Bastardy

The term bastard refers to anyone born out of wedlock. In the Seven Kingdoms there is considerable social stigma attached to being a bastard. Bastards are not allowed to inherit their father's lands or titles, and have no claims to the privileges of their father's house. It is up to their father on how to raise or treat them: being raised by their father in his own castle alongside his trueborn children is considered extremely unusual.

The stigma of illegitimacy is so great, that all bastards born to noble Houses in Westeros have to identify themselves through a specific surname, which varies by region:


 * The North: Snow.
 * The Vale: Stone.
 * The Riverlands: Rivers.
 * The Crownlands: Waters.
 * The Iron Islands: Pyke.
 * The Westerlands: Hill.
 * The Reach: Flowers.
 * The Stormlands: Storm.
 * Dorne: Sand.

However, this system does not apply to the bastards of smallfolk: at least one parent (usually, but not always, the father) has to be a member of a noble House. If both the father and mother are commoners, the child cannot use the special surname.

The low-born commoners of Westeros do not actually use surnames at all. Therefore, possessing a bastard surname is simultaneously a mark of distinction and badge of shame. Anyone who encounters someone with a bastard surname will immediately know that they are not simply a bastard, but the bastard child of a noble.

Bastards only use the special surnames if they have been openly acknowledged by their noble-born parent. In such cases, their noble parent will try to make sure that they are well cared for, or send money for their support, but it is extremely unusual for a noble to raise their bastard child in their own household. There is no official distinction between bastards who have one noble-born parent, and those whose parents are both noble-born. In practice, a nobleman would be more likely to acknowledge a bastard child born to a noble lady, than he would a child born to a commoner.

It is possible for the king to legitimize a lord's bastard children, though this special discompensation is difficult to acquire and infrequently happens. It will usually only be granted if a lord has no other legitimate children (or no male children) to carry on the name of his house.

Bastards in the series

 * Jon Snow: the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, allegedly with a serving girl named Wylla.
 * Jafer Flowers: a ranger of the Night's Watch who accompanied Benjen Stark on a mission, was killed and returned as a wight before being destroyed.
 * Gendry: a blacksmith's apprentice in King's Landing, one of several bastard sons of King Robert Baratheon.
 * Barra another of King Robert's bastards.

In the novels
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, the status of being a bastard is a considerable social disgrace amongst the nobility, though less so amongst the smallfolk. However, whilst bastards are disadvantaged, they still have means to climb the social ladder. They may win honor and glory in battle and be knighted. If they do great deeds in service to the king or a noble lord, they can even receive a bill of legitimacy, allowing them to take a new surname and found a new house (some bastards take new names altogether, like 'Blackfyre', whilst others add a prefix to their bastard name, such as 'Longwaters'). House Baratheon was founded by the bastard half-brother of King Aegon the Conqueror, for example.

However, whilst bastards stand outside the lines of succession and inheritance, there are still exceptions which have caused immense problems. King Aegon IV Targaryen legitmized three of his bastard sons and one of his bastard daughters on his deathbed. His eldest bastard son, Daemon Blackfyre, later claimed the Iron Throne and led a bloody civil war known as the First Blackfyre Rebellion. His sons and descendants launched four more attempts to take the Iron Throne before their final claimant, Maelys the Monstrous, was slain by Ser Barristan Selmy during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. This is sometimes used as an example of what happens if a bastard is treated too well and given too much power and legitimacy.