Baelor I Targaryen

Baelor I Targaryen, known as Baelor the Blessed or Baelor the Beloved, was the ninth Targaryen king to sit on the Iron Throne and rule over the Seven Kingdoms. Known for his religious affiliation, Baelor was as much a septon as he was a king. He was the second son of Aegon III and ascended the throne after the death of his brother, Daeron the Young Dragon.

Reign: 161 AD to 171 AD Full name: Baelor Targaryen, the First of His Name Alias(s): Baelor the Blessed Baelor the Beloved Baelor the Confused Titles: King of the Seven Kingdoms Born: 144 AD Died: 171 AD

Royal House: House Targaryen Predecessor: Daeron I Targaryen Successor: Viserys II Targaryen Queen: Daena Targaryen Father: Aegon III Targaryen Mother: Daenaera Velaryon

Baelor was a peaceful, devout, and religious man. He was very thin and delicate-looking due to his constant fasting. He wore a long beard and platinum-blond hair, typical of the Targaryens. His crown was made of flowers and vines.

Some remember Baelor as a holy man who prayed and fasted fervently to experience religious visions, and honor him for his contributions to the Faith, including the construction of the Great Sept in King's Landing. Others remember him as a weak, foolish man, given to hallucinations and poor decisions due to his excessive fanaticism.

Baelor married his younger sister, Princess Daena Targaryen, in 160 AC. He refused to consummate the marriage, however, causing his sister, who usually dressed entirely in black, to change her clothes to white in an attempt to embarrass him, with her vowing to wear only white clothes until he consummated the marriage. The plan did not work, as Baelor took a liking to her dressed in white, claiming that she looked more innocent that way.

After the death of his brother, King Daeron I Targaryen, in Dorne, Baelor was crowned king and ascended the Iron Throne at the age of 17. His uncle, Prince Viserys Targaryen, acting as Hand of the King, had sent fourteen Dornish hostages to the dungeons to await execution. Baelor's first act was to pardon these hostages and his brother's murderers, despite the vehement protests of his lords and council. Many similar acts of mercy and forgiveness occurred during his ten-year reign. Baelor wanted to "heal the wounds" of his brother's war and personally took the hostages back to Dorne. The king walked the Thornhill Road barefoot and dressed in sackcloth, while the hostages rode on horseback. His journey took him to the place where House Wyl had imprisoned Prince Aemon Targaryen of the Kingsguard. Baelor pleaded with Lord Wyl to release the naked and caged Aemon, but the latter refused. Offering a prayer in return, Baelor continued on his journey, vowing that he would return. Baelor arrived at Sunspear after the arduous journey, which was considered the first miracle of his reign. Baelor forged a peace with the Prince of Dorne, which was considered the second miracle. Part of the peace agreement Baelor made included marrying his cousin Prince Daeron, and only grandson of his Hand and uncle Prince Viserys, to the Prince of Dorne's eldest daughter, Princess Myriah Martell, when they were both of age. Baelor declined the offer to return to King's Landing by galley. The Prince of Dorne made sure Baelor's journey was uneventful, with hospitality extended throughout the journey back on foot. Particular attention was paid to Lord Wyl, as Baelor had asked the Prince of Dorne to order Aemon's release. Yet when the king returned to Aemon's place, his captivity had worsened.

Lord Wyl gave Baelor the key to Aemon's cage, which was now suspended over a pit of vipers. Aemon begged Baelor to leave and seek help, but the king believed that the gods would protect him. While singers like to say that the vipers bowed their heads to Baelor as he passed, not daring to attack him because he was too pure and holy, Baelor was in fact bitten several times, with some saying as many as half a dozen stings, but others saying as many as fifty stings. Aemon pulled Baelor out of the pit and into his cage and climbed to safety with the king on his back. Aemon carried the unconscious king up the Ridgeway until they reached the safety of House Dondarrion's lands at Blackhaven, and then House Baratheon's at Storm's End.

After returning to King's Landing, Baelor convinced the High Septon to annul his marriage to his sister Daena, since the union had been agreed upon before he became king and the marriage itself had never been consummated. Baelor then placed his sisters—Daena, Rhaena, and Elaena—in the "Court of Beauty" in the Red Keep, later called the Maidenvault. Baelor wanted to preserve his sisters' innocence from the "wickedness of the world" and the lust of men, and to prevent them from tempting the men at court with carnal thoughts. There were those who wondered whether or not Baelor feared his own sisters' beauty. Many protested this decision, including the Hand of the King, Viserys, the princesses themselves, and others at court, but Baelor would not relent. The three were kept in comfortable confinement, and lords and knights sent maidens to the Maidenvault to gain Baelor's favor. Baelor then decreed that prostitution would be banned in King's Landing, expelling over a thousand prostitutes and their children from the city. Many protested against this, but Baelor again refused to listen to the pleas of the court and turned a blind eye to any crisis that might arise from it. He busied himself with building a new sept on Visenya's Hill that he had envisioned in a spiritual vision. The construction of this Great Sept would not be completed until years after Baelor's death. The common folk loved Baelor, as the king frequently emptied the royal coffers and spent the money on charitable deeds for the common people. Baelor's erratic decisions made the lords of the realm uneasy, wondering if the venom of the snakes that had bitten Baelor had affected his mind. Being a septon in some ways prevented Baelor from having children, and the High Septon began to accumulate enormous political influence with the devout king.[4]

Baelor earned the displeasure of the nobility when he forced the proud Lord Belgrave to wash the feet of a leper.

Being a septon in some ways prevented Baelor from having children, and the High Septon began to gain enormous political influence with the pious king. Baelor earned the displeasure of the nobility when he forced the proud Lord Belgrave to wash the feet of a leper. He attempted to replace the ravens that sent messages throughout the realm with doves, as described in Maester Walgrave's Black Wings, Harsh Words. He granted tax exemptions to lords who protected their daughters' virtue by wearing chastity belts, and attempted to give birth to dragons by praying before their dragon eggs for half a year, but his prayers went unanswered. He also gave a loaf of bread to every man and woman in the capital for a year. He also had several books burned, including all copies of The Testimony of Mushrooms and Dragons, Wyrms and Wyverns: Unnatural History by Septon Barth, because he claimed that Barth was more of a sorcerer than a septon, with the book's contents being enough to earn Baelor's enmity. Towards the end of his reign, Baelor would frequently fast to the point of fainting to appease the lust that so shamed him. When the High Septon died, Baelor chose a simple stonemason named Pate as his replacement, the king claiming that the gods had told him to do so. Pate worked stone so magnificently that Baelor believed he was the Smith himself in human form. The new High Septon could not read, write, or recite prayers, and was described as inept, dying of a fever the year after taking office. Rumors arose that Viserys had him poisoned to end the embarrassment he represented to the realm. Baelor then appointed an eight-year-old street urchin to the position, with the king claiming that the boy worked miracles.

When Baelor's cousin, Princess Naerys, gave birth to twins who died shortly after birth in 161 AC, the king fasted for a full moon. When his sister and former wife, Daena, gave birth to a bastard son named Daemon Waters in 170 AC, Baelor fasted for forty days and nights, refusing to take anything but water and a little bread. On the forty-first day of his life, in 171 AC, the king collapsed, and neither Grand Maester Munkun nor the High Septon could save him. The story goes that Baelor starved to death due to the prolonged fast to purify himself of lust, but some believe he was poisoned by his Hand and uncle, Viserys. Some argue that Viserys wanted the throne for himself, but others say that he would have killed the king for the good of the realm, as Baelor had claimed that the Seven wanted him to convert all non-believers in the realm, which could precipitate a crisis, potentially leading to war with the North (who worshipped the Old Gods) and the Iron Islands (who worshipped the Drowned God).

There is hardly any Targaryen king who is as beloved as Baelor. He was adored by the common folk and the Faith of the Seven in equal measure, even though he imprisoned his sisters in the Maidenvault. Some remember him as a great man and a saint, praising him for his contributions to the Faith, for making peace with Dorne, for his piety, and for his many acts of charity. Others are less impressed by his qualities, believing him to be a weak and overly fanatical fool. Ser Eustace Osgrey considered Baelor to be a weaker king, and Tyrion was also not a fan of him, referring to the former king as "Baelor the Confused". A statue of the king was placed before the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing. After Dorne joined the Seven Kingdoms, King Daeron II Targaryen and Prince Maron Martell of Dorne placed a golden crown on the statue and declared, "Baelor, your work is done." Daeron's son, Prince Baelor Breakspear, was named in honor of Baelor the Blessed.