#medieval monarchy

[racefortheironthrone]

How could Ned have forbidden other nobles from having men under arms? Wouldn't they have seen it as the prelude of a purge?

Other nobles in the capital and at court. Since it's the King's court and the King's capital, he gets to make the rules for what's allowable conduct. And the Hand speaks with the King's voice.

Plenty of historical examples of late medieval Kings regulating how many men a lord could have in their retinues or wearing their livery (this was a major reform effort of Edward IV to restore the king's peace during the Wars of the Roses, and carried on by Henry VII), or regulating whether noblemen could carry weapons in the King's presence at court or could duel each other within the boundaries of the King's court.

[nikeofantipaxos]

Anne of Bohemia – illustration by Percy Anderson for 'Costume Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical', 1906

[ivory--raven]

being the second son of a king

honoured, treasured, educated

marrying a princess from another country to secure an alliance

having your children and grandchildren slowly fade into obscurity

standing godfather to your second nephew and wishing you could tell him it's okay to be angry, to be sad, to be relieved, to wonder what would happen or his brother died, that just wondering doesn't mean he hates his brother

you could tell him being second born doesn't make him less important but he'd only tell you you're wrong and you'd have to agree

being the eldest daughter of a king

a girl, a disappointed, celebrations canceled when you weren't the longed for prince

two little s's added to your birth announcement

a betrothal before you turn three

being sent off to a foreign country in your early teens to marry a man you've never met

having children of your own despite being not yet twenty

the status of your uterus being an international concern

everyone hoping each child you bear is a boy, because a girl is a second rate child. I hope your child doesn't have to live like you do, is what people really mean. I hope your child is a person, instead of being a wife