agents in all of other main religions of Westeros, you can include even Arya and Many-Faced God religion if Bran will be able to contact her directly soon.

Maybe it is a long stretch, but I based it on my observations from what I have read from the books and seen discussed by brilliant minds of this forum. Well, I guess we shall see.

[The Wolves]

To begin any kind of centralization, you need to firstly reduce the power of the lords, and that by a considerable margin.

Won't that cause problems? 

How much are we talking reducing the Great Lord's power cause I don't think their bannermen or people will greatly appreciate that. 

Houses like Stark, Lannister, Arryn have been in power for thousands of years to try and reduce their power will cause problems and not come easy. I think their bannermen and people will put up a fight. 

[Lychnidos]

Won't that cause problems? 

How much are we talking reducing the Great Lord's power cause I don't think their bannermen or people will greatly appreciate that. 

Houses like Stark, Lannister, Arryn have been in power for thousands of years to try and reduce their power will cause problems and not come easy. I think their bannermen and people will put up a fight. 

Of course it will cause problems, which fool willingly gives up his power. but strong regional authorities and centralization are polar opposites. 

Which means that you need a king strong enough to break the lords and strip them of the ability to raise personal armies, so the only one  is his own i.e a standing army. That is the first and key part of the process, everything else follows after: making the lesser lords swear fealty directly to the king, appointing magistrates to administer justice instead of the lords, taxing directly. 

Basically the king needs to enact some kind of basic bureaucracy, and strip the lords of most powers leaving them only with their personal lands.

[The Wolves]

Of course it will cause problems, which fool willingly gives up his power. but strong regional authorities and centralization are polar opposites. 

Which means that you need a king strong enough to break the lords and strip them of the ability to raise personal armies, so the only one  is his own i.e a standing army. That is the first and key part of the process, everything else follows after: making the lesser lords swear fealty directly to the king, appointing magistrates to administer justice instead of the lords, taxing directly. 

Basically the king needs to enact some kind of basic bureaucracy, and strip the lords of most powers leaving them only with their personal lands.

How will the king be able to do that in a society like Westeros? 

 

These lesser houses have been sworn to some of the great houses for thousands of years. How will a Northmen react if the king tells them that they are to swear fealty to him instead of a Stark, there is way to much I gained history and blood good and bad for such a big change. 

[Veloknight]

Of course it will cause problems, which fool willingly gives up his power. but strong regional authorities and centralization are polar opposites.

I agree with you, but Westeros is simply too huge - the size of South America, almost, which is about 2x Europe - to realistically be a single polity without heavy delegation, virtually no population, or some technological or military ace in the hole.

[Maester of Valyria]

I agree with you, but Westeros is simply too huge - the size of South America, almost, which is about 2x Europe - to realistically be a single polity without heavy delegation, virtually no population, or some technological or military ace in the hole.

Like dragons and magics such as glass candles and skinchanging?

[Damp Hair - The Prophet]

Build an East-West canal and move the capitol to Harrenhal.

[Bold Barry Whitebeard]

To centralize the Seven Kingdoms you need to diminish the power of the nobility.  One way would be to make the Lord Paramount position non-hereditary and appointed by the crown from among one of the noble families of the region.

Another way is to strengthen the middle class by taking trade away from the nobles and putting it into the hands of the merchants.  Setting up a system of guilds for skilled laborers would help as well.

You also need to establish a bureaucracy to govern the land and provide continuity between Lord Paramounts.

[Fat Mac]

I'd say make a lordly Parliament first. What that does is it gets all the Lord Paramounts to care what is happening all over the kingdom. The LP of each region handpick 2 representatives, independent of the King's selection, to represent their interests in the capital. That way everyone is present in the politics of the kingdom, and it's not just 8 regions practically ruling themselves.