The First Dornish War^[1] was the last phase of the Wars of Conquest. It saw King Aegon I Targaryen, and his sister-wives, Queens Visenya and Rhaenys Targaryen attempt to subjugate Dorne and House Martell, the last independent holdouts on Westeros. Unlike the other kingdoms on the continent subdued by Aegon during his conquest, Dorne was tenaciously defiant to the Targaryen invaders, resorting to grueling guerrila warfare to sap the Targaryens resolve. Ultimately, Dorne emerged, devastated but triumphant, against the Targaryen invaders, securing its independence from the Seven Kingdoms for the next two centuries.

History[]

Background[]

With the peaceful surrender of House Stark and House Arryn, Dorne was the only part of Westeros that remained unconquered. Just as her sister, Queen Visenya Targaryen had done in the Vale, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen flew her dragon Meraxes to Sunspear to demand Dorne's surrender from the ruler of Dorne, Princess Meria of House Martell. Despite her old age, Meria promptly refuse to bend the knee to Rhaenys, warning her to "return at her peril". Disturbed by Meria's unwavering determination even when at the mercy of Meraxes, Rhaenys departed, having failed to annex Dorne diplomatically.

War[]

Confident they could subdue the Dornish with the same tactic they had used in the Field of Fire, King Aegon I Targaryen and his sister-wives returned to Dorne with both their armies and dragons. However, the Dornish refused to meet the Targaryens in the field, instead resorting to guerrilla tactics. Despite an initial Targaryen victory that resulted in Dorne's occupation, the Dornish were quick to overthrow the Targaryen occupation force and reasert control. With the idea of another swift conquest all but shattered, the conflict rapidly degenerated into a prolonged war of attrition between Aegon's forces and Dorne, resulting in immense Targaryen casualties.

In one of the only known engagements involving a Dornish offensive in the war, Ser Joffrey Dayne invaded the Reach and led an army to Oldtown, the city where Aegon's crowning took place. The battle, however, ended incoclusively, and the Daynes were forced to retreat.^[2] Meanwhile, the Dornish struck a devasatting blow against the Targaryens when Rhaenys and her dragon, Meraxes, were felled in battle at Hellholt when Meraxes was struck in the eye with a scorpion bolt, causing Rhaenys to fall to her death. Aegon I and Visenya responded with a genocidal campaign against the Dornish, razing every castle and city in Dorne, with the exception of Sunspear in the hopes of shattering the Dornish people's will to fight and incite a general uprising against the Martells. Despite the mass destruction, the Dornish remained resolute in their defiance against the Targaryens and refused to betray House Martell. Having failed to subdue Dorne even with the might of their own dragons, the Targaryens withdrew from Dorne and Aegon I and Visenya returned to King's Landing. There, they were assaulted by assassins sent by Dorne, narrowly avoiding death in an attempted assassination as one of the final acts of the war.

Following Meria's death, her sons, exhausted from the war, sued for peace, to which the equally exhausted Aegon I agreed, permitting Dorne to remain independent. With that, the Wars of Conquest ended with six of the seven major regions of Westeros united, while Dorne remained stubbornly out of the fold, much to Aegon I's consternation.^[3]

Aftermath[]

Despite failing to subdue the Dornish militarily, Aegon I and his descendents resolved, that one way or another, Dorne would by conquered, audaciously naming the new, united realm the Seven Kingdoms, despite only actually controlling six. Nevertheless, Aegon took to more peaceful means, such as the traditional diplomatic use of forging alliances via marriage pacts, rather than attempting again to subdue Dorne militarily. Regardless, Dorne would remain independent for a further two centuries, and largely existed in peaceful coexistence with Aegon's realm barring the ever-occassional border skirmishes and raids along the Dornish Marches.

More than a century later, King Daeron I Targaryen attempted to finish the work of his ancestors, when he initiated the Conquest of Dorne. Unlike Aegon I, Daeron actually managed to occupy Dorne, more significantly without the use of dragons, who had since gone extinct in the decades following the Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. However, just as Aegon I experienced, Daeron I soon found himself facing a prolonged guerrilla war as the Dornish launched an insurgency. The four-year war cost the lives of 60,000 Iron Throne men, and eventually also Daeron I's life. With Daeron's death, his successor, Baelor I Targaryen, sought peace with Dorne, allowing the region to once again assert its independence.^[4] House Martell would remain the sovereign rulers of Dorne until it peacefully united with the Seven Kingdoms through a marriage allinace during the reign of King Daeron II Targaryen. Unlike the other kingdoms conquered during Aegon's Conquest, Dorne was accorded a semi-autonomus status and a number of special priveleges, one of which being House Martell was permitted to continue to style the head of their house as "Prince/Princess of Dorne" as part of the deal permitting its annexation into the Seven Kingdoms.

In the books[]

Later historians often speak of "Aegon's Conquest" as beginning with Aegon's Landing at the mouth of the Blackwater in 2 BC and neatly ending with the Field of Fire and Aegon's subsequent crowning by the High Septon in Oldtown (which marked the first day of the year 1 AC under the new Targaryen calendar system). Considerable fighting continued with Dorne and the Iron Islands, however, leaving some to refer to this entire time period as the "Wars of Conquest".

While House Hoare and most of its armies were destroyed at the Burning of Harrenhal and subsequent revolt of the Riverlands, the Targaryens did not immediately conquer the Iron Islands themselves: with so many of their forces destroyed they were no longer an immediate threat to Aegon's campaigns on the mainland, so he focused on his remaining conquests leading up to the Field of Fire. Moreover, the ironborn had been left leaderless, and their meager remaining warriors actually started fighting themselves to try to seize power. It wasn't until 2 AC that the Targaryens invaded the Iron Islands in force, promptly winning due to their dragons.

Dorne, meanwhile, was an entirely different matter altogether, with its armies still intact and defiantly relying upon defensive warfare behind its mountains and deserts. Realizing how difficult this would be, the Targaryens didn't mount a full scale invasion of Dorne until 4 AC.

According to the maesters, the Dornish suffered great losses in the war despite avoiding larger battles. Every castle, holdfast, village and town except Sunspear was burnt. Queen Rhaenys and her dragon Meraxes led the invasion of Dorne, burning the Planky Town on the way to Sunspear while King Aegon and Lord Harlen Tyrell led an army through the Prince's Pass against the lords of the Red Mountains. However, the Dornish made hit and run attacks, disappearing before dragons could attack them. Many of the Targaryen troops died from the sun and thirst while marching on Hellholt, and upon arrival found that the Ullers had deserted the castle.

Aegon had more success, taking the castle of Yronwood after a brief siege, though there was little glory in this victory, since the castle was mostly manned by old men, boys and women. Skyreach, the seat of House Fowler, was abandoned, while House Toland at Ghost Hill sent a champion to challenge Aegon. Wielding Blackfyre, Aegon easily killed the champion, but upon removing his foe's helmet, he discovered it was Lord Toland's mad fool, while the Tolands themselves had fled. Lord Orys Baratheon made a disastrous attack on the Boneway, in which the Dornish ambushed them at night, raining arrows, rocks, and spears from above. The bodies piled on both ends of Orys' host, and Orys, along with many of his bannermen and knights, was captured by the Wyl of Wyl. Other than the assault on the Boneway, the Targaryens mostly came across abandoned castles or ones with small forces that swiftly surrendered. Sunspear was nearly abandoned, and the Martells were nowhere to be found. Aegon and his sisters gathered the few remaining courtiers and declared themselves victors, leaving Lord Rosby in charge of Sunspear and an army under Harlen Tyrell to put down rebellions.

Once the Targaryens and their dragons left, the Dornish immediately revolted, as planned, with garrisons of knights and soldiers being put to the sword. Lord Tyrell and his whole army disappeared in the deserts between Hellholt and Vaith, while Lord Rosby was captured and thrown to his death from the Spear Tower of Sunspear by Princess Meria herself. Lord Orys and all of his knights and bannermen were ransomed to Aegon, but the sword hand of each hostage was cut off upon release, something that was not a part of the terms and infuriated Aegon, now intent on revenge. The Targaryens and their dragons burned several castles, upon which the Dornish attacked the Rainwood on Cape Wrath. When the dragons struck again, Lord Fowler attacked Nightsong and Ser Joffrey Dayne led an army that threatened Oldtown. Starfall, Skyreach and Hellholt were burned to the ground by dragonfire, but a lucky shot with a scorpion bolt at Hellholt struck Meraxes in the eye, killing the dragon and presumably Rhaenys as well.

The following two years became known as the Dragon's Wroth, as the grieving Aegon had every castle stronghold except Sunspear burned at least once. It was said in Dorne that Princess Meria had purchased cunning means of slaying dragons from Lys, though Archmaester Timotty suggests that Aegon had hoped for the Dornish to turn against the Martells. However, the Dornish lords and smallfolk remained loyal, even though letters were sent from the Dornish Marches to the Dornish houses, claiming that the Martells had bought themselves safety from the dragons. Aegon and Visenya placed bounties on Dornish lords, leading the Dornish to put bounties on the Targaryens and their allies. Aegon and Visenya were assaulted on the streets of King's Landing, and would have been killed if not for Visenya and Dark Sister, leading to the forming of the Kingsguard. Lord Fell was murdered while the Wyl of Wyl committed atrocities, particularly in Fawnton and Old Oak.

Upon Princess Meria's death, her son and successor Prince Nymor sent his daughter Deria with an escort, the skull of Meraxes and a letter to King's Landing to sue for peace. The skull angered several at court, including Lord Orys and Queen Visenya. Deria claimed that Dorne wanted peace, but a peace between two sovereign kingdoms. As Aegon was about to refuse, she placed the letter in his hand. The contents of the letter remain unknown, although it is said that Aegon rose from the Iron Throne clutching the letter, blood running from his hand. Some maesters and historians believe that Rhaenys had survived but was wounded and a hostage of the Dornish, who would end her suffering if Aegon ended the war. Others speculate that the Dornish had paid an enormous sum of money to the Faceless Men to assassinate Prince Aenys, Aegon's heir and only son by Rhaenys, a contract bound to be fulfilled unless Aegon backed down. It could have been both, or neither, but Aegon accepted the peace terms and removed his troops, never speaking of the letter again.

Though the Dornish had won a major victory against House Targaryen, being the only ones to ever do so, however, their guerrilla tactics were met with scorn and negativity by the realm, and Princess Meria's battle tactics were looked down on as cowardly and a dishonorable way to achieve victory. Moreover, Meria Martell is not remembered well by the realm at the time, with one scribe even writing that she had fought through "lies and treachery and witchery."

Because of the atrocities committed by Dorne during the First Dornish War and the Dragons' Wroth, this resulted in the Dornish becoming a target of hatred amongst various houses, most notably House Baratheon. As an insult to injury, the Dornish also became the subject of prejudice and mockery throughout Westeros; examples includes being branded as cowards and being looked down on for the usage of poison.

Several minor wars between the Iron Throne and Dorne would occur later in the reigns of Aegon and his sons. After Aegon's death, the outlaw known as the Vulture King amassed an army in the tens of thousands which raided into the Reach and the Stormlands. It was widely believed that the Martells secretly funded him, making the following Vulture Hunt a proxy war between the Targaryens and the Martells, although their involvement was never proven, and King Aenys didn't want to escalate the war further. Orys avenged himself on the Wyl of Wyl, capturing the Wyl's son Walter and cutting off the hand that held his sword, then his other hand and both feet, claiming it as "usury". Though Orys died of his wounds in the campaign, he died happy.

References[]

Notes[]

External links[]

• First Dornish War on A Wiki of Ice and Fire