If you look at Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, you might think that most kings are quite nasty and tyrannical. The king who sat on the throne the longest proved the opposite.
Which character is it about? At the start of the events of House of the Dragon, there is largely peace in the Seven Kingdoms. At this time, King Viserys I. Targaryen, the father of Rhaenyra, rules. But this peace is largely thanks to his grandfather.
Jahaerys I. Targaryen is considered one of, if not the best king in the history of Westeros, although he had a lot to deal with thanks to his predecessor.
On the throne at 14
How did Jaehaerys Targaryen come to the throne? Before Jahaerys claimed the throne, Maegor the Cruel ruled over Westeros. Although Jaehaerys’s brother should have held the throne as the eldest son, Maegor simply claimed the throne. True to his title the Cruel
, he was not a good king for the land.
With the dragon Belarion, he burned countless people in battles, and anyone who annoyed or threatened him was simply killed. After the construction of the Red Keep was completed, he killed all those involved in its construction; no one should know the secrets.
He killed his nephew Aegon (not the Conqueror) after he tried to seize the throne as the rightful king. He made his brother Viserys his squire, only to later torture him to death. No one should stand in the way of his reign. After that, only Jaehaerys was left as the rightful heir. Due to his tyranny, parts of the realm slowly turned against Maegor, after Jaehaerys I. wanted to claim the throne for himself. House Baratheon, Lannister, Tyrell, and Arryn supported Jaehaerys.
In 48 AC (Years After Aegon’s Conquest of Westeros), Maegor died suddenly, after which Jaehaerys flew to King’s Landing with his dragon Vermithor and seized the throne with the Baratheon army. At just 14 years old, Jahaerys became king and fundamentally changed the land.
The best king of Westeros
How did Jaehaerys I’s reign begin? At the start of his reign, he first set things right. He imprisoned Maegor’s supporters and executed those involved in the torture of his brother Viserys. Some members of the Kingsguard who did not want to submit to Jaehaerys were given the option to be killed or go to the Wall. Two members of the Kingsguard were executed for refusing to submit or for committing terrible acts.
Jaehaerys offered the lords and knights on Maegor’s side a good deal. They were allowed to regain their lands and titles but had to give their sons and daughters as hostages or pay a good sum. Jaehaerys was initially supported by his mother, the Queen Regent Alyssa Velaryon, and his appointed Hand, Rogar Baratheon.
However, a conflict began with the two after they sought out a bride for him. He wanted to marry his sister Alysanne, which the council did not agree to (discussing it behind his back). When Alysanne found out she was to marry someone else, she fled with Jaehaerys to Dragonstone, where they married secretly.
This did not please Rogar and Alyssa, and there was back and forth, during which Jaehaerys stayed with Alysanne in Dragonstone until he was 16. However, at 16 he returned to the throne, and although Rogar even planned to take the throne from him, he pardoned him for his services against Maegor.
In the year 51 AC, Alysanne also traveled to King’s Landing, and Jaehaerys began his proper reign.
A present king who knew how powerful he was
How was his reign? As one can already tell, Jaehaerys was not a cruel king, but he certainly wanted to make it clear how powerful he was. Together with his dragon Vermithor, he traveled through the land with his queen (who had the dragon Silverwing) to prevent uprisings. He also sent preachers throughout the land to praise him and his wife.
However, Jaehaerys did not have it easy. The land was devastated after his uncle’s rule, and although he got along well with many, there were still supporters of Maegor. Jaehaerys tried to settle disputes between houses firmly, but not cruelly. For this, he and his wife along with other advisors established a kind of law book intended to unify the land. In this area, he wasn’t bad; after all, he earned the nickname the Peacemaker.
He also built roads in the land, improving infrastructure between territories.
Except for the third Dornish War in 61 AC, his reign was quite calm. The 60s and 70s in Westeros were peaceful besides typical kingly matters. He fathered several children (13 in total), who took various paths.
In 81 AC, a Dornish prince attempted another invasion, but together with his dragons and his sons Baelor and Aemon, he ended this attempt.
For a king, Jaehaerys lived quite long, but his life was marked by tragedies. In 101 AC, his wife and 11 of his children had already died or been killed. The 2 remaining ones did not live in King’s Landing and were irrelevant for the inheritance.
After his son and Hand, Baelor, died, he gave the role to Otto Hohenturm, who also ruled over the realm – after all, Jaehaerys was by then an old, broken man.
The heir of Jaehaerys I.
How did the reign of Jaehaerys I. Targaryen end? At the age of 66, he died in 103 AC and, with a reign of 55 years, is the longest-serving king in Westeros. Due to the lack of heirs and to prevent a Targaryen civil war, Jaehaerys let the great council choose who the heir should be. They chose his grandson Viserys Targaryen because they did not want a woman, Rhaenys, as heir, even though she would have had a claim as the daughter of the eldest son.
When Viserys ascended the throne, the land and the Targaryen family were doing quite well. There was plenty of money in the king’s treasury, according to a maester, the population in Westeros doubled, and many disputes were resolved by Jaehaerys.
This situation likely enabled Viserys’s 26-year-long peaceful reign which was marked by peace. Whether he would have succeeded without the groundwork laid by his grandfather is up for debate.
What do you think about Jaehaerys Targaryen and would you like to learn more about other characters from Westeros? Feel free to share your thoughts and wishes in the comments. In House of the Dragon, the peace is shattered by the Targaryens, and Season 3 continues now: House of the Dragon is currently doing too little in Season 3 but is doing one thing better than Game of Thrones
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