Reyne-Tarbeck revolt

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Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion
Reyne Tarbeck Rebellion.png
art by RobinF

Date 261 AC[1]
Location Westerlands, Castamere and Tarbeck Hall
Result Elimination of Houses Reyne and Tarbeck
Restoration of Lannister dominance over the westerlands
Belligerents
House Reyne of Castamere
House Tarbeck of Tarbeck Hall
House Lannister of Casterly Rock
Notable commanders
Lord Roger Reyne
Ser Reynard Reyne
Lady Ellyn Tarbeck
Lord Walderan Tarbeck
Ser Tywin Lannister
Strength
~2,500
  • 500 Tarbeck household knights
  • 2,000 Reyne soldiers
~8,000 at Tarbeck Hall, growing to ~16,000 at Castamere[2]
Losses
Complete elimination of the rebellious vassalsMinimal

The Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion was a failed uprising in the westerlands in 261 AC. Houses Reyne and Tarbeck rose against their Lannister overlords due to the perceived weakness of the Lord of Casterly Rock, Tytos Lannister, but were crushed by his heir, Ser Tywin Lannister.[1]

Prelude

There are many factors that led to the Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion, the weak and ineffective leadership of Lord Tytos Lannister being a key one. The early ambitions of Lady Ellyn Reyne of Castamere was another reason for the escalation of the conflict due to her scheming and vindictiveness.

Ellyn was an ambitious and ruthless woman, who desired to marry into the rich Lannister family but also become the Lady of Casterly Rock. Her father, Robert Reyne, successfully arranged a betrothal of her to Tywald Lannister, the heir of Lord Gerold Lannister to the Rock. However, both Ellyn's betrothed and father were slain during the Peake Uprising in 233 AC. Ellyn instead married the the new heir, Gerold's second son Tion, and became the Lady of Casterly Rock in all but name, with Gerold being widowed. Ellyn held a splendid court and used her position to support House Reyne, including her brothers Roger and Reynard. However, she had a fierce rivalry with Lady Jeyne Marbrand, the wife of Gerold's third son, Tytos Lannister.[1]

After Ellyn's husband Tion died in the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion in 236 AC, Gerold began to prepare Tytos for rule and most of the Reynes departed the Rock for Castamere. Ellyn remained at the Rock, but Gerold had her hastily married to the twice-widowed Walderan Tarbeck, Lord of Tarbeck Hall, after Tytos confessed to his wife Jeyne that Ellyn had tried to seduce him in 239 AC. Maester Beldon wrote of the ugly rivalry between Ellyn and Jeyne, which the fool Lord Toad called the War of the Wombs.[1]

Once the weak-willed Tytos Lannister became Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, many bannermen of the westerlands and merchants from Lannisport and Kayce borrowed from him without paying their debts. Lady Ellyn Tarbeck used House Lannister's gold to restore the crumbling Tarbeck Hall. Many joked about toothless lions and that the Lion of Lannister was no longer a beast to fear.[1]

During a feast in 252 AC, Tytos announced the betrothal of his daughter Genna to Emmon Frey, the second son of Lord Walder Frey, just to please Walder. Upon the announcement, Lord Roger Reyne left the hall in anger and his sister Ellyn laughed aloud. Tytos's eldest son, Tywin, spoke out against the wedding because he thought it an uneven match.[3] Tytos later sent Tywin to King's Landing to serve as a royal cupbearer at King Aegon V Targaryen's court and another son, Kevan, to Castamere.[1]

During the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Lord Tytos answered the call of his new king, Jaehaerys II Targaryen, and sent eleven thousand westermen under the leadership of his younger brother, Ser Jason. Tytos remained at the Rock with his new mistress.

When Tywin returned from the Stepstones with his brothers, the newly-knighted Kevan and Tygett, Tywin took upon himself the task of restoring House Lannister's dominance, despite the reluctance of Tytos. Tywin demanded repayment of his father's loans and all who could not pay were ordered to send hostages to the Rock. Kevan formed a new company of five hundred veterans to aid Tywin. While Ser Harys Swyft agreed to surrender his daughter Dorna into Kevan's custody, Lord Roger Reyne laughed when he read Tywin's edicts and advised his friends and vassals to do nothing. Lord Walderan Tarbeck wanted to convince Tytos to rescind Tywin's edicts, but Tywin had him imprisoned when he rode to the Rock.

In return, Ellyn Tarbeck seized three Lannisters—two Lannisters of Lannisport, as well as Stafford Lannister, whose sister Joanna was betrothed to Tywin—and threatened them harm unless her lord and husband was returned. Tytos ignored Tywin's suggestion that Lord Walderan should be sent back to his wife in three pieces, one for every Lannister taken. Tytos instead returned Walderan unharmed and forgave the Tarbeck debt to House Lannister.[4][1]

Sack of Tarbeck Hall

In 261 AC less then a year later, the angry Ser Tywin Lannister was determined to defeat the disloyal vassals of House Lannister, and he sent ravens to Tarbeck Hall and Castamere demanding answers for their crimes at Casterly Rock. As Tywin expected, Roger and Reynard Reyne, as well Walderan and Ellyn Tarbeck, rose in rebellion.

Without the permission of Lord Tytos Lannister, Tywin marched against the upstart vassals with three thousand men-at-arms and crossbowmen and five hundred knights. While marching, the host was joined by troops from House Marbrand and House Prester, as well as a dozen lesser lords.[5]

As the Lannisters quickly marched toward Tarbeck Hall, Lord Walderan Tarbeck responded with only his household knights. The Tarbecks were butchered in the short but bloody battle which ensued. A short bloody battle ensued in which the Tarbecks were butchered, including Walderan's surviving son from his first marriage. Although the captive Walderan expected to be ransomed, Tywin ordered all Tarbecks, including Walderan and two sons from his second marriage, and any men wearing their badge decapitated. The Lannister host continued to Tarbeck Hall, with the heads of Lord Walderan and his kin impaled on spears.[5]

Lady Ellyn Tarbeck, trusting the walls of Tarbeck Hall, sent ravens to Castamere appealing for aid from her brothers, Lord Roger and Reynard. Tywin, however, had siege engines prepared in less than a day. A lucky shot from a stone thrower sent a boulder over the walls and on to Tarbeck Hall's aged keep, bringing the castle down upon Ellyn and her surviving son, Tion the Red. All resistance ended and the gates were thrown open. Tywin commanded the castle be put to the torch. For a day and night the flames burned until nothing was left of Tarbeck Hall except a blackened empty shell. According to a semi-canon source,[5] Tywin forced Ellyn's daughters, Rohanne and Cyrelle, to join the silent sisters. Rohanne's three-year-old son, the last Lord Tarbeck, disappeared during the fighting, possibly having been thrown down a well by Ser Amory Lorch.[5]

Battle of Tarbeck Hall

The Red Lion of Castamere, Lord Roger, arrived with two thousand hastily-gathered men just in time to witness Tarbeck Hall still in flames. Only a tenth of these men were knights. Tywin's host outnumbered Roger's three to one, most sources agree, with some insisting that the Lannisters outnumbered the Reynes five to one. Hoping surprise could win him the day, Lord Roger commanded his forces to attack the Lannister host. The battle that ensued was a closer thing than might have been expected, for the Lannisters had not formed up and the suddenness of the attack took them by surprise. If Lord Reyne had only had more heavy horse, his knights might well have been able to cut their way through to where Ser Tywin’s banner flew above his command tent. But there was too much distance to cover and too many men between them, and after the first shock the Lannisters recovered quickly, whereupon their numbers soon began to tell. Tywin Lannister himself led the counterattack.

His charge blunted, Lord Reyne had no choice but to wheel and flee, but he left near half his men dead upon the field. A rain of crossbow bolts chased his riders from the camp; one took Lord Reyne between the shoulders, punching through his backplate. The badly-wounded Roger Reyne was feverishly weak and unfit to now command the Reyne forces, so his younger brother Reynard assumed command.

Sack of Castamere

Castamere began as a mine like Casterly Rock, and the Reynes had become near as rich as the Lannisters during the Age of Heroes due to the large supply of gold, silver and gems in the mines. To protect their mine, they had raised curtain wall to protect the entrance with two stout towers on both sides to defend the approach. Over time as the gold and silver dried up, the mine had been widened and converted into Halls, galleries and bed chambers and even a vast underground ballroom. To the naked eye Castamere seemed a modest holding, fit for only a small lord or a landed knight, but nine tenths of the castle was beneath ground.

It was to these deep chambers that Reynard retreated to along with what remained of his household, knowing he lacked the men to defend Castamere's wall from a siege of Tywin's host. His small force could easily hold and even defeat any who attempted to storm the narrow passageways and chambers. The storage rooms in the lower levels also housed more then enough food to survive starvation. Reynard abandoned the surface entirely, and once all of his forces and kin were safely below the surface, Reynard sent word to Tywin to begin parley. He offered to submit to the Lannisters as a loyal servant, if Tywin would pardon them for their treason, and send down one of his brothers as a hostage against deceit.

Tywin did not honor his offer, nor did he respond to Roger's offer to resolve the matter by single combat. Instead he ordered his force to seal the mine entrances with pick and shovel. All the entrance points were blocked with tons of stone, earth and soil so that there was no way in or out. Tywin had his men dam a nearby stream in less then a day and it took them two more days to divert the stream to the mine entrance. Water easily found its way though the tiny gaps in the rubble that blocked the mouth of the entrance. Ser Reynard took three hundred men, women, and children down into those tunnels, but none emerged.

The men stationed to guard the entrance to ensure no one escaped claimed they could hear faint screaming and shouting, but by daybreak, there was nothing but silence. No one ever reopened those mines again, and they remain sealed to this day. Tywin commanded that the castle on the surface be set ablaze.[1]

Aftermath

By the end of the campaign both rebel houses were completely obliterated and Castamere and Tarbeck Hall were put to the torch by Tywin Lannister. Tywin let the ruined, blackened, and crumbling castles of the now-extinct Houses Reyne and Tarbeck stand empty to this day as a mute testament and warning to those who dare scorn the power of Casterly Rock.[6][7]

Tywin Lannister's actions to restore his family's power are immortalized in the song "The Rains of Castamere".

Quotes

The lion has awoken.[8]

- Harys Swyft regarding Tywin Lannister

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 The World of Ice & Fire, House Lannister under the Dragons.
  2. Tywin started with 3,500 Lannister men, and was then joined by Marbrand and Prester. When Roger arrived at Tarbeck with under 2,000 men he was said to be outnumbered by Tywin's host either three or five to one. After the Reynes were defeated at Tarbeck Hall more vassals flocked to Tywin's host, swelling it to twice its original size to besiege Castamere.
  3. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 32, Cersei VII.
  4. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 44, Jaime VII.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 The World of Ice and Fire: The Westerlands (unabridged). georgerrmartin.com
  6. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 19, Tyrion III.
  7. A Feast for Crows, Chapter 33, Jaime V.
  8. The World of Ice & Fire, The Westerlands: House Lannister under the Dragons.