Tag Archives: Valyrian Freehold

History and Legends of Game of Thrones: The Free Cities continued

~

On Monday we talked about how the Free Cities of Essos.

Free_Cities

Bear a striking resemblance to the Italian city states of Renaissance Italy.

Renaissance-City-States-Map

Today we’re going to go into a bit more detail on each of the Free Cities and which real life city state they share the most in common with.  This means the format is going to be a little bit different where instead of devoting the first half of the article to the Game of Thrones topic and the second half to its historical counterpart we’re just going to give each city their own paragraph.  Also, there will be lots of overlapping and this entire article is based on my opinion only so if you disagree or think differently please leave a polite and detailed explanation in the comments below.  Anyway, here we go!

Volantis:

download (7)

Volantis is the southern most of the Free Cities and also has the closest ties to the Valyrian Freehold.  They attempted to rebuild the empire but were defeated by the combined efforts of the rest of the cities.  Their southern location and ties to the former empire make them similar to Renaissance Rome.

rome-on-the-tiber

Like Volantis Rome existed as a reminder of Italy’s once former glory as a united country.  As the seat of the Catholic Church Rome held quite a bit of power over Italy and the rest of Europe.  While Rome never reclaimed its place as the dominant Italian power it did play a major part in organizing several key alliances that kept Italy mostly free of encroaching European powers.

Braavos:

titan_of_braavos

Probably the most well known of the Free Cities Braavos is home to some of the most powerful organizations in the Game of Thrones universe.  The city was founded in secret by a collection of former Valyrian slaves and was hidden from the rest of the world until the Doom of Valyria where it established itself as a political and economic powerhouse.  After sailing under the legs of the Titan of Braavos there is so much you can do from seeking loans and money from the famed Iron Bank, hiring Braavosi sell swords, or if you’re really desperate hiring one of the Faceless Men to assassinate your target.

Stylistically Braavos is all over the place.  The Titan of Braavos is reminiscent of the Colossus of Rhodes, a giant statue that was commissioned to celebrate the defeat of the Hellenistic general Demetrius.

colossus

We’ve talked about how the Iron Bank and the Faceless Men are similar to the Medici bankers of Florence and the Assassins of the Nizari but the city’s foundation, location, and importance to the Game of Thrones universe make it similar to the real life city of Venice.

images (10)

Like Braavos, Venice was founded in response to the fall of the Valyrian/Roman Empire and the chaos that ensued.  The collection of refugees and fugitives that settled the marsh and swamps that would become Venice would eventually turn the city into one of the most powerful trading posts and naval powers in the world.

Qohor and Norvos:

I’m lumping these two cities together because both are known for producing weapons and a very distinct class divide.  Both these cities were founded by religious dissidents who disagreed with the Valyrian practice of religious freedom and grew to become their own separate states.  Norvos is most famous for its strange long axes

download (8)

while Qohor is known for its fine metal work, including being one of the only places that is still capable of re working Valyrian steel and for beating back the Dothraki with a group of 3,000 Unsullied.

350px-Battle_of_Qohor

While the religious overtones of the foundation of each city is similar to Rome (told you there would be some overlapping) each city’s martial tradition and skill at working metal makes them both strongly similar to the city state of Milan.

milan-half-day-sightseeing-tour-with-da-vinci-s-the-last-supper-in-milan-115133

Milan grew out of the fall of the Roman Empire to become one of the richest and most powerful city states in Italy (it still holds the position today as one of Italy’s economic powerhouses).  Interestingly enough one of Milan’s most famous exports was its armor, which was renown for its quality and strength.

met005

Milan also grew powerful with the influence and the patronage of the Sforza family, one of the great families of the Renaissance, who were most famous for being the patron and benefactor to the great Leonardo da Vinci.

Tyrosh, Lys, Myr, Pentos, and Lorath

I’m lumping the last five together because there isn’t that much information to go off of in the books or show.  Each of the cities have their own distinct product or specialty to contribute: Myr has the Red God, Lys has poisons, prostitutes, and pirates, Tyrosh sells cloth, Pentos has its location, and Lorath doesn’t really have anything.

Of the remaining five cities only Tyrosh and Lys stand out as the historical counterparts to Renaissance Florence and Genoa.  Florence began its rise as an Italian power by trading in cloth, a tactic that parallels Tyrosh and led the rise of the Medici family.

download (9)

Lys, and to a lesser extent Tyrosh and Lorath, are coastal and depend on maritime trade, fishing, and piracy for survival.  This parallels the rise and reign of Genoa as one of the great maritime powers of the Medieval Ages, a position that put them at odds with Venice on more than one occasion.

Nuremberg_chronicles_f_58v_1

And there you have it, a breakdown of each of the Nine Free Cities in Game of Thrones and their historical counterparts of Renaissance Italy.  I hope you find this article informative and educational.  If you disagree or have a different opinion on the locations and historical counterparts to each of the Free cities please leave it in a well worded and polite comment below.

History and Legends of Game of Thrones: an Introduction to the Free Cities

~

Today we’re going to talk about one of the most violent and politically sensitive areas in the Game of Thrones universe, a place where history and modern culture collide and anything can be yours for a price: The Free Cities.

Free_Cities

The Free Cities are the various former colonies, cast offs, and trading posts of the Valyrian Empire and each of them either owe their existence to the Valyrians or in the case of cities like Braavos, sprang into existence because of Valyrian culture and policy.  After the Doom of Valyria the cities became dogs without a master and began to fight among themselves to see who would take the place of the former empire.  Of all the cities Volantis had one of the stronger claims since it was one of the first and oldest Valyrian colonies but the city’s efforts to rebuild the empire were foiled when they were unable to convince the Targaryens to join them.  After the initial fighting died down a bit, and after the invasion of Khal Temmo was beaten back by a band of Unsullied each of the cities realized that the Empire wasn’t coming back and settled into a pattern of trade, commerce, bickering over smaller plots of land, utilizing small armies of paid mercenaries to settle disputes, and paying off the Dothraki every now and then to prevent each city from being sacked.  While the Free Cities are no longer the dominant political power in the Game of Thrones universe their trade and occasional disputes make them an important part of the cultural and political landscape.

We’ve talked about the Doom of Valyria before in this series of articles and how it was remarkably similar to the series of migrations, invasions, and looting that causes the end of the Roman Empire.

EU19_126

This is important because after the fall of Rome the Italian Peninsula would wind up being divided in a fashion similar to the Free Cities of Game of Thrones.

Renaissance-City-States-Map

We’ll get into the details and specific politics of the Italian city states later (heck, we could have run an entire season’s worth of articles on the Free Cities and their historical counter parts if we wanted to) but for now all we need to understand is this: the fall of Rome as a central power destabilized the entire region and turned what was once a single empire into a squabbling collection of city states.

That’s not to say each of the states were completely powerless.  The Papal States became the center of Christian Europe while cities like Venice and Florence became economic powerhouses but the fact remained that Italy, like its fictional counterpart in the Free Cities, was divided into weakened tiny city states that still have an impact on politics to this day.

History and Legends of Game of Thrones: The Doom of Valyria

~

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS AND SHOW.  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Today we are going to to talk about the decline and fall of empires.  As we mentioned before, Valyria was once the most powerful empire in the known world and would have continued to have existed if it wasn’t for the Doom.  We all know the source of Valyrian power came from its dragons, who the Valyrian shepherds discovered in a volcano range called the Fourteen Fires. Unfortunately the Valyrians failed to realize that it is usually not a good idea to build massive cities filled with highly flammable people near a large collection of molten death traps and inevitably every volcano in Valyria decided to throw a tantrum and erupt.

tumblr_m5h98yzY9J1rx636vo1_1280

Like all good legends the details are a bit hazy and nobody knows exactly what caused this to happen.  Some say it was the righteous fury of the Seven Headed God punishing the Valyrians for their wicked ways and worship of false idols.  Some say former slaves of Valyria who would go on to become the Faceless Men…

download (19)

…somehow sabotaged the volcanoes and caused them to erupt.  And some say that it was just rotten luck and Mother Nature was having a particularly bad day and decided to take it out on poor old Valyria.  No matter what the cause was the results were clear.  The age of the Valyrian Freehold was over and the empire was no more.  While some colonies and cities would attempt to re establish the empire their efforts were thwarted in what would become known as the Century of Blood.

Unlike its fantasy counterpart Rome did not end with one massive bang, more like a long string of implosions and invasions.  It is interesting to note that the Roman Empire (which is different from the Roman Republic and became an Empire after a long string of awful civil wars that are very well known and very well documented) also suffered from a cataclysmic volcanic disaster that is very well known: the eruption at Pompeii.

tumblr_ma9hmelav81r1io1co1_1280

Like the Valyrians the Romans thought it would be a good idea to build a city right next to an active volcano and in 79 A.D it erupted burying the town of Pompeii in a cloud of ash and the neighboring town of Herculaneum in a molten lava.  While it must have been truly terrifying to behold, it was not the end of the Roman Empire and today is more famous for it’s archaeological and cultural value since it provides an in depth look into the daily lives of everyday Romans.

Another thing the fall of the Roman Empire shares with their Valyrian counterparts are the many theories as to why it was destined to fall.  Some earlier books on the subject like Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire claim that Rome fell because they had become fat and lazy with the spoils of conquest (author’s note: this is a HUGE paraphrase and the link will take you to a copy of the book that can be found online.  It’s a fun read but it’s also incredibly long.)  More modern and practical explanations would point to economic, social, and political woes that slowly picked away at Rome until very little remained.  In this way the Roman Empire shares quite a bit with the Valyrain Century of Blood which will talk about next time.