The order of the maesters, also called knights of the mind, is an order of scholars, healers, scientists, and messengers, who study and earn links of expertise at the Citadel in Oldtown, a city in the Reach. They serve numerous purposes, the most popular being advisers to lords and Kings. Before their rise to power, they were subservient to the Alchemists’ Guild. However, they have taken over as the preferred wise men of Westeros.
The order of the maesters are scholars who indulge in numerous fields of study, including medicine, magic, history, heraldry, ravenry, herb lore, astronomy, and economics. They start as novices and climb the knowledge ladder until they can prove their expertise in a particular field. Any boy can join the order because there is no discrimination of birth or class. However, no girl has ever become a maester.
Order of the Maesters’ Hierarchy
Novices and Acolytes
Students who start the journey of becoming maester are called novices. They perform the mundane tasks of the Citadel, including cleaning and caring for old maesters. Novices attend classes and learn different subjects until they can master one. They prove their expertise by appearing before an archmaester, who gives them a link for their chain if they pass. Upon earning a link, novices graduate into acolytes.
Though they are one level above novices, acolytes treat their juniors harshly. Acolytes train at letters at the Scribe’s Hearth, and once they have enough experience, they start taking jobs like reading letters and writing wills for Oldtowners. Once an acolyte is ready to graduate into a maester, he stays in a dark room with a sharp glass candle. He must remain in the room throughout the night in darkness unless he lights the candle.
Though the punishments at the Citadel are not as severe as other orders like the Night’s Watch, novices sometimes get punished. Rectors put thieves in stocks at the Seneschal Court, and acolytes throw rotten fruits at them.
Maesters
Once an acolyte completes his training at the Citadel, he takes a vow that includes discarding his house name and swearing an oath of celibacy. Maesters at the Night’s Watch take a second oath. The order sends out new graduates to lords across the realm, and in turn, the lords pay the Citadel for their maesters. Lords who do not have maesters are unimportant. Once a maester arrives at his assigned house, he is to be loyal no matter what happens.
Archmaesters
Archmasters are maesters who have displayed their undisputable expertise in a field. They receive a ring, rod, and mask made from the metal of their expertise. They also give many lectures at the Citadel and judge if a novice should get a link when they come to prove their knowledge of a subject.
Archmaesters have the right to sit on the conclave, a secret council that elects the Grand Maester for the Iron Throne and determines when the seasons change. They also carry a heavy iron black key that can open most of the doors at the Citadel.
Seneschal
The Seneschal governs the affairs of the Citadel. The position runs annually as most archmaesters believe the role takes them from their work. Once a tenure ends, all archmaesters gather, and a lot gets taken. The one who picks a black stone from the lot becomes the new Seneschal. Someone else usually takes the role if the person who wins the lot is too old to lead.
Grand Maester
King Aegon Targaryen created the Grand Maester’s office in 5 AC. Since then, Grand Maesters have sat on the small council and aided as advisers to the King. As the representative of the Citadel, the conclave chooses the Grand Maester, and only they can unchoose him. Throughout history, many Grand Maesters have met violent ends at the hands of Kings. The most notorious was Maegor I Targaryen, who ended Gawen, Myros, and Demond. King Aegon II Targaryen fed Gerardys to his dragon Sunfyre.
Though the conclave claims to select a Grand Maester based on their ability, it is false as they choose based on family status.
Since the creation of the office of the Grand Maester, over forty men have served the Kings of Westeros. The conclave selects older men. However, King Aegon V suggested they choose a younger man; this led to Pycelle becoming Grand Maester at forty-two.
Education
Boys and men from all over Westeros flock to the Citadel to become maesters. Because there is no discrimination, both baseborns and nobility learn together. Archmaesters teach novices and acolytes in open lectures. Once a student believes he is ready to prove his knowledge, he goes before an archmaester, who eventually determines whether to provide a link.
Many novices and acolytes in Oldtown never get or complete their chains. Others leave on purpose after learning a particular skill they seek, and they become workers for the public, performing numerous tasks like leeching, barbing, and healing people. There is no predetermined time for a person to become a maester. Some take years to learn and years again to forge their chains, while others take a shorter time to complete.
Knowledge and Expertise
Maesters are experts in strange fields like higher mysteries, which involve sorcery. They also research about human the human body by cutting dead bodies. From their experiments, they discovered that noble girls get their first period faster than smallfolk girls and that younger women are at a higher risk of dying during childbirth. Maesters also create star maps to predict fluctuations in seasons, and when they have accurately determined a new season has arrived, they send white ravens to the lords of Westeros.
Maesters advise their respective lords on actions to take and are sometimes trusted enough to read and write letters for their lords. They are also in charge of training the ravens used for sending messages. Other tasks maesters take include assisting in childbirth, teaching children language, arithmetic, history, and geometry, and treating illnesses.
Some maesters are masters of the higher mysteries. However, they mostly believe that the world is void of magic since the destruction of Valyria. Some, like Marwyn, study shunned subjects like the occult.
It is forbidden for maesters to practice necromancy and cut living people up.
Chain
Maesters wear a chain made from several links to signify their expertise. They also have collars to remind themselves of the realm they serve. Each chain link can come from any metal. Once a student has more than nine links, they can forge a chain. Maesters wear their chains for life and rarely remove them, even while sleeping. The Citadel can decide to strip a maester of his chain if he indulges in necromancy and cutting living people up.
The metals students can earn for their chain include:
- Black iron symbolizes mastery of ravenry.
- Yellow gold, or red gold, portrays mastery of accounting, money, and numbers.
- Copper depicts history.
- Silver symbolizes knowledge of medicine.
- Valyrian Steel designates knowledge of higher mysteries.
- Bronze represents mastery of astronomy or astrology.
- Iron embodies mastery of warcraft.
Other metals include brass, electrum, pewter, lead, tin, steel, and platinum.
Though there are fifteen known links for a maester’s chain, there are twenty-one archmaesters, with only eight whose specialty is known. There are also rare links like Valyrian steel, which only one out of one hundred maesters possess.
History
The founding of the Citadel remains disputed. However, many credit Prince Peremore the Twisted, the second son of King Uthor of the High Tower, with creating the order of the maesters as he invited many scholars, healers, sorcerers, and wise men to Oldtown. After his death, King Urrigon gave land to Peremor’s pets, who constructed the Citadel.
There has never been a female maester. Though the reasons are unknown, the Citadel never accepts girls. Queen Alyssane Targaryen once tried convincing the conclave to let in highborn girls, but they refused her demands.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Clash of Kings
When the red comet appears across the sky, the conclave takes note and gathers the numerous reports made by different maesters. Based on their calculations, they conclude that summer is over and send out white ravens to the lords of the Seven Kingdoms.
In King’s Landing, Tyrion Lannister sets a trap to catch Queen Cersei Lannister’s informant on the small council. When he learns it is Grand Maester Pycelle, he throws him into the dungeons of the Red Keep.
A Storm of Swords
When the conclave learns of Pycelle’s dismissal, they begin considering a new person for the role of the Grand Maester. They almost agree on Gormon, formerly from Highgarden, but when Lord Tywin Lannister finds out, he quickly reinstates Pycelle.
A Feast for Crows
A novice, Pate, gets killed by an alchemist after stealing one of the archmaesters’ keys. The assassin later reveals himself as a member of the Faceless Men and takes on Pate’s appearance.
Lord Commander Jon Snow sends Samwell Tarly to train to become a maester at the Citadel. Sam travels with Maester Aemon, but before they reach OldTown, Aemon dies. Before his passing, he tells Sam that the prophecy about the prince promised is wrong. When Sam tells Archmaester Marwyn of Aemon’s interpretation of the prophecy, the archmaester travels to Slaver’s Bay to meet Daenerys Targaryen.
The Order of the Maesters: The Masters of Knowledge
The maesters were the most knowledgeable people in Westeros. They strived to gain more wisdom for the advancement of the Seven Kingdoms. However, even with their brains, they were still prejudiced in their activities. They chose Grand Maesters, not out of merit but class. Their actions showed how deep the classism in Martin’s world ran.
