Difference between revisions of "Aegon I Targaryen"

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==Biography==
 
==Biography==
 
===Early life===
 
===Early life===
: {{See also|Doom of Valyria}}
 
 
 
Aegon was from the island of [[Dragonstone]], the westernmost outpost of the [[Valyrian Freehold]], which his family had settled over a century before the [[Doom of Valyria]]. According to [[House Targaryen|Targaryen]] tradition, Aegon married within the family; however, instead of just one sister, he married both of them: his elder sister, [[Visenya Targaryen|Visenya]], and his younger sister, [[Rhaenys Targaryen|Rhaenys]].  All three were [[dragonrider]]s before they were wed.
 
Aegon was from the island of [[Dragonstone]], the westernmost outpost of the [[Valyrian Freehold]], which his family had settled over a century before the [[Doom of Valyria]]. According to [[House Targaryen|Targaryen]] tradition, Aegon married within the family; however, instead of just one sister, he married both of them: his elder sister, [[Visenya Targaryen|Visenya]], and his younger sister, [[Rhaenys Targaryen|Rhaenys]].  All three were [[dragonrider]]s before they were wed.
  

Revision as of 16:46, 12 July 2016

House Targaryen crest.PNG
Aegon I
House Targaryen crest.PNG
Aegon the Conqueror.jpg
Aegon Targaryen by Magali Villeneuve
Monarch
Reign 1 AC37 AC
Coronation 1 AC
Full name Aegon Targaryen the First of His Name
Titles
Predecessor none
Heir Aenys Targaryen
Successor Aenys I Targaryen
Personal Information
Aliases
  • Aegon the Conqueror
  • Aegon the Dragon
  • Aegon the Dragonlord
Born In 27 BC[1], at Dragonstone
Died In 37 AC[2], at Dragonstone
Family
Dynasty House Targaryen
Queens
Issue Aenys I Targaryen
Maegor I Targaryen
Father Aerion Targaryen
Mother Valaena Velaryon
References
Books

Aegon I Targaryen, also known as Aegon the Conqueror and Aegon the Dragon, was the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and king on the Iron Throne, having conquered six of the Seven Kingdoms during the Conquest. He was the founder of the ruling Targaryen dynasty of Westeros.

Appearance and Character

See also: Images of Aegon I Targaryen

Aegon was tall, broad shouldered and powerful in appearance, with purple eyes and short-cut silver-gold hair. He was very charismatic and commanding. During the Conquest he typically wore a shirt of black scales into battle and wielded his Valyrian steel sword Blackfyre. His crown was a simple circlet of Valyrian steel, set with big square-cut rubies.[3]

Aegon was seen as an enigma. He was a solitary person whose only friend was Orys Baratheon. He was a great warrior who wielded a sword called Blackfyre but only rode his dragon for battle or travel and never entered tourneys. He remained faithful to his sisters and left governance in their hands and only took command when necessary. While he was harsh with those who defied him, he was generous to those that bent the knee.[1]

Aegon was nearly as mysterious to his era as he is to the time of the current king, Robert I Baratheon.[1]

Biography

Early life

Aegon was from the island of Dragonstone, the westernmost outpost of the Valyrian Freehold, which his family had settled over a century before the Doom of Valyria. According to Targaryen tradition, Aegon married within the family; however, instead of just one sister, he married both of them: his elder sister, Visenya, and his younger sister, Rhaenys. All three were dragonriders before they were wed.

In the aftermath of Volantis's expansion and attack on Tyrosh, Aegon, the Lord of Dragonstone, supported Pentos and Tyrosh. Atop his dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, Aegon burned a Volantene fleet before it could attack Lys. After the defeat of Volantis, Aegon returned to Dragonstone.[4]

The Conquest

File:Aegon And His Sisters by Amok..png
King Aegon I with his sister Queens - By Amok ©
Aegon the Conqueror upon Balerion, the Black Dread by Jordi Gonzalez ©.

Aegon decided to go west to Westeros, and for years he planned his conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. He made a huge table map of Westeros painted without any borders to signify that it should be one realm alone instead of many. This map later became known as the Painted Table. His plan was ambitious but eventually successful.

When Aegon was ready, he and his two sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, landed with his army on the east coast of Westeros at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, where he constructed the wooden Aegonfort after Aegon's Landing. With the aid of their three dragons (Vhagar, Meraxes, and Balerion the Black Dread), Aegon led the Targaryen army to victory after victory, including his first test near the Blackwater, the burning of Harrenhal, and the Field of Fire. He conquered or subjugated six of the seven kingdoms of Westeros and reestablished the riverlands as a separate region. Aegon failed to conquer Dorne, however, and eventually was forced to respect their autonomy.

Aegon chose to date the beginning of his reign from the day the High Septon anointed him in Oldtown.[5] Rather than ruling from Oldtown or Dragonstone, Aegon chose to make his seat King's Landing, the new settlement growing around the Aegonfort. He also took the swords of his defeated enemies, forging them into the Iron Throne. Aegon also created the offices of the small council as well as that of the Hand of the King, with Orys Baratheon becoming his first Hand.[1]

First Dornish War

Knowing that Dorne was the Targaryens' only defeat, Aegon continued the Wars of Conquest. The king launched another invasion hoping to complete the conquest in 4 AC. The First Dornish War resulted in the death of Rhaenys Targaryen when a lucky shot from a scorpion took her dragon Meraxes in the eye, and the dragon crashed from the sky dead taking her rider with her. Aegon's wrath after Rhaenys's death knew no bounds.

Aegon and Visenya placed bounties on the heads of Dornish lords and in turn the Dornish put bounties on the Targaryens. Aegon and Visenya were assaulted on the streets of King's Landing and if not for Visenya and Dark Sister they would have been killed. This attack led to the forming of the elite royal bodyguard known as the Kingsguard in 10 AC. Visenya personally chose the men herself. The attempted conquest of Dorne was called to an end in 13 AC after Aegon, atop the Iron Throne, read a mysterious message delivered from the Prince of Dorne.[6]

Later life

Aegon spent much of his reign consolidating his power by traveling throughout the Seven Kingdoms and building his capital at King's Landing. During his rule he tread carefully with the Faith of the Seven, so they would not oppose him.[7] Aegon built a grand sept on Visenya's Hill and agreed to the construction of an even grander one known as the Sept of Remembrance on Rhaenys's Hill.[2]

King's Landing initially lacked walls as Aegon felt no one would assault a city protected by dragons. Realizing that he and Visenya were not always in the city, however, he ordered massive walls to be made to surround the city, with construction of the city walls and its gates completed in 26 AC.

Aegon found the Aegonfort was not suitable for a king, and it was torn to the ground in 35 AC. Aegon moved his family and court back to Dragonstone, while he commanded the construction of what would later be called the Red Keep. It was rumored that Aegon placed Visenya in charge of the building of the Red Keep so that he would not have to suffer her presence on Dragonstone. The Iron Throne remained at the build site instead of Dragonstone, since it was too heavy to be moved.[citation needed]

While at Dragonstone's Painted Table in 37 AC, Aegon died from a stroke while telling a tale of his conquest to two of his grandsons. Upon his death and the ascension of his sons, Aenys I and then Maegor I, several rebellions broke through out the Seven Kingdoms that eventually evolved into the Faith Militant uprising. War, death and chaos gripped the Seven Kingdoms that did not end until the reign of Aegon's grandson, Jaehaerys I.

Small Council under Aegon I

During the reign of King Aegon his small council had the following known members:

Quotes by Aegon

From this day forth there would be but one king in Westeros.[1]

A king should never sit easy.[8]

When the sun sets, your line shall end.[1]

– Aegon, to Harren Hoare

Quotes about Aegon

Aegon the Conqueror brought fire and blood to Westeros, but afterward he gave them peace, prosperity, and justice.[9]

Daenerys Targaryen


Aegon once stood here as I do, looking down on this table. Do you think we would name him Aegon the Conqueror today if he had not had dragons?[10]

Stannis Baratheon, to Davos Seaworth

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Valaena
Velaryon
 
Aerion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Unknown
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Visenya
 
Aegon I
 
Rhaenys
 
 
Orys
Baratheon
 
Argella
Durrandon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ceryse
Hightower
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aenys I
 
Alyssa
Velaryon
 
 
House Baratheon.svg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elinor
Costayne
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alys
Harroway
 
 
Maegor I
 
Rhaena
 
Aegon
 
Viserys
 
Jaehaerys I
 
Alysanne
 
Vaella
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jeyne
Westerling
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tyanna of
the Tower
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhaella
 
Aerea
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Targaryen.svg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


References and Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The World of Ice & Fire, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest.
  2. 2.0 2.1 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon I.
  3. So Spake Martin: Targaryen Kings, (November 1, 2005)
  4. The World of Ice & Fire, Ancient History: The Doom of Valyria.
  5. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 28, Cersei VI.
  6. The World of Ice & Fire, Dorne: Dorne Against the Dragons.
  7. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 33, Jaime V.
  8. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 43, Eddard XI.
  9. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
  10. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 54, Davos V.

External Links