Winter of the Widows

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The Winter of Widows is a poetic name that Maesters at the Citadel sometimes use to refer to the aftermath of the Dance of the Dragons, as a terrible winter began near the end of the civil war which ultimately lasted six years. This winter coincided with the chaotic Regency of Aegon III, and ended when he came of age in 136 AC.[1]

So many men died during the disastrous civil war that in the aftermath, an unprecedented number of women came to rule over noble Houses: many of them widows ruling as regents for their young children after the deaths of their husbands, though some were also female heirs who inherited in their own right after all of their brothers or other men ahead of them in line of succession were killed.

When Women Ruled: Ladies of the Aftermath, by Archmaester Abelon, is considered the definitive book on this era. Archmaester Gyldayn described the text as "mammoth".[1]

Women who ruled during the Regency of Aegon III

  • Johanna Lannister, born Johanna Westerling - widow of Jason Lannister, regent for his son Loreon until he came of age in 144 AC.
  • Samantha Tarly - widow of Lord Ormund Hightower, who quickly remarried to his heir and her stepson, Lyonel Hightower, who only reached the age of adulthood at sixteen just as the war ended. While not technically his regent, she was so politically influential that she was considered the functional co-ruler of Oldtown.
  • Elenda Baratheon, born Elenda Caron - widow of Borros Baratheon, regent for his son Royce Baratheon - who was born one week after his father died in battle. Also mother of his four elder daughters.
  • Sharis Footly - widow of Lord Footly of Tumbleton, ruled and rebuilt the devastated town as regent for her son born after the death of her husband. The House she was born into hasn't been specified.
  • Alys Rivers - the mysterious "Witch Queen" who came to rule over the area around Harrenhal. The former lover of Prince Aemond Targaryen and seen to be pregnant in his presence, she later presented a young boy she claimed to be his posthumous son. As Harrenhal was at the heart of the devastated riverlands, Alys gathered to her a growing following of broken men until she established a small bandit-kingdom around the burnt-out castle. The Iron Throne was so distracted by other ongoing conflicts and then the Winter Fever of 133 AC, that it could not mount an effort to remove her, and she still functionally controlled Harrenhal six years after the war ended.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Fire & Blood, Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand.