Aenys I Targaryen

Aenys I Targaryen -

King Aenys I Targaryen was the second king of the Targaryen dynasty. He is infamously known for provoking the Faith and starting the Faith Militant uprising. His father is Aegon I Targaryen, known as the Conqueror for conquering all of Westeros with dragons and his sister wives Rhaenys, who is Aenys' mother, and Visenya, who is Aenys' aunt, at his side.

Through Aenys' aunt Visenya Targaryen, Aenys has a half brother through her son, Maegor Targaryen who after Aenys' death and Maegor ruled after his brother Aenys, becoming known as Maegor the Cruel. Like his parents, Aenys became a dragonrider with Quicksilver being his mount.

When Aegon I eventually died, Aenys succeeded him as the second king on the Iron Throne. The Conquest was still within living memory, however, and many still chafed under Targaryen rule - and saw the death of Aegon I as an opportunity to throw off their rule.

Several localized rebellions therefore broke out at the beginning of Aenys's reign, such as the insurrection of the "Vulture King" in the Red Mountains along the border with independent Dorne, but these uprisings were ultimately put down - not really due to Aenys's leadership, but capable local rulers such as House Tarly, among others.

The Targaryens had incestuously married brother to sister for generations (whenever possible) to "keep the bloodline pure", in the custom of their Valyrian ancestors - which the Faith of the Seven in Westeros considered an abomination. For that matter, Aegon I broke not only the Faith's rules against incest, but its rules against polygamy, as he was married to both of his sisters at the same time.

The Faith wasn't in much position to challenge the victorious Targaryen army after the Conquest, or their massive dragons, but Aegon I was wise enough to tread lightly with the Faith: both sides tacitly agreed that the Targaryens' incestuous marriages were a relic of their past, which would soon fade.

Aegon I didn't intend for future generations of his new dynasty to continue to have incestuous marriages, and in return, the Faith didn't press the matter for the remainder of his life. Aegon I eventually died and was succeeded by his elder son, Aenys. The marriage of Aenys's son and heir Aegon to his sister Rhaena sparked the Faith Militant uprising.

However, later in his reign King Aenys tactlessly wed his daughter to his own son: the incestuous marriage of Princess Rhaena and Prince Aegon broke the Targaryens' prior promise to the Faith, which could stand the abomination no longer. Outraged by the marriage, the new High Septon led the denunciation of the Targaryens, and the military order of the Faith of the Seven, the Faith Militant, rose up in open revolt.

The Faith Militant attack Aenys in the Red Keep but are repulsed by his Kingsguard. King Aenys proved to be an utter weakling in the face of the revolt and was completely overwhelmed. As the Faith Militant attacked lords that still supported him across the Seven Kingdoms, one particularly zealous force of the order even managed to scale the walls of the Red Keep, which by then was still under construction, and would have killed Aenys and his family if not for the intervention of the Kingsguard.

Frightened, Aenys cowardly fled King's Landing entirely and retreated to the Targaryen fortress-refuge at Dragonstone - where he soon died of cramps brought on from the stress. King Aenys dies in exile on Dragonstone. Aenys was then succeeded ahead of his children by his younger half-brother Maegor, Aegon I's only child by Visenya.

Aenys I Targaryen was the next Targaryen and King to rule over the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros after his father Aegon's Conquest after the Doom of Valryia, Aenys is a human from a Valryian noble family of high birth and he became King of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, residing primarily in the Red Keep in King's Landing, located in the Crownlands, one of the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

Aenys hold