Great House

The **Great Houses** are the most powerful of the Noble Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. They exercise immense authority and power over their vassals and territories and are answerable only to the King of the Andals and the First Men.

Before the  Targaryen Conquest, each of the Seven Kingdoms was ruled independently by a powerful royal family. During the Conquest these families were either destroyed, replaced, or defeated and made to swear allegiance to King Aegon, who reigned from the Iron Throne in King's Landing.

The Gardeners, Hoares, and Durrandons were slain and replaced by the Tyrells, Greyjoys, and Baratheons respectively, while the Lannisters, Arryns, and Starks surrendered peacefully and were allowed to remain in control of their lands. In addition, Aegon raised up the Tullys to rule over the Riverlands, which had been under ironborn occupation prior to his arrival. Only House Martell of Dorne resisted his armies, but was later brought into the fold through a peaceful marriage-alliance some two centuries later.

Each Great House has a large number of vassal houses serving it, most of whom in turn have smaller vassals under them, extending all the way down to farmers and landed knights. Each Great House rules over its territory and is responsible for collecting taxes and, in times of war, raising troops to fight for the king. Otherwise they are largely left to operate autonomously to simplify the bureaucracy and governance of the realm.

## The Great Houses

### Current Great Houses

* **House Tarly** - rulers of the Reach from the castle of Horn Hill. Its current head is Lord Luthor Tarly, who. \* **House Arryn** - rulers of the Vale of Arryn from the castle of the Eyrie. Its current head is Lord Brus Arryn.
* **House Baratheon** - rulers of the Stormlands from the castle of Storm's End. Its current head is Lord Davos Baratheon.
* **House Greyjoy** - rulers of the Iron Islands from the castle of Pyke. Its current head is Lord Aeron Greyjoy.
* **House Lannister** - rulers of the Westerlands from the castle of Casterly Rock. Its current head is Lord Perceon Lannister.
* **House Martell** - rulers of Dorne from the castle of Sunspear. Its current head is Lord Lewyn Martell.
* **House Stark** - rulers of the North from the castle of Winterfell. Its current head is Lady Lyanna Stark.
* **House Tully** - rulers of the Riverlands from their seat at Riverrun. Its current head is Lord Myles Tully.

### Former Great Houses

* **House Royce** - at the time of the Andal Invasion about 6,000 years ago, the lords of the Vale united behind Robar II Royce, proclaiming him as their High King. Robar's rule of the Vale would prove brief, as the Vale was shortly thereafter conquered by the andal knight Artys Arryn, whose descendants, House Arryn, has ruled the Vale ever since.
* **House Tyrell** - rulers of the Reach from the castle of Highgarden after the extinction of House Gardener. Their title was revoked and given to House Tarly. Its current head is Lord Garth Tyrell.

### Extinct Great Houses

Nine Great Houses have gone extinct, three of which were as a result of their defeat in the Targaryen Conquest:

* **House Casterly** - rulers of the Westerlands until they were swayed away from their home by the legendary trickster Lann the Clever, the founder of House Lannister.
* **House Mudd** - rulers of the Riverlands until their bloodline was extinguished by Andal invaders.
* **House Justman** - rulers of the Riverlands until they were exterminated by House Durrandon.
* **House Hoare** - rulers of the Iron Islands and (through conquest) the Riverlands. After their defeat, Aegon the Conqueror commanded the ironborn to select a new family from among their number to rule over the rest, under the Targaryens. They selected House Greyjoy.
* **House Durrandon** - rulers of the Stormlands. Orys Baratheon, the founder of House Baratheon, married the daughter of the last king of House Durrandon, thus House Baratheon descends from the Durrandons through the female line.
* **House Gardener** - rulers of the Reach. House Tyrell claims descent from House Gardener through the female line, and House Florent is actually a cadet branch of House Gardener, with a better claim to rule based on lineage than the Tyrells. Several other Houses from the Reach also descend from House Gardener.