Mors Martell

"My ancestor, Mors Martell, saw her and desired her; and proved that where armies failed a tongue may succeed. Wedding his strength to hers, his spear to her sun, they subdued all his rivals together. After the tradition of her people House Martell then ruled Dorne as Princes, not Kings."

- Prince Oberyn Martell

Mors Martell the head of House Martell when the Rhoynar people, led by Nymeria, landed on Dorne a thousand years ago.

Background
Mors Martell was one of the many nobles who vied for supremacy over the rest of the lords of Dorne. According to tradition, he fell in love with Princess Nymeria, the Rhoynar warrior-queen, the first time he saw her. The two married and joined their strengths, thus allowing House Martell to defeat all rival houses and unify Dorne under their rule. In the Rhoynish fashion, House Martell adopted the title of "Prince" as well as equal rights of primogeniture, regardless of gender.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Mors Martell's history is the same. In The World of Ice and Fire book it is revealed that Mors bore the title of Lord of the Sandship - the seat of House Martell that would become Sunspear - and died in the Third Battle of the Boneway, slain by King Yorick V Yronwood, though Nymeria completed the conquest of Dorne, dubbed by historians as "Nymeria's War", and passed the crown to her daughter by Mors.