House Martell

House Nymeros Martell, usually simply called House Martell, is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms and the ruling house of Dorne. "Nymeros" indicates "of the line of Nymeria," referring to the union of the Martells with the Rhoynish warrior queen Nymeria around 700 BC. The head of House Martell, titled Prince of Dorne, rules Dorne from Sunspear in southeastern Dorne.

The Martells of old used a spear as their emblem, while Nymeria and her Rhoynar used the sun as theirs. When Nymeria wed Lord Mors Martell, the symbols were combined into a gold spear piercing a red sun on an orange field. Their words are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. In appearance they are what Daeron I Targaryen considered salty Dornishmen, with dark eyes, dark hair in ringlets, and olive skin.

House Martell was founded by Morgan Martell, an Andal adventurer who settled between the mouth of the Greenblood and the Broken Arm. Morgan led the defeat of the local First Men, including Houses Wade and Shell, establishing his rule over a strip of land fifty leagues long and ten leagues wide. They did not rule as kings, but were cautious vassals of kings from Houses Jordayne, Allyrion, and Yronwood, as well as petty kings of the Greenblood.

At the time of the Rhoynish Wars, the Martells were one of the lesser ruling families of Dorne. At the time of the arrival of the Rhoynish warrior queen Nymeria, around 700 BC, the lands of the Martells were dwarfed by those of House Yronwood. Mors Martell, the Lord of the Sandship, saw an opportunity in the arrival of the Rhoynar, and took Nymeria to wife. Combining their strength, the two managed to unite all of Dorne under their rule in Nymeria's War.

The union of their peoples saw the Martells abandon many of their older Andal customs in favor of those of the Rhoynar. Nymeria named Mors Prince of Dorne instead of king, and their lands and title passed down to their eldest child, their daughter, regardless of Nymeria marrying again after Mors's death and giving birth to a male child. The Spear Tower and the Tower of the Sun, the towers of Sunspear's Old Palace, were built in the Rhoynish fashion.

Dorne alone withstood Aegon's conquest and remained independent of Targaryen rule for almost two centuries. In the end, it was the marriage of Mariah Martell to Daeron II Targaryen and her brother Maron Martell's marriage to Daenerys Targaryen in the year 187 AC that led to Dorne bending the knee where all attempts at military conquest had failed. The growing influence of the Dornish in Daeron II's court was a contributing factor in the First Blackfyre Rebellion.