House Tully is a great house of Westeros, ruling over the Riverlands from the seat of Riverrun. The sigil of House Tully is a silver trout upon a striped field of red and blue. Their words are “Family, Duty, Honor.” Traditionally, House Tully has had a strong allegiance with House Stark, Arryn and Baratheon. Unlike the other regions of Westeros whose noble houses ruled as kings prior to Aegon’s Conquest, House Tully never held the title of kings.

Sigil of House Tully

THE HISTORY

House Tully has been a powerful house of the Riverlands for thousands of years. However, after the Andal Invasion, when Westeros began forming its Seven Kingdoms, the Riverlands were conquered by the Iron Islands, and thus never formed its own kingdom. As such, the Tullys never ruled as kings since the Riverlands were never one of the Seven Kingdoms. House Tully solidified its power within the Riverlands when Lord Edmyn Tully pledged his allegiance to Aegon during the Conquest. At the time, Haren the Black, King of the Iron Islands, had asserted his dominance over the Riverlands. To solidify the stretch of his kingdom from the Iron Islands to the Riverlands, he built the greatest castle that Westeros had ever seen, Harrenhal, which took 40 years to build. However, on the day it was completed, Harren the Black and his entire bloodline was wiped out, as Aegon flew over the walls of Harennhal and scorched it with his dragon. As reward for pledging their fealty to Aegon, House Tully was appointed overlords of the Riverlands.

In more recent years, House Tully has arranged strategic marriages in an effort to form powerful alliances, in light of the fact that they are vulnerable to attack from regions on all sides. Lord Hoster Tully first arranged for Catelyn to marry Jaime Lannister, prior to his appointment to the Kingsguard. Lord Tywin offered Tyrion as replacement, but Lord Hoster Tully refused. He next arranged for Catelyn to be wed to Brandon Stark, but that proved unsuccessful as well, as Brandon was killed by the Mad King, one of the causes of Robert’s Rebellion. Once Robert’s Rebellion had begun and the rebels raised their banners, Hoster Tully married Catelyn to Ned and Lysa to Jon Arryn, forming a powerful alliance between House Tully, Stark and Arryn, as well as House Baratheon.

SIGNIFICANT TULLY CHARACTERS

Edmyn Tully was the first Tully overlord of the Riverlands, after pledging fealty to Aegon during his Conquest.

Hoster Tully is Lord of Riverrun at the onset of the GoT series. Father to Catelyn, Lysa and Edmure, Hoster is an old and dying man.

Catelyn Tully is Hoster’s eldest child and is wed to Ned Stark at the onset of Robert’s Rebellion. In her youth, she had a romantic relationship with Petyr Baelish, but her father forbid the relationship, due to Littlefinger’s lowly status.

Lysa Tully is Hoster’s next eldest child and widow to the late Jon Arryn. After his death, she became increasingly paranoid and confined herself to the walls of the Eyrie.

Edmure Tully is the youngest child and only son of Hoster. During the War of the Five Kings, Robb Stark arranged for Edmure to marry a daughter of Walder Frey, in an effort to get back in Walder’s good graces, after Robb broke his promise to marry a Frey daughter himself. This wedding would forever be known as the Red Wedding.

Brynden Tully, otherwise known as Blackfish, is the younger brother of Hoster Tully. He is loyal and dutiful, a skilled fighter who serves valiantly to Robb Stark during the War of the Five Kings.