Grand Maester

The maesters are an order of scholars, healers, messengers, and scientists. They educate new students at the Citadel, which is located in Oldtown, a city in the Reach. House Hightower was integral in the Citadel's foundation, and continues to patronize the order. As advisers to the Westerosi nobility, the maesters have largely supplanted the Alchemists' Guild. They are sometimes called "the knights of the mind."

## Organization

### Novices and Acolytes

Students who start their education at the Citadel are known as novices. Once they have earned a link, they become acolytes. Most acolytes treat novices as if they are slow-witted. Acolytes train at letters at the Scribe's Hearth, and can be hired by Oldtowners to read their letters or write their wills. When an acolyte is prepared to take his vows and become a maester, he is placed in a completely dark room with one of the Citadel's glass candles, made of razor-sharp obsidian. He must stay in that room for the entire night in darkness, unless he is able to light the candle. The tradition serves as a lesson about truth and learning.

Students who violate the rules of the Citadel can be ordered confined to their rooms by the maesters. They can also receive more physical punishments. For example, for stealing from the kitchens, rectors might place them in stocks at the Seneschal's Court, where acolytes may throw rotten vegetables at them.

### Maesters

Maesters are scholars and healers who have completed their training at the Citadel. They can be sent by the Citadel to serve at the holding of a lord throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Maesters are only found in castles; if a lord does not have a maester in his service, he is seen as unimportant. Aegon I Targaryen and his sister wives each had a maester during the Conquest, and as king Aegon had as many as six serving him, separate from the Grand Maester. A lord has to pay the Citadel for a maester's service, and smallfolk believe that maesters are unwilling to help them.

Maesters wear a collar, which is supposed to remind him of the realm he serves. When he completes his education and takes his vows, a maester puts aside his House name. Although he is supposed to be loyal to the seat to which he is assigned, regardless of the changes in control of that holding, old allegiances or loyalties might continue linger.

### Archmaesters

Archmaesters are maesters who have demonstrated mastery of a particular subject. They receive a mask, ring, and rod in the metal corresponding to the link of the maester's chain which signifies their expertise on the topic. Archmaesters teach the students at the Citadel in their subject of expertise, and they judge whether a novice or an acolyte has shown enough knowledge on their subject to receive a link for their chain.

Archmaesters have the right to sit on the Conclave, a council which elects the Grand Maester and determines when the seasons change. The meetings of the Conclave are conducted behind closed doors at the Citadel.

Each archmaester is said to carry a heavy, black iron key that will open most of the doors in the Citadel. They keep them close on their person, or hide them well.

### Grand Maesters

The office of Grand Maester was created in 5 AC by Aegon I Targaryen, who asked for an archmaester to advise him on governing the Seven Kingdoms. Sworn to serve the whole realm, the Grand Maester sits on the king's small council and acts as one of the royal advisers. As the Citadel's representative at the royal court of the king on the Iron Throne the Grand Maester is elected by the Conclave, and only the Conclave can unmake him again, although several Grand Maesters have died violently. King Maegor I Targaryen executed three Grand Maesters during his reign—Gawen, Myros, and Desmond—while Aegon II Targaryen had Grand Maester Gerardys fed to his dragon Sunfyre. Grand Maester Hareth was executed as well, on grounds of treason.

Although the Conclave puts effort into demonstrating their consideration of ability before birth, this is only a pretense as is not usually the case in its final choice for Grand Maester.

Grand Maesters are generally older men. Kaeth was chosen as Grand Maester at the age of eighty, Ellendor at almost ninety, and Merion at the age of sixty-six. After all three died within a short time span, King Aegon V Targaryen suggested to the Conclave that a younger man might be better. As such, Pycelle, aged forty-two, was raised to the office.

More than forty men have served the Iron Throne as Grand Maester.

### Seneschal

The governance of the Citadel is held by the Seneschal, who is chosen from among the archmaesters. A new Seneschal is appointed annually. Because the archmaesters tend to see the office as a thankless task, as it takes them away from their true work, the Seneschal is selected by lot, with the one who draws the black stone taking on the office. When the archmaester who draws the black stone is not capable of fulfilling his duties as Seneschal, another archmaester might volunteer to serve his term instead.

## Practices

### Education

Boys and young men from all over Westeros come to study, learn, and forge their chains at the Citadel. There is no age requirement, and despite the prejudice of the archmaesters to status of birth, males of every social status are allowed to forge their chain. As such, baseborns, bastards, younger children of lords, and even royalty can study together at the Citadel.

Novices and acolytes are educated together. Archmaesters give open lectures, which the students can attend at will. Once a student believes he has sufficient knowledge on a particular subject, he can go before an archmaester to demonstrate his knowledge. If the archmaester judges the student’s knowledge to be proficient, he awards him with a link of a metal reflecting the topic.

Not all who start their studies will complete their chain. Oldtown is full of aging novices and acolytes who have never started their chains, or never finished forging them. Others leave the Citadel before completing their chain on purpose. Gunthor Hightower studied for several years at the Citadel, although it is not known whether he earned any links while there. Both Lord Lyonel Strong, and Prince Oberyn Martell left the Citadel after forging six links. Some students learn only something about healing, and may become barbers, serving smallfolk with leeches, setting broken bones, and shaving and cutting their hair.

It is not known how long a student generally takes to forge a chain. Maester Yandel earned his first link in 285 AC and completed his chain in 292 AC, at the age of twenty, while Aemon, who took several more years to forge his chain, took his maester's vows at the age of nineteen. The speed at which a student earns his links differs between each student. While some might take a year per link (e.g., Armen), exceptional students might earn as many as three links within a year (e.g., Alleras), possibly even more.

### Citadel

Students are educated at the Citadel, a complex of buildings found in Oldtown. The Citadel is financed by the lords who pay for having a maester in their service, and from certain taxes that the Citadel collects at Oldtown.

### Maester's vows

When an acolyte has completed his chain, he can swear a maester's vows. The night before, the acolytes must stand a vigil in a vault with a black glass candle. The acolytes are not allowed any other source of light, and has to spend the night in total darkness unless he can light the candle.

When an acolyte of noble birth takes his vows and dons his chain, he puts aside his House name. He swears sacred vows, promising to hold no lands or lordships, and to be celibate.

Maester's serving in the Night's Watch on the Wall are doubly sworn, and uphold both the maester's vows and the oaths of the Night's Watch

### Subjects of knowledge and tasks

The order of maesters are sometimes called the knights of the mind. Numerous subjects are taught at the Citadel. They include history, healing, herblore, the speech of ravens, the building of castles, navigating by the stars, the measurement of days and the marking of seasons. Maesters have performed autopsies for centuries to better understand the workings of the human body. They have observed that highborn girls get their first period at a younger age than lower born girls, and that very young mothers tend to have a significantly higher rate of death in childbirth. They make star maps, monitor temperature variations and the march of the seasons, so they can advise on what to plant and when to expect a harvest, and measure the length of the days, as to determine the change of the seasons. When the Conclave has decreed that the seasons have indeed changed, the Citadel sends out white ravens to the lords of Westeros, to herald the changing of the seasons.

Maesters advise their lords on the operation of their households and lands. Some lords trust their maesters to open and read letters, and to convey their contents to them. Others prefer to do so for themselves. Maesters can be tasked with writing letters for their lords as well, and might be trusted to read and write the letters of those lords who are illiterate. They are in charge of the ravens used as messengers. Although most ravens can only be trained to fly to one castle, a few can be trained to distinguish between two, and rarely even more. Maesters assist in childbirth, treat illnesses, and teach children arithmetic, language, and history.

Even among the maesters who have earned a Valyrian link, representing the higher mysteries, there are those who believe that, though magic might have once been a mighty force in the world, it no longer is. They describe Valyria as the "last ember" of magic, which went out with the Doom. Most archmaesters do not care much for ideas concerning occult matters. The rare archmaester who does (e.g., Marwyn) can expect it to impact his reputation. It is said that all those who study the higher mysteries try their own hands at sorcery eventually, but always fail.

Some subjects are forbidden in the Citadel, including cutting open living people, or practicing necromancy.

### Chain

A maester can be recognized by the chain he wears around his neck. The collar is intended to remind a maester of the realm he serves. The links of the chain can be made of every metal known to man. By earning their links, students "forge" their chain. Note, "forge" is metaphorical; though they do study metals at the Citadel, maesters do not necessarily train as blacksmiths. Maesters never remove their chain, not even when sleeping, and it is considered a great shame for a maester to surrender his chain. The Citadel can decide to strip a maester of his chain, thereby exiling him from the Citadel. This is done as a punishment for cutting open living people, or practicing necromancy. There may be other reasons the Citadel could strip a maester of their chain. It is unknown how many links one must earn to become a maester but it is known that you do not have to have every possible link, since for instance only on in a hundred maesters has a Valyrian steel link. It is known that it has to be more then nine links since the acolyte Lorcas has earned nine but is not yet elligible to become a maester.

According to George R. R. Martin, it is possible to earn multiple links of the same metal. Multiple links of the same metal on a maester's chain signifies the expertise of the maester on the subject. The metals of which a student can earn links for their chain include:

* black iron, signifying ravenry
* brass
* bronze, signifying astronomy or astrology or perhaps history
* copper, signifying history
* electrum
* yellow gold, either this or red gold signify's the study of money and accounts, or sums and numbers
* red gold, either this or yellow gold signify's the study of money and accounts, or sums and numbers
* iron, signifying warcraft
* lead
* pewter
* platinum
* silver, signifying medicine, healing, and the functions of the body
* steel
* tin
* Valyrian steel, signifying the higher mysteries

While there are only fifteen known links, and thus fifteen known subjects of expertise taught at the Citadel, there are twenty-one known current archmaesters of the Citadel, for only eight of whom a specialty is known. It is currently unknown if each of these archmaesters are specialized in a separate subject, or whether multiple archmaesters can be specialized in the same subject. However the fact that Maester Gormon takes Archmaester Walgrave's place in judging those attempting for the ravencraft link, but is not a Archmaester himself is a strong indication that there can only be one Archmaester per subject.

Only one maester in a hundred holds a link of Valyrian steel.