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Do we have knowledge of someone relatively important (not necessarily a faction heir but neither a peasant) that married only for love?

With this I mean that they know each other, a proposal and actually fall in love for each other (awww :D) before getting married. Because we all know how Catelyn came to love Ned, but after marrying him. Before that, Catelyn was supposed to marry Brandon Stark.

I'm particularly interested in the courtship process and the proposal too, I've watched the entire TV series, so just avoid any important spoiler that are in last book but not in TV series (really not care of minor spoilers).

Edit: Would be great if a list is made of all the ones who married for love, there shouldn't be a lot.

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    Jorah Mormont is the best example for this. Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 15:52
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    I think Rob Stark is a better example. Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 15:53
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    eh jorah married because HE was in love, his wife, was not in love with him, just in his status as a champion.
    – Himarm
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 15:53
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    @AleOtero93 there are quite a few. It is not that irregular. There are even targaryens that married out of love others than targaryens, i just don't recall the names right. Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 15:57
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    speaking of best example - Duncan Targaryen, crown prince that gave up the throne for love.
    – Nika G.
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 16:00

2 Answers 2

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+100

I will make a few assumptions here:

  1. We're talking about the Westerosi only
  2. Only nobles, no smallfolk
  3. They married when they were in love, unlike Ned and Cat who found love after they were married
  4. The love has to be mutual (sorry Jorah)

Lannister Pride

Tywin and Joanna
It is ironic that the hardest man in Westeros, one who feels nothing is more important than solidifying his family's heritage and rank; marries for love, and his own cousin no less. This is what makes their marriage a loving one, there was no advancement, not pact, no alliance to be made; just love.

Tyrion tells us this:

Lord Tywin seldom spoke of his wife, but Tyrion had heard his uncles talk of the love between them. In those days, his father had been Aerys’s Hand, and many people said that Lord Tywin Lannister ruled the Seven Kingdoms, but Lady Joanna ruled Lord Tywin.
-A Song of Ice and Fire: Book 3 - A Storm of Swords, Chapter Thrity-Eight (Tyrion V).

Most say that Tywin lost his smile after Lady Joanna died.

Tyrion Lannister and Tysha
Don't make me cry. Leave me I don't want to talk about it.

Where do whores go?

Targaryens aren't loveless

Aegon V Targaryen and Betha Blackwood
Our old mate Egg, lived with the smallfolk, started from the bottom and fell in love. It should be noted that he was able to do this mostly because he was so far down the line of succession that it wasn't politically damaging for him to do so. However, him and Betha loved each other.

This is funny because due to their actions their children (as pointed out below) also married for love following Aegon and Betha's example.

Prince Duncan Targaryen and Jenny of Oldstones
They eloped. Prince Duncan - also known as Duncan The Small and Prince of Dragonflies - was the first son of the King, King Aegon V Targaryen (Egg) and was betrothed to a daughter of Lord Lyonel Baratheon (The Laughing Storm), but Prince Duncan broke the betrothal and eloped with Jenny of Oldstones, giving up his right as heir to The Throne.

Prince Jaehaerys II Targaryen and Princess Shaera Targaryen
Prince Duncan's second brother and Aerys "The Mad King"'s father. He too was betrothed (to Celia Tully) but he loved his sister Princess Shaera Targaryen, Aegon's eldest daughter (who was also betrothed - to Luthor Tyrell). They decided to follow in Duncan's footsteps and eloped and got married.

It was said of them:

from a young age, Jaehaerys had been of a more traditional frame of mind, as he was in love with his sister, Princess Shaera. Shaera, in turn, desired him. King Aegon V and Queen Betha observed this and were alerted because of it. They did everything they could to separate the two siblings, yet this only served to inflame their passion
-http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Jaehaerys_II_Targaryen#cite_note-Rtwoiaf_aegon_v.7B.7B.7B3.7D.7D.7D-7.

Aegon I Targaryen and Visenya Targaryen and Rhaenys Targaryen
Yes, he married both of his sisters, his older sister Visenya and his younger sister Rhaenys, and they both loved him very much as he did them.

They didn't call him "Aegon The Conqueror" for nothing... (sorry).

Spoilers re Rhaegar:

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lady Lyanna Stark
Although it is not confirmed, many believe that Rhaegar and Lyanna actually got married. There is a fair amount of evidence supporting this. If it is true, then it would mean that they were married for love.

Other

Prince Doran Martell and Lady Mellario of Norvos
It's true, they're estranged now, but they were married for love (or at least they thought it was love). You see, they were attracted to each other, they had found something they thought was love; which we now know as infatuation.

The author, George R. R. Martin says this of their marriage:

It wasn't a good marriage. They married because of an attraction to something new and exotic. Sometimes, attraction happens when you least expect it. He was a prince of a distant country, and she was a woman full of life, who was very appealing, who came from a very different culture. When she comes to Dorne, she finds that there are customs that are different from those of Norvos, especially regarding the fostering away of children to others. This wasn't a political marriage, nor a magical one, it was simply an example of human nature. Sometimes relationships start on a good foot: you become acquainted, there's a great sexual attraction, you establish a relationship, you marry... and then in four or five years you realize that you don't really have anything in common, that at best you've made a mistake and are in a situation that doesn't have any easy solution in a society such as that of the Seven Kingdoms, where divorce simply isn't common. This is an example that it's not only marriages of convenience that fail, but even the marriages for love can fail.

Sometimes the marriages of convenience in the Seven Kingdoms come out well and those that are for love don't...
-http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Asshai.com_Interview_in_Barcelona

Davos Seaworth and Marya Seaworth
This is a bit "iffy". For one, they weren't nobles at the time they got married (he was a smuggler and she was the daughter of a carpenter). There's also no hard evidence that they love each other, but they do seem happy.

Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey
Another "iffy" one. They do definitely care for each other, and I'd dare say Edmure was smitten as soon as he saw her. She also seemed to grow fond of him, even during the wedding. She's is most definitely sad about the turn of events and wants to have her Edmure back.

Robb Stark and Jeyne Westerling Another "iffy" one. I will include this one because it's entirely possible that even though Robb married Jeyne so as to preserve her "honour"; they could easily have loved each other anyway. They certainly seem to be at least caring, if not loving of each other after marriage, and they hadn't been married that long.

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  • How about Tyrion and Tysha? He loved her, she seemed to be genuinely fond of him after comforting her when she was chased, there might have been an element of gold-digging / status-chasing but didn't they live in a commoner's cottage until Jaime told on him? Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 8:23
  • I'm also tempted to suggest Marge and Renly, their marriage allowed people in love to be together (just wasn't each other...) Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 8:23
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    @user568459 Weird, I thought I had written Tyrion and Tysha. Also I'm about to do a write up of how GRRM's most loving couples aren't married; Loras and Renly being one :)
    – Möoz
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 9:07
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    @TenthJustice I've discounted Jorah since Lady Lynesse didn't actually seem to love him for him, she seemed more like a Gold Digger.
    – Möoz
    Commented Feb 15, 2016 at 3:33
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    @TheLethalCarrot I don't care, because only the books are canon. ;-)
    – Möoz
    Commented Nov 12, 2017 at 21:55
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Possible spoiler warning for the HBO TV show (even if you've read all the books):

Rob Stark and Talissa Maegyr marry for love. While Robb had promised Walder Frey to marry one of the Freys, he defies the Freys by instead marrying Talissa, whom he fell in love with while she nursed him after his being injured in battle. Of course, like how you would expect for Game of Thrones, this marriage for love does not last long.

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  • +1 This answer is perfect for the TV series, in the books is a bit different.
    – AleOtero93
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 19:11
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    @AleOtero93 Ironically, I've never watched the show beyond first season. From what I've read, it sounds like the show is less ambiguous, but I still read the book to be, for the most part, a love match.
    – Kai
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 19:17
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    Yes, that is where it is more open to interpretation. My personal interpretation is that Rob, being young, believed himself in love and slept with her, with the thought that he would marry her to be honorable also. Being a Stark, I don't believe he would have done so if he hadn't convinced himself he was in love and wanted to marry her. It's hard to know 100 percent though, as it happens "off screen," in the books.
    – Kai
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 19:30
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    No. The prevailing fan theory, that I'm pretty certain is correct, is that Ned lied about Jon Snow being his bastard. I'll not say more, because it's spoilerish, beyond that it's against Ned's character, and he's really squirrely about discussing Jon Snow's birth.
    – Kai
    Commented Feb 11, 2016 at 22:51
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    I always had the impression, that Jayne really loved Rob and didn't know about her mothers and Tywins scheme.
    – raznagul
    Commented Feb 12, 2016 at 14:22

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