The Bolton Rebellion

A summarization of the events leading to, during and the aftermath of the Bolton Rebellion during the reign of King Robert Baratheon, as documented by Maester Luwin, the Maester assigned to Winterfell during the time.

When discussing the Bolton Rebellion, it is not possible to do so thoroughly without considering the reputation of the House of Bolton and the head of the house at the time, Lord Roose Bolton; the lord of the Dreadfort and derisively spoken of in whispers as "The Leech Lord." A man described as cold or dispassionate even by his own kin, he was a man with few acquaintances and allies and no true friends to speak of. While known for keeping a quiet and peaceful land, like his appearance; they had a reputation for dark and terrible secrets, a reputation which proved to be well-deserved owing to the revelations and the man's own confessions regarding the birth and actions of his bastard son Ramsay Snow.

Ramsay Snow was the unspoken and yet open secret among the lords of the North who had borders with the lands of the Dreadfort. Yet, it remained unspoken in fear of the Bolton's wrath. However, his arrogance in believing that he was free of the repercussions of his actions would lead to the downfall of House Bolton and the crippling of the North. It began as Lord Stark called his banners and issued an order to march on the Dreadfort.

What were the causes behind Lord Stark's sudden and bold actions, compared to acts like summoning Lord Bolton for a hearing or issuing a proclamation of arrest for the bastard of Bolton are unknown and have been exhaustively debated by Maesters and lords alike. What is known however, is that while it may seem ill-prepared to wait for an army to assemble from across the largest of the Seven Kingdoms, it must be said that Lord Stark had planned his actions and that this was certainly not the rash actions of a blood-crazed barbarian as some of the more derisive and less level-headed bards claim.

The lands bordering and surrounding the Bolton lands led by the Karstarks and Hornwoods marshalled their forces and stood guard over the roads and paths they shared. They were supposed to bleed and distract any Bolton resistance that sprang up while the Starks gathered strength. From the east, Lord Manderly gathered his levies and prepared by building barges to deliver heavy cavalry and infantry to the Bolton heartlands. To the north, House Umber and some of the mountain clans gathered strength to act as a hammer in case of heavier resistance and the rest remained vigilant and joined forces with the Glovers and Ryswells. This vigilance paid off.

As Lord Stark rode west to subdue his feared bannerman, Lord Bolton's vassals bled themselves dry against the forces surrounding them. Despite the desperate resistance put forth by the rebels, the reinforcements from the north, south and west left their defeat inevitable. However, to the surprise of everyone, as the Lord of Winterfell rode westwards, they halted in their tracks as they were met by lord Bolton himself, leading a contingent of half-a-dozen men as he offered a parley.

While the rules of war had been held as nearly sacred in reverence across the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms, it is not unheard of for an honourless party to exploit them for their benefits. Just look at the Dornish during Daeron's Conquest. Whatever the case may be, the actions which took place during the parley are as follows:

Lord Bolton protested against the actions of Lord Stark, claiming that it was an act of baseless aggression against a vassal and that his actions were merely in self-defence. Lord Stark countered decisively however, by pointing out that while he had stated openly that he had intended to capture and execute Ramsay Snow, he had never stated outright that he blamed the sire for his actions. While the orders were to march towards the Dreadfort, Lord Stark maintained that the intent always was to question Lord Bolton and gather his aid in capturing his bastard. Any attack by his party could only have been in retaliation for an attack by Lor Bolton's own men. In this, he was backed by the other lords of the North and from witnesses at the time, Lord Bolton seeing how they could have avoided further bloodshed, seemed to agree that poor communication was to blame for this tragedy.

Whether he would have done so was rendered irrelevant by what would later be known as the first large appearance of the flayed men. For as the armies of the North marched towards the Dreadfort, Lord Bolton's own banner-men had armed everyone over the age of 12 and under the age of 60 with a spear. At the same time, they had made the disastrous decision to set the fields aflame, denying the imagined invaders foraging. With winter approaching, hunger gave way to desperation and madness and mobs of crazed peasants with swollen bellies and armed with rusty spears would ambush foraging parties and supply trains. Even ordinary soldiers were not safe as even without a caravan, the horses and soldiers themselves would sustain the mobs for a while. It never occurred to any sane soldier that there was someone actively helping them, for there was nothing sane about the mind that was.

Now they had come and attacked a parley and had the situation been different, the infighting could have meant the end of many of the houses of the North. It was not to be, as in a surprising show of unity, Stark and Bolton fought together, cutting them down almost to the last man, woman and child. However, the damage was done, as one of the prisoners in defiance of his mortal wound, named Ramsay Snow as the one behind the plan, apparently hoping to kill enough of the lords off to enable his escape.

For all that is said about Lord Bolton, even his detractors would admit that the man was a traditionalist. Kinslaying, one of the worst crimes possible in the sight of gods and men was something that he would not do. Ramsay Snow himself apparently held no compunctions. That led to Roose Bolton washing his hands off the matter and to Ramsay Snow's death in the alleys of White Harbor. What led to such an end, the evidence uncovered by Lord Stark which led to the end of the Dreadfort's rule in the North, even Lord Bolton's own thoughts that led to him willingly joining the Night's Watch are beyond the scope of this. However, for all intents and purposes, the Bolton 'rebellion' was at an end.