If the Conqueror had a daughter(s)...

[RagnarokKing]

I've started pondering something, if Aegon the Conqueror had a daughter(s), as in one of his sons was female, or his low/no fertility wasn't an issue and he had daughters in addition to his sons, would he have followed Valyrian tradition and wed them together?  I am inclined to think yes.  Obviously he wed Aenys to his cousin Alyssa, quite likely having the purity of the Dragon's blood in mind, but cousin marriage was such an accepted practice I doubt anyone so much as blinked.  And Aenys later went on to wed his children together, likely having been taught by his father of the importance of keeping the blood of the dragon pure.  However, he certainly tread carefully around the Faith and the High Septon, and so a bit of doubt does come to mind.

[Lord Varys]

I'm pretty sure he would have gone through with it under those circumstances. As you rightly point out, King Aenys wouldn't have gone through with the Aegon-Rhaena match if his father hadn't taught him about the importance of incestuous marriages as a Targaryen tradition.

Aegon would likely have done it more competently than Aenys, realizing the opposition this would cause and thus connecting this issue with a concentrated campaign to break the power of the Faith (whether he would have succeeded at that or not is another question, but he would have tried). Part of the reason why Aenys was so oblivious to the problems the Aegon-Rhaena match would cause might have been the fact that very few people actually dared to talk openly about how the Realm felt about the incest thing due to the fact that Aenys himself was born of incest. You cannot imply in the Crown Prince's hearing that he is seen as an abomination born of incest. Another point is that King Aenys - the man who wanted to be loved by all - would likely not have insisted on the Aegon-Rhaena marriage if he hadn't been really convinced that this was necessary. And he would only have been convinced of that if his father and aunt would have taught him that this kind of thing was important.

Another hint is the proposed Maegor-Rhaena match. The High Septon opposed it, yes, but so did Aenys and Alyssa, and it was poor match besides. Maegor would have to wait for 12-13 years before he could impregnate his wife. But the fact that Visenya jumped on the chance to arrange a marriage among very closely related Targaryens as soon as the opportunity presented itself strongly indicates that the Targaryens had never intended to give up that marriage policy.

[RagnarokKing]

4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I'm pretty sure he would have gone through with it under those circumstances. As you rightly point out, King Aenys wouldn't have gone through with the Aegon-Rhaena match if his father hadn't taught him about the importance of incestuous marriages as a Targaryen tradition.

Aegon would likely have done it more competently than Aenys, realizing the opposition this would cause and thus connecting this issue with a concentrated campaign to break the power of the Faith (whether he would have succeeded at that or not is another question, but he would have tried). Part of the reason why Aenys was so oblivious to the problems the Aegon-Rhaena match would cause might have been the fact that very few people actually dared to talk openly about how the Realm felt about the incest thing due to the fact that Aenys himself was born of incest. You cannot imply in the Crown Prince's hearing that he is seen as an abomination born of incest. Another point is that King Aenys - the man who wanted to be loved by all - would likely not have insisted on the Aegon-Rhaena marriage if he hadn't been really convinced that this was necessary. And he would only have been convinced of that if his father and aunt would have taught him that this kind of thing was important.

Another hint is the proposed Maegor-Rhaena match. The High Septon opposed it, yes, but so did Aenys and Alyssa, and it was poor match besides. Maegor would have to wait for 12-13 years before he could impregnate his wife. But the fact that Visenya jumped on the chance to arrange a marriage among very closely related Targaryens as soon as the opportunity presented itself strongly indicates that the Targaryens had never intended to give up that marriage policy.

It is an interesting question to also consider how the Faith would have reacted to Aegon doing this with his children, and of course Aegon's subsequent reaction.  I mean the High Septon did write a warning letter about the possible Maegor-Rhaena match, so one can assume poorly, however Aenys had demonstrated by the point of the Aegon-Rhaena marriage to be a weak king, while Aegon was powerful and feared (a bit larger than life).  So it's possible that the High Septon might not have dared such aggression against Aegon as he did Aenys. 

Now as to the High Septon's opposition to the Maegor-Rhaena match, I strongly suspect that such opposition was political rather than theological.  Incest, in AWOIAF or TSOTD (or both I can't remember) is only defined as siblings and parent-child by the Faith.  So theologically the Maegor-Rhaena match, while not necessarily applauded, should have been acceptable at least.  I think the High Septon opposed it because he wanted his niece to become a princess, and gain influence for the Hightowers and himself.  And as for Aenys and Alyssa, I would propose that their opposition to the Maegor-Rhaena match was possibly because of Targaryen marriage tradition, because by marrying Rhaena to Maegor, they would deny their first-born son her hand. Had they no intention of doing this, Maegor would have been a fine match for Rhaena.