Why is it called The Seven Kingdoms?

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[baystated]

"History does not march forward in a straight line." A great reminder to have hope when things seem to be darkening.

[QuantumHistorian]

The fact that what the characters in the story call things doesn't match what things actually are might be the most realistic thing in all of ASOIF. People do this in real life all the time. There are famously 7 hills in ancient Rome, but anyone with a map can see that there are anywhere between three and a dozen depending on how strictly one defines a hill. But, people like the idea of there being 7 hills in Rome, so we say that there are and rationalise what those hills are afterwards. It's not _entirely_ inconsistent with the truth, but accuracy is not the driving force. Similarly for the residents of Westeros.

[Afreon]

Just a bit of fun trivia, but I thought it worth mentioning that Westeros is generally inspired by Medieval England, and sometime before William the Conquerer there was a period when it was divided into a number of petty kingdoms. This came to be referred to as "The Heptarchy", which literally means "The Seven Kingdoms".

As with the ASOIAF Seven Kingsoms, the actual number varied over the centuries.

[ThommyofThenn]

Hey Robert, I just started Fire and Blood. In a large part because of how interested in it your videos got me. Thank you

[truetory]

Westeros is both a feudal state and a federation at the same time. The only country in real world history that closely resembles that was the Holy Roman Empire. They became even more like the HRE after they decided to make monarchy elective with the Lords Paramount being the equivalent of the prince electors

[thedragondemands]

I strongly suggest that you make a deep dive video on the Crownlands - I've seen leaked casting sheet dialogue from Season 2, which while unremarkable in and of themselves, indicate that they're actually going to use the term *"the Crownlands"* in on-screen dialogue for the first time ever. Game of Thrones never called it that in EIGHT SEASONS, and it didn't come up in HotD Season 1. Important because there's going to be major military campaigns to "consolidate the Crownlands" etc. WE know about them but it's interesting how TV only viewers (the bulk of the audience) have never heard the term, nor do they really understand that there's more to the Crownlands than just King's Landing.

I think the Crownlands are pretty interesting because they're an odd mish-mash of bits from other kingdoms...even though in-universe this probably makes people think they're boring with no long history or culture of their own. It's basically made up of:

- the Narrow Sea Houses: the Valyrian mini-kingdom on the isles of Blackwater Bay, plus some Stormlander houses from Massey's Hook that openly sided with them
- First Men holdouts in the pine barrens of Crackclaw Point
- the "main" Crownlands, mostly Andals, but which used to be an extension of the Riverlands before being ruled by the Stormlands and then the Ironborn for a century. An extension of the Riverlands, always a contested borderland. The big names of course being Rest, plus a few others further north who pop up now and again.

[avvyrude]

Great video. I was confused myself as to why in House of the Dragon they kept referring to themselves as the Seven Kingdoms, despite Dorne not being a part of them at that time. I also arrived at the conclusion that they were just claiming rulership over Dorne even though they had no actual authority there.

[kingofcards]

The most unrealistic thing about Asoiaf is how neat the borders are.

Medieval borders were a god dam mess.

[Pixis]

Thank you for this clarification. This always confused me when reading the books and trying to count all the kingdoms. The Crownlands being a Westerosi Washington, D.C. is a great explanation for why that one isn't included.

[Charles-In-Charge]

There were seven large kingdoms in Westeros when Aegon declared his kingship. The Crownlands were founded by Aegon, and the Riverlands and Iron Islands were split up as a result of the conquest. 7+2=9

[Edmures_rampant_manhood]

I always thouhgt the Iron Islands didn't count because they're so pathetic 😅. Thanks for the explanation.

[cabalamat]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, which is clearly where GRRM got the idea from.

[matthewpelletier]

I always just sort of figured the Iron Islands didn't count.

[Zveebo]

Claiming a title you aren’t able to exercise in practice has plenty of real world precedent. The English monarchs considered themselves the rightful kings of France for centuries, despite not being able to rule there – they only dropped the French symbols from their coat of arms in the 1800s when it became a republic.

[swimmingmide]

I always thought it was due to the geographic and climate differences between the 7 major areas. The Iron Islands and the North have some artic like weather so they kind of go together, Dorne is Deserts, the Storm Lands have seasonal/yearly severe weather, ect. Add that to the religious importance of the number 7, and the ease of uniting 7 kingdoms into one rather than a number that does not have cultural value.

[jakes]

I'm saddened that the 6th book is still not finished. It's been 12 years. Mr Martin being in his seventies, makes me think the series will never be finished. It's sad really.

[ArchAngel]

Robert Baratheon refers to the Riverlands as the eighth kingdom. “Making the Eight” is fucking one girl from “each of the seven kingdoms and the Riverlands”.

[trevorwinn]

Thank you !!! I've always wondered why its called 7 kingdoms ? I go through and count and wonder which 7 are considered kingdoms and what not, very glad to get an answer !

[biropgrules]

the reason it's called the seven kingdoms is because while he was a great conqueror, Aegon was a lousy state builder. He had the right idea at the start when he called himself the king of Westeros, symbolizing that the time of multiple kingdoms were over. One kingdom, one nation, one king. the lord of the seven kingdoms, and allowing the provinces to refer to themselves as kingdoms just served as a permanent reminder that they had once been independent kingdoms, and could be again.

[paulraines]

Nine realms, I wonder if Riverlanders get offended by the Seven Kingdoms concept because they didn't have their independence at the time of Aegon's conquest.