After the rebellion, Robert gave the Stormlands to his brother Renly. Why didn't he keep the Stormlands for himself, to have more power?
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1@Jay not quite, smaller number of colossal vassals is easier to handle than larger number of tiny vassals in ck2. Kingdom viceroyalty my good friend :P– AegonFeb 8, 2018 at 6:03
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1@Jay he just reach the vassal limit so decided to give a kingdom to a claimant of his dynasty to create a cadet branch, not that noob in my opinion ^^– KepotxFeb 8, 2018 at 7:41
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4 Answers
TLDR:
- because he was generous
- because of the balance of power
- because he didn't want power
Long Answer:
Robert's generosity: in a correspondance with fans, G.R.R. Martin he did so because he was generous:
Robert could just as lawfully retained both castles for his sons, and made Joffrey the Prince of Dragonstone and Tommen the Lord of Storm's End. Giving them to his brothers instead was another instance of his great, but rather careless, generosity.
So Spake Martin
- Balance of power: as you say, he would be powerful. Too powerful, in fact, therefore the other lords wouldn't accept it
It is known that Robert Baratheon didn't really like power. He delegated much power of his to his council, so why also reign over the Stormlands while another Baratheon could?
The king shook his head. "Well, now I know Jaime's dark sin, and the matter can be forgotten. I am heartily sick of secrets and squabbles and matters of state, Ned. It's all as tedious as counting coppers. Come, let's ride, you used to know how. I want to feel the wind in my hair again." He kicked his horse back into motion and galloped up over the barrow, raining earth down behind him.
A Game of Thrones - Eddard II
Robert looked away, off into the grey distance. "The gods be damned. It was a hollow victory they gave me. A crown … it was the girl I prayed them for. Your sister, safe … and mine again, as she was meant to be. I ask you, Ned, what good is it to wear a crown? The gods mock the prayers of kings and cowherds alike."
A Game of Thrones - Eddard II
"Robert …" "Drink and stay quiet, the king is talking. I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I've won it.
A Game of Thrones - Eddard VII
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4You know... even though I recognize those words (or similar ones) from the TV series, I don't quite remember Robert's character being so.. deep? Maybe the awesome photography and profuse nudity of the first seasons were too distracting. Maybe I should read the books.– walenFeb 8, 2018 at 8:52
Because one Westeros-like feudal king can only directly control a limited amount of land. Remember, the fastest way of sending messages is raven, which is costly and limited. There is no professional army or police, and the bureaucracy seems limited in Westeros, but is rather a feudal system.
Take example of the Capetian ruling France circa 1000:
The Crown lands (Domaine royal) are quite small, compared to the vassals territory. It's pretty much the same for the Seven Kingdoms: You can't directly control whole Westeros, you need to divide the territory into smaller entities, with one ruler for each. Controlling the Crownlands AND the Stormlands would ask for too much work, considering that he also need to manage the Lord Paramounts and the international Policy, as he is the top liege
Because he was generous to a fault, and maybe a bit fond of Renly.
We discussed whether Robert loved his brother Renly or not. Haaruk thought so, while I never envisioned their relationship as more than lukewarm. (Jaime said Robert hardly could stomach his brothers (plural form)). Which is correct?
There are many different kinds of love. Robert was dutiful toward his brothers, and no doubt loved them in a way... but he didn't necessarily like them. His relations with Stannis were always prickly. Renly was the baby of the family, and spent little time in Robert's company until he was old enough to come to court. I suspect Robert was fond of the boy, but not especially close to him.
Stannis always resented being given Dragonstone while Renly got Storm's End, and took that as a slight... but it's not necessarily true that Robert meant it that way. The Targaryen heir apparent had always been titled Prince of Dragonstone. By making Stannis the Lord of Dragonstone, Robert affirmed his brother's status as heir (which he was, until Joff's birth a few years later). Robert could just as lawfully retained both castles for his sons, and made Joffrey the Prince of Dragonstone and Tommen the Lord of Storm's End. Giving them to his brothers instead was another instance of his great, but rather careless, generosity.
And besides Robert never really wanted to rule and had even thought to leave it all behind
"Let me tell you a secret, Ned. More than once, I have dreamed of giving up the crown. Take ship for the Free Cities with my horse and my hammer, spend my time warring and whoring, that's what I was made for. The sellsword king, how the singers would love me.
A Game of Thrones - Eddard VIII
and only took the crown because he had to
Robert sat down again. "Damn you, Ned Stark. You and Jon Arryn, I loved you both. What have you done to me? You were the one should have been king, you or Jon."
A Game of Thrones - Eddard VII
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Worth noting that Cersei thinks the grant of Stormlands to Renly was meant as a slight to Stannis. Presumably because of his failure to capture Viserys and Daenerys.– AegonFeb 8, 2018 at 12:32
The quick and dirty answer is that he did have the Stormlands. As king he had all 7 kingdoms under his command and control. He simply needed someone to be the warden or leader of each individual one and delegates that power to someone else such as his younger brother or friends/allies. He has more important matters to deal with (or ignore in Robert's case) so someone else must be in charge them.
That's like saying why would someone stop being governor of a state once they become the president of the United States.
