Customs

Customs in Westeros

Monarchy and Nobility
In the Seven Kingdoms, all authority derives from the king. The King’s right hand is his Hand of the King. When the King is sick, or unable to attend court sessions, the Hand of the King can take his place and sit on the Iron Throne to dispense justice. Additionally, nobles are charged with keeping the king’s peace. In the king’s name, they can punish criminals.

It is possible for the king to redistribute lands and grant titles of nobility as he sees fit; He may also sign bills of attainder to strip lords of their lands and incomes.[5] A lord can conceivably hold more than one title; However, it is unusual for noble holdings to be divided or combined. Younger siblings of a lord can become bannerman to their sibling, and hold a keep in his name. Territorial disputes between landowners are adjudicated, either by the liege lord or the king or his Hand.

On extremely rare occasions, the lords of the kingdom may be gathered together to decide some great matter, which they are called the Great Council.

Social Ranks
The Seven Kingdoms is a feudal society. Below the King and the royal family rank the Great Houses (House Arryn, House Baratheon of Storm's End, House Greyjoy, House Martell, House Stark, House Targaryen, House Tully, and House Tyrell), followed by other noble houses, both greater and small, knights (landed knights, household knights, and hedge knights), and commoners. Nobles are addressed as "my lord" by other highborn, or "m’lord" by the smallfolk. Commoners might be addressed as goodwoman or goodman.

Every noble house has a house motto, while a coat of arms can be used by both nobility and knights, as a sign of status and identification (e.g. on the battlefield). Both nobles and knights can be ransomed, so in battle, it might be preferred to capture them instead of killing them. Three hundred golden dragons are considered to be a fair ransom for a knight,[12] whereas a nobleman’s son might be ransomed for three thousand golden dragons. A noble prisoner can be treated with honour and be kept in isolation in rooms as his status requires. However, making offence can result in the loss of the right for such honourable treatment.

At feasts, great honour can be given to a guest by seating him or her on the dais, with the place of highest honour being on the right side of the host. Being seated at the far end of the hall, far from the dais, however, is regarded as a place of little honour and regard. When a lord presides over a feast, he receives the first choice of all dishes. He might send some of the especially fine dishes down to specific guests, showing friendship and respect.

Marriage
Marriage customs vary considerably between the lands and major faiths, i.e. followers of the old gods, the Faith of the Seven, R'hllor, and the Drowned God. All appear to be religious ceremonies between one man and one woman (who should not be more closely related than first cousins), involving the exchange of vows in the presence of particular sacred witnesses e.g. a septon (for the Faith of the Seven), a heart tree (for the old gods), or a priest or priestess (in case of the Drowned God or R'hllor). The wedding is followed by a feast, where the bride and groom eat and drink with everyone. Afterwards, the bedding takes place, where the marriage is consummated.

In the Valyrian Freehold it had been custom among the dragonlords to marry brother to sister, or, if that was not possible, an uncle to a niece, or an aunt to a nephew. Also accepted were polygamous marriages, though this practice was less common.