9

Avoiding incest like Targaryens and more...

I wonder if there are any illegitimate sons or daughters of a Lady. Suppose, for example that when Eddard Stark returned from war, he found Lady Catlyn with a child of herself with another man, instead of the opposite (he came from war with Jon Snow).

Has that happened at least once?

| improve this question | |
  • 9
    Yes, it did. Cersei had sex with Jaime to make Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen. – TLP Nov 20 '15 at 16:36
  • 3
    Also, it would be a rather difficult thing to prove. And dangerous topic to explore. "Say, is that really your child?" – TLP Nov 20 '15 at 16:36
  • 2
    Wasn't there a wife of some (understandably bitter) character who got pregnant then eloped to Essos with the real father shortly before giving birth because it'd be obvious the husband wasn't the father? Was it Jorah's wife? The wife was a very minor character who is only talked about briefly, not featured – user56reinstatemonica8 Nov 20 '15 at 17:22
  • 1
    Do shadow-demons count? Melisandre had one of those via Stannis, though I'm not sure she's officially a "Lady". (Not in the property-owning noblewoman sense of the word at least.) – Darrel Hoffman Nov 20 '15 at 18:28
  • 4
    Lollys Stokeworth became pregnant with a bastard, which leads to her becoming a viable marriage prospect for Bronn..though the ahhh...circumstances of that pregnancy may not fall within the spirit of OP's question – VapedCrusader Nov 21 '15 at 0:28
17

Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella would fit your question (before edits): Cersei the queen is their mother, but their biological father is Jaime Lannister and not the king.

And as TLP points out in comments, accusing the wife of cheating on her husband shames her lord husband and is a vary dangerous thing. While the husband cheating on the wife is seen as normal/acceptable in this male-driven society.

Upon further inspection, currently there doesn't appear to be any named bastard offspring via a Lady (non-incest.) (here's a nice list of the known bastards).

As MikeEdenfield states in a comment, Victarion Greyjoy's wife was impregnated by Euron, but Victarion Greyjoy decided to just kill his wife.

As an aside: typically in western society from medieval Europe(a heavy basis of morals for GOT) till quite recently, women who cheated on their husbands and became pregnant were either cast out of the family, or they family would cover up the incident. It would be a very dangerous thing for a noble Lady to be cheating on her husband in the world of Westeros, since we see Men typically hold the majority of the power.

| improve this answer | |
  • sorry, avoiding incests, I forgot that. – AleOtero93 Nov 20 '15 at 16:37
  • 1
    @AleOtero93 let me consult the bones to edit. – Himarm Nov 20 '15 at 16:38
  • 3
    Victarion Greyjoy was alomst cuckolded by Euron, who impregnated Victarion's wife. Victarion decided it was better to beat her to death instead. – KutuluMike Nov 20 '15 at 16:52
  • @MikeEdenfield i suspect most situations ended up like this >.< – Himarm Nov 20 '15 at 16:52
  • 1
    well, the Iron Islands are a bit more barbaric than typical; I assume most situations end up with the husband thinking the child is his... – KutuluMike Nov 20 '15 at 16:53
13

Besides the well-known case of Cersei and Jaime Lannister, there is this:

Daemon Blackfyre was the child of Aegon IV "The Unworthy" Targaryen and Daena Targaryen, the sister-wife of Baelor I "The Blessed" Targaryen. Daemon was born 170 AC and Baelor died the next year. Hence, Daemon was a bastard on his mother's side. And is one of "the great bastards".

| improve this answer | |
  • also incest >.< man the incest in real – Himarm Nov 20 '15 at 16:57
  • 2
    Well, sort of incest. For the Targaryens, the "normal" was to only marry your relatives, hence her brother Aegon was to her as a non-relative man would be to some other woman. – TLP Nov 20 '15 at 17:00
12

Yes. Presuming that "Lady" means any highborn woman, and not specifically the head of a great house (IE Maege Mormont) or the wife of the head of a great house (Catelyn Stark).

Edric Storm is the bastard of Robert Baratheon and Delena Florent, a cousin of Stannis's wife Selyse.

Four of Aegon IV's Great Bastards were with other highborn women who were not Targaryens.

| improve this answer | |
  • 1
    +1 and as a result of Edric's mother being a noblewoman, he's one of the few (only?) of Robert's bastards who is officially acknowledged, and he has a relatively comfortable life as a result (if I remember right, he was raised as a ward in a major castle and was a bit of a spoiled brat). – user56reinstatemonica8 Nov 21 '15 at 18:16
4

Yes it has happened plenty of times. Many a bastards have noble parents on both sides. And then there are some who just have a noble mother. I am not going to count Cersei's treasons here because they are not really considered bastards. Similarly we will not consider bastards of Rhaenyra Targaryen for the same reason. Other than them we have:

  1. Mya "Rivers" Targaryen was a legitimized bastard daughter of Lady Melissa Blackwood and King Aegon IV.

  2. Gwenys "Rivers" Targaryen was another legitimized bastard daughter of Lady Melissa Blackwood and King Aegon IV.

  3. Shiera "Seastar" Targaryen was legitimized bastard daughter of King Aegon IV and Serenei of Lys. Serenei of Lys was a daughter of a Valyrian noble family from Lys.

  4. Jeyne Waters was bastard daughter of Princess Elaena Targaryen and Lord Alyn "Oakenfist" Velaryon .

  5. Tyrion Waters is a bastard son of Lady Lolys Stokeworth.

  6. Daemon Blackfyre was a legitimized bastard of Princess Daena the Defiant and King Aegon IV. (Disregard this if you consider copulation between first cousins incest). His father was a complete mystery and the Princess refused to disclose who he was until King Aegon IV himself acknowledged him as his son.

  7. Aegor Rivers was a legitimized bastard of Lady Barba Bracken and King Aegon IV.

  8. Brynden Rivers was a legitimized bastard of Lady Melissa Blackwood and King Aegon IV.

  9. Maester Walys is a bastard son of some unknown Hightower girl and an Archmaester of the Citadel.

  10. Benedict Rivers was a bastard of Houses Bracken and Blackwood so he did have a noble mother although we don't know who.

  11. Edric Storm is a bastard son of Delena Florent and Robert Baratheon.

  12. Nymeria Sand is a bastard daughter of a Volantene noblewoman and Prince Oberyn Nymeros Martell.

  13. All of the Sandsnakes from Ellaria Sand can be considered kind of born to a noblewoman as Ellaria's father was Lord Uller.

| improve this answer | |
  • 1
    Well King Aegon IV was an unfaithful bugger... – Edlothiad Jan 10 '18 at 7:07

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.