HOUSE BAELISH

House Baelish of Harrenhal is an extinct noble house that held fealty to House Arryn of the Vale. They ruled over Harrenhal and an unnamed castle in the smallest of the Fingers, a region on the east coast of the Vale of Arryn, located along the shores of the Narrow Sea.

Lord Petyr Baelish, popularly called “Littlefinger,” was the Master of Coin on the small council under King Robert Baratheon and then under King Joffrey Baratheon. He was a skilled manipulator and used his ownership of brothels in King's Landing to both acquire vast wealth and accrue intelligence on political rivals. Baelish's spy network is eclipsed only by that of his arch-rival Lord Varys. In his quest for power, Baelish orchestrated a huge conflict between House Stark of the North and House Lannister of the Westerlands via multiple conspiracies and assassinations, which effectively began the War of the Five Kings and lead to widespread devastation as well as the destruction of several major houses. Following the Battle of the Blackwater, King Joffrey granted the castle of Harrenhal to Littlefinger for his aid in arranging the Lannister-Tyrell alliance.

Then after marrying Lady Lysa Arryn, widow of Lord Jon Arryn of the Vale, and her subsequent death at his hand, he became the Lord Protector of the Vale. Due to his relationship with her, Baelish was able to heavily influence Lysa's son Robin Arryn, the new Lord Paramount of the Vale. To further his goal of sitting on the Iron Throne, Baelish took Sansa Stark under his wing in order to gain some influence within House Stark, but when his role in the deaths of Lord Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn and Lysa Arryn was finally exposed, he was executed for his crimes. Since Littlefinger had no offspring, House Baelish became extinct with his demise and Harrenhal remains without a leader.

Petyr was the only living member of the house at the beginning of the fourth century. Therefore, his personal sigil had come to be used as the house's main heraldry: a seemingly innocuous mockingbird on a green background. House Baelish’s unofficial motto was “Knowledge Is Power.”

BACKGROUND

House Baelish began with Petyr's great-grandfather, a common sellsword from Braavos who traveled to Westeros to take up service with House Corbray in the Vale of Arryn. The sellsword's son, Petyr's grandfather, was a poor wandering hedge knight, who managed to earn a minor lordship - the most minor of lordships, just a few stony acres in the smallest peninsula of the Fingers, with a small keep to reside in. Petyr's father fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, the preemptive assault on the forces of Maelys Blackfyre, the last of the Blackfyre pretenders, before they could invade Westeros. During the conflict, Petyr's father served well under Lord Hoster Tully. Through their good relationship, Hoster agreed to foster his son Petyr at Riverrun, a great honor for a lesser house.

Petyr went to Riverrun when he was eight years old, and befriended Hoster's daughters Catelyn and Lysa Tully. Their brother Edmure mockingly nicknamed him "Littlefinger," in reference to his short height at the time and the location of his minor landholdings. Petyr became smitten with Catelyn but she never returned his affections. Lysa, however, was infatuated with Petyr, but he only loved Catelyn. Eventually when she was betrothed to Brandon Stark, heir to House Stark, Petyr challenged him to a duel, thinking he could win Catelyn's affection through pluck and courage. Littlefinger was promptly overpowered and nearly killed, though Catelyn begged Brandon to spare his life. Embittered, Petyr was cast out of Riverrun and returned to the Vale. During the course of Robert's Rebellion, however, Brandon was killed by the Mad King and Catelyn married his younger brother Eddard Stark, while to secure a political alliance Lysa was wed to Jon Arryn, ruler of the Vale. Manipulating Lysa's infatuation with himself, Petyr ingratiated himself into Jon's services, first as customs officer at Gulltown, where he increased the port's revenues tenfold. Seeing Littlefinger's financial acumen, Jon was easily convinced by Lysa to later bring Littlefinger to the royal court at King's Landing, and make him Master of Coin. In charge of the crown's treasury, Littlefinger rapidly grew into a powerful player of royal politics, and a master of court intrigues. Of an older mindset, few viewed Littlefinger as a threat, seeing only that he was a man from a very minor House, with no distinguished lineage, significant landholdings, or armies. Instead, Littlefinger based his newfound power on money.

 MEMBERS and allies

*REPRESENTED IN THE SERIES*