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Wiki of Westeros
House Martell
House Martell

"You may burn us, my lady, but you will not bend us, break us or make us bow. This is Dorne, you are not wanted here. Return at your peril!"
―Meria Martell to Rhaenys Targaryen[src]

Princess Meria Martell was the Princess of Dorne during Aegon's Conquest.

Biography[]

Rhaenys and Meria

Princess Meria defies Queen Rhaenys

Meria Martell was the Princess of the Principality of Dorne before and during Aegon's Conquest. When Rhaenys Targaryen went to Sunspear to demand Dorne's surrender to Targaryen rule, Meria turned her away with a warning not to return. Rhaenys did not heed this warning and this led to the First Dornish War, in which the Targaryens attempted to subdue Dorne the same way they had defeated the armies of House Lannister and House Gardener in the Field of Fire. Rhaenys, her dragon Meraxes and all of her soldiers were killed, and Aegon never attempted to conquer Dorne again.[1]

In the books[]

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Meria was around eighty years old, fat, blind and almost bald when Aegon's Conquest took place. She was called the "Yellow Toad of Dorne" by the Storm King Argilac Durrandon.

When he began his Conquest, Aegon I Targaryen sent ravens to all of the rulers of Westeros demanding that they yield to him as the sole king of the realm and be rewarded or be destroyed. Meria replied that she would help him defeat the Storm King, but would not yield to him.

Rhaenys Targaryen led the invasion of Dorne during the Conquest, and the Dornishmen refused to give battle but instead launched guerilla raids on Rhaenyra's forces before retreating into the mountains and deserts. The men deserted the Dornish keeps and when Rhaenys asked the women and children where they had gone, they simply replied "away". Rhaenys then flew to Sunspear on her dragon Meraxes and met Princess Meria alone, demanding that Dorne surrender to Targaryen rule. Meria replied that Dorne would never surrender and warned Rhaenys not to return, and the Targaryen army left without conquering Dorne.

Aegon launched a new campaign against Dorne which lasted many years, the First Dornish War, in 4 AC. Meria and the other Dornish lords abandoned their keeps, and the Targaryens found Sunspear empty and declared themselves victorious. They placed Lord Rosby and Lord Harlen Tyrell in charge of the city before returning to King's Landing. The Dornish then attacked the city and retook the castle, and Meria had Lord Rosby forced to the top of the Spear Tower, where she personally threw him from the window. Lord Tyrell attempted to retake Sunspear from her forces by setting out from Hellholt take the Vaith, but he vanished in the Dornish deserts and was never seen again.

Meria continued to resist the Targaryens until she died in 13 AC and was succeeded by her son Prince Nymor, who immediately began negotiating peace. Though Meria triumphant in resisting House Targaryen in the final years of her life, however, her guerrilla tactics were looked down on by the realm as cowardice. Meria's reputation was scorned by many with one scribe writing, "The toad hops into her hole when threatened." while another scribe even wrote that she "fought like a woman, with lies, treachery, and witchery."

Appearances[]

References[]

  1. Histories & Lore: Season 5, Short 9: "Dorne" (2016).

Notes[]

  1. In "House Martell, Princes of Dorne," Varys states that Meria Martell was 80 years old when she met with Rhaenys Targaryen. This meeting occurred prior to Aegon I Targaryen's coronation, suggesting that it took place in 1 BC; therefore, Meria was born in 81 BC.

External links[]


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