Bastardry
A bastard is a person whose parents are not married to each other. A bastard can also be referred to as natural son or natural daughter.
IMAGE
Social status
A polite way of referring to someone who is bastard-born is referring to them as a "natural son" or "natural daughter". Others might refer to a bastard simply as "bastard-born". The term "baseborn" is used to refer to a child of whom one parent is of the smallfolk. A euphemism for being bastard-born is being "born on the wrong side of the blanket". It is not unexpected for noblemen to have bastard children, though it is considered rude to pry into the origins of a man's bastards. While it is not typical for a noble to bring his bastards home and raise them with his own children, it is usually expected that he will see to the child's well-being to some degree. Some might chose to have their bastards fostered at the home of another lord, while others might decide to raise their bastard at their own home, in the position of a servant. A noble-born wife can take insult at her husband's bastards being introduced into her household and being commensurate in rank with her trueborn children. There is a certain stigma that comes from being born as a bastard. They are said to be born from lust, lies, and weakness, and as such, they are said to be wanton and treacherous by nature. The presence of bastards can be considered offensive by some, and the inclusion of bastards in marriage proposals can be considered dishonorable. Because of the stigma bastards have to deal with, they are said to grow up faster than trueborn children. Bastards can be resentful of their origins. Even after being legitimized, bastards can have difficulty in removing the stigma of having been bastard-born. Nonetheless, a bastard might rise high. Male bastards may study at the Citadel and become a maester. Female bastards are allowed to join the Faith of the Seven and become septas. Potentially, this might mean that male bastards could become septons. Bastards can also be knighted, and may even be appointed to the Kingsguard. In the Night's Watch, any man may rise to command, no matter the circumstance of his birth. Another example is the origin of House Justman. This house was founded by Benedict Rivers, a bastard son descending of both House Blackwood and House Bracken. House Justman ruled the riverlands for three centuries before being eventually wiped out during a war against the ironborn and King Qhored Hoare.Surnames
Bastards of Westeros
Surnames for baseborn children of Westeros
| Region | Surname | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Crownlands | Waters | Aurane Waters |
| Dorne | Sand | Ellaria Sand |
| Iron Islands | Pyke | Cotter Pyke |
| North | Snow | Jon Snow |
| Reach | Flowers | Falia Flowers |
| Riverlands | Rivers | Walder Rivers |
| Stormlands | Storm | Rolland Storm |
| Vale of Arryn | Stone | Mya Stone |
| Westerlands | Hill | Joy Hill |
Bastards in the Seven Kingdoms can receive regional surnames by custom, not law. Legally a bastards surname is no more powerful than a lowborn man who may take a name such as Smith or Miller to distinguish themselves by profession. Bastards with a high-born parent are given these surnames as custom to hold them apart from their parent's houses more than to distinguish them from other lowborn people. The parents may give a bastard a different surname if they wish, or no name at all like any other lowborn. Bastard children of two people of the smallfolk are not given a distinctive surname. A bastard might also chose a surname for himself especially in the circumstance of being knighted and having potential to climb from their low birth toward nobility.
The surname a bastard received appears to be connected to the location the child is raised, though this is not a consistent rule. Because of this, bastards who are half-siblings might have different surnames. As the crownlands are the youngest region in the realm, it is unclear when "Waters" became the common surname for bastards from Blackwater Bay, this may be a distinction made by the locals due to the long contested rule between River Kings, Storm Kings and occasionaly even Kings of the Reach.
Most legitimate offspring of a bastard decides to keep the bastard surname. If two bastards from two different regions (i.e. with two different surnames) marry, the children will most likely take their father's surname. Some later legitimate offspring of bastards might change their surname to demonstrate their legitimate nature, and remove the bastard-born taint. Examples of this are Hillard, Stoney, Sandy, Longwaters, Deepwaters, Graywaters, Greenwaters, Blackwaters and so on.
Acknowledgement
At any point, the biological father of a bastard may acknowledge him and bring him formally into his house. An acknowledged bastard might even be considered to inherit a seat when no direct heirs can be found. The Dornish are not greatly concerned about whether or not a child is trueborn or bastard-born, especially not if the child born to a paramour. Dornish bastards appear to be treated no differently from trueborn children.Legitimization
Besides acknowledging bastards, they can also be legitimized. This power is usually reserved to monarchs alone, Once a bastard is legitimized, this cannot be undone. Historically High Septons have also legitimized bastards but this was before the Faith was stripped of it's right to lawful judgement.Rights of Inheritance
The bastard-born have few rights under law and custom. When it comes to rights of inheritance, there are no clear cut laws. A bastard may inherit if the father has no other trueborn children nor any other direct heirs to follow him. However, in order to inherit or be installed as a proper heir, the bastard-born child will first have to be legitimized by a royal decree. It is unclear whether a legitimized bastard would be placed in the succession according to birth order, or would be placed at the end, after the trueborn children and this would likely be decided personally or regionally perhaps with input from a liege lord.Coat of Arms
Bastards do not have the right to use the arms of the highborn families from which they descend. Recognized bastards who take arms (noble born, knighted, etc.) often, but not always, take the coat of arms of their fathers with the colors reversed. A bend sinister is sometimes added. A bastard that wants to emphasize his affiliation and minimize his own bastardy may decide to use the same sigil as his father, perhaps illegally. Other bastards might choose to combine multiple sigils or take a sigil with altered colors or reversed.Quotes
Orys Baratheon was a baseborn half brother to Lord Aegon, it was whispered, and the Storm King would not dishonor his daughter by giving her hand to a bastard. The very suggestion enraged him.
The old High Septon told my father that king's laws are one thing, and the laws of the gods another. Trueborn children are made in a marriage bed and blessed by the Father and the Mother, but bastards are born of lust and weakness, he said.
Bastard children were born from lust and lies, men said; their nature was wanton and treacherous.