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** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
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** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are [[BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage ordered by the Crown Crown]] to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
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alphabetized and cleaned up my Valdemar entry
* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':
** Queen Selenay's first marriage is to Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellen, cementing Valdemar's longstanding alliance with its southern neighbor. Unfortunately, Thanel turns out to be TheEvilPrince who shortly attempts to [[TheUsurper usurp the throne for himself]] and is killed by Selenay's bodyguards. Their daughter Elspeth grows up with her father's crimes hanging over her head. Just a few years later, however, Selenay falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Prince Darenthallis -- of Rethwellen, Thanel's brother, so that works out.
** Princess Elspeth herself is resigned to a political marriage as part of her duties as Heir -- until she reckons up the neighboring kingdoms and realizes that all are either in stable alliances or are Valdemar's enemies, and none really have good candidates for her anyway. Her eventual love-match with Darkwind does help establish a new alliance with the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Hawkbrothers]], but only informally, as she [[AbdicateTheThrone abdicates as Heir]] to focus on combat magic, and the Hawkbrothers don't have a hereditary authority anyway.
** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
** Queen Selenay's first marriage is to Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellen, cementing Valdemar's longstanding alliance with its southern neighbor. Unfortunately, Thanel turns out to be TheEvilPrince who shortly attempts to [[TheUsurper usurp the throne for himself]] and is killed by Selenay's bodyguards. Their daughter Elspeth grows up with her father's crimes hanging over her head. Just a few years later, however, Selenay falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Prince Darenthallis -- of Rethwellen, Thanel's brother, so that works out.
** Princess Elspeth herself is resigned to a political marriage as part of her duties as Heir -- until she reckons up the neighboring kingdoms and realizes that all are either in stable alliances or are Valdemar's enemies, and none really have good candidates for her anyway. Her eventual love-match with Darkwind does help establish a new alliance with the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Hawkbrothers]], but only informally, as she [[AbdicateTheThrone abdicates as Heir]] to focus on combat magic, and the Hawkbrothers don't have a hereditary authority anyway.
** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
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* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':
** Queen Selenay's first marriage is to Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellen, which lies on Valdemar's southern border, and cements their longstanding alliance. Unfortunately, Thanel turns out to be a {{Jerkass}} who shortly attempts to usurp the throne for himself and is killed for it. Their daughter Elspeth grows up with her father's crimes hanging over her head. Just a few years later, however, Selenay falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Prince Darenthallis--of Rethwellen, Thanel's brother, so that works out.
** Princess Elspeth herself is resigned to a political marriage as part of her duties as Heir--until she reckons up the neighboring kingdoms and realizes that all are either in stable alliances or are Valdemar's enemies, and none really have good candidates for her anyway. Her eventual love-match with Darkwind does help cement a new alliance with the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Hawkbrothers]], but only informally, as she [[AbdicateTheThrone abdicates as Heir]] to focus on combat magic.
** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
** Queen Selenay's first marriage is to Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellen, which lies on Valdemar's southern border, and cements their longstanding alliance. Unfortunately, Thanel turns out to be a {{Jerkass}} who shortly attempts to usurp the throne for himself and is killed for it. Their daughter Elspeth grows up with her father's crimes hanging over her head. Just a few years later, however, Selenay falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Prince Darenthallis--of Rethwellen, Thanel's brother, so that works out.
** Princess Elspeth herself is resigned to a political marriage as part of her duties as Heir--until she reckons up the neighboring kingdoms and realizes that all are either in stable alliances or are Valdemar's enemies, and none really have good candidates for her anyway. Her eventual love-match with Darkwind does help cement a new alliance with the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Hawkbrothers]], but only informally, as she [[AbdicateTheThrone abdicates as Heir]] to focus on combat magic.
** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
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** The last independent Prince of Meara negotiated a marriage between his eldest daughter and the Haldane king of Gwynedd, in hopes that his principality would be protected from rivals. Others among his nobility (including his wife) valued Meara's independence more than any hoped-for security, and decades of intermittent rebellion followed. Kelson attempted to solve this problem by "marrying Meara" with disastrous results; he later arranged two other marriages with descendants of the old Mearan royal line with better success.
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** The last independent Prince of Meara negotiated a marriage between his eldest daughter and the Haldane king of Gwynedd, in hopes that his principality would be protected from rivals. Others among his nobility (including his wife) valued Meara's independence more than any hoped-for security, and decades of intermittent rebellion followed. Kelson attempted to solve this problem by his "marrying Meara" with disastrous results; he later arranged two other marriages with descendants of the old Mearan royal line with better success.
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* As a series of books set in countries run by monarchies in a feudalistic society, this recurs frequently in the ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' works. Among the many examples:
** The last independent Prince of Meara negotiated a marriage between his eldest daughter and the Haldane king of Gwynedd, in hopes that his principality would be protected from rivals. Others among his nobility (including his wife) valued Meara's independence more than any hoped-for security, and decades of intermittent rebellion followed. Kelson attempted to solve this problem by "marrying Meara" with disastrous results; he later arranged two other marriages with descendants of the old Mearan royal line with better success.
** Kelson is also said to have arranged a pair of marriages between members of his family and those of the Torenthi royal family. The ''Codex'' notes that Liam-Lajos and his sister marry a couple of Kelson's near relatives. This seems to be part of his long-term plan to resolve the long-standing conflict between Gwynedd and Torenth.
** King Donal Haldane himself twice married princesses from neighbouring kingdoms, and he arranged the marriage of Alyce de Corwyn with Kenneth Morgan. Kenneth was loyal to Donal and "a safe pair of hands" to protect the wealthy and strategically-placed Duchy of Corwyn. Alyce herself knew and understood the king would decide her choice of husband, especially after deaths in the ducal family line left her the only heir. That said, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage the marriage did become a love match]].
** The last independent Prince of Meara negotiated a marriage between his eldest daughter and the Haldane king of Gwynedd, in hopes that his principality would be protected from rivals. Others among his nobility (including his wife) valued Meara's independence more than any hoped-for security, and decades of intermittent rebellion followed. Kelson attempted to solve this problem by "marrying Meara" with disastrous results; he later arranged two other marriages with descendants of the old Mearan royal line with better success.
** Kelson is also said to have arranged a pair of marriages between members of his family and those of the Torenthi royal family. The ''Codex'' notes that Liam-Lajos and his sister marry a couple of Kelson's near relatives. This seems to be part of his long-term plan to resolve the long-standing conflict between Gwynedd and Torenth.
** King Donal Haldane himself twice married princesses from neighbouring kingdoms, and he arranged the marriage of Alyce de Corwyn with Kenneth Morgan. Kenneth was loyal to Donal and "a safe pair of hands" to protect the wealthy and strategically-placed Duchy of Corwyn. Alyce herself knew and understood the king would decide her choice of husband, especially after deaths in the ducal family line left her the only heir. That said, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage the marriage did become a love match]].
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** ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Part of the negotiations between the Carthaki Empire and the Tortallan delegation in ''Emperor Mage'' go sour because Emperor Ozorne tries to secure a marriage between his nephew Prince Kaddar and the Tortallan Princess Kalasin, who's only fourteen years old at the time. King Jonathan and Queen Thayet ''do'' expect her to marry for the benefit of Tortall, but are averse to arranging such a match before their daughter could be reasonably expected to have any marital preferences. [[spoiler: Kaddar and Kalasin actually do get married eventually, but only after Ozorne is dead and Kaddar is running the country on his own terms.]]
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** ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Part of the negotiations between the Carthaki Empire and the Tortallan delegation in ''Emperor Mage'' go sour because Emperor Ozorne tries to secure a marriage between his nephew Prince Kaddar and the Tortallan Princess Kalasin, who's only fourteen ten years old at the time. King Jonathan and Queen Thayet ''do'' expect her to marry for the benefit of Tortall, but are averse to arranging such a match before their daughter could be reasonably expected to have any marital preferences. [[spoiler: Kaddar and Kalasin actually do get married eventually, but only after Ozorne is dead and Kaddar is running the country on his own terms.]]
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[[/folder]]
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[[folder: Mythology and Religion]]
* From TheBible:
** Most of King Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines were given to him under these circumstances. He allowed them to worship their own gods and goddesses, rather than forcing them to convert to Judaism. Which was very generous of him, but [[LoveRuinsTheRealm it did eventually lead to the fracturing of the kingdom]].
** Probably the most prominent example is [[ApocalypseMaiden Queen Jezebel]], who was a Phoenician princess given to King Ahab to seal a political alliance between their two nations. Ahab also allowed her to practice her own faith, and even built shrines to Baal and Asherah for her. She assumed a role as a high priestess and promoted the worship of her gods, leading to political instability.
* From TheBible:
** Most of King Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines were given to him under these circumstances. He allowed them to worship their own gods and goddesses, rather than forcing them to convert to Judaism. Which was very generous of him, but [[LoveRuinsTheRealm it did eventually lead to the fracturing of the kingdom]].
** Probably the most prominent example is [[ApocalypseMaiden Queen Jezebel]], who was a Phoenician princess given to King Ahab to seal a political alliance between their two nations. Ahab also allowed her to practice her own faith, and even built shrines to Baal and Asherah for her. She assumed a role as a high priestess and promoted the worship of her gods, leading to political instability.
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*** Alternatively, a player playing as a female human noble who has romanced Alistair and played her cards right may marry Alistair, instead, thus becoming queen of Ferelden.
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** To illustrate how deeply ingrained this mode of thinking is, Shepard manages to broker a Turian-Krogan alliance in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' and Turian teammate Garrus jokingly says he hopes no one thinks of sealing the deal with a political marriage. The game [[GilliganCut immediately cuts]] to Salarian scientist Mordin making the pitch to a very uninterested Krogan female.
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* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':
** Queen Selenay's first marriage is to Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellen, which lies on Valdemar's southern border, and cements their longstanding alliance. Unfortunately, Thanel turns out to be a {{Jerkass}} who shortly attempts to usurp the throne for himself and is killed for it. Their daughter Elspeth grows up with her father's crimes hanging over her head. Just a few years later, however, Selenay falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Prince Darenthallis--of Rethwellen, Thanel's brother, so that works out.
** Princess Elspeth herself is resigned to a political marriage as part of her duties as Heir--until she reckons up the neighboring kingdoms and realizes that all are either in stable alliances or are Valdemar's enemies, and none really have good candidates for her anyway. Her eventual love-match with Darkwind does help cement a new alliance with the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Hawkbrothers]], but only informally, as she [[AbdicateTheThrone abdicates as Heir]] to focus on combat magic.
** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
** Queen Selenay's first marriage is to Prince Karathanelan of Rethwellen, which lies on Valdemar's southern border, and cements their longstanding alliance. Unfortunately, Thanel turns out to be a {{Jerkass}} who shortly attempts to usurp the throne for himself and is killed for it. Their daughter Elspeth grows up with her father's crimes hanging over her head. Just a few years later, however, Selenay falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Prince Darenthallis--of Rethwellen, Thanel's brother, so that works out.
** Princess Elspeth herself is resigned to a political marriage as part of her duties as Heir--until she reckons up the neighboring kingdoms and realizes that all are either in stable alliances or are Valdemar's enemies, and none really have good candidates for her anyway. Her eventual love-match with Darkwind does help cement a new alliance with the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Hawkbrothers]], but only informally, as she [[AbdicateTheThrone abdicates as Heir]] to focus on combat magic.
** The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. Near the end of the book, two feuding families are ordered by the Crown to resolve their differences with a marriage of their heirs, only son to oldest daughter. When the son seduces the youngest daughter and [[spoiler:dies in an attempt to murder everyone else]], the [[spoiler:survivors]] put aside their fighting and pledge to attempt to find other, better matches for marriage.
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** Minbari have a custom dating back to the days when they [[ApeShallNeverKillApe actually made war on each other]] where the winning side would offer a daughter as a symbol of life. [[spoiler:Delenn's family decides to pass off her marriage to Sheridan as this rather than have her go public about the fact that she's descended from Valen (i.e. Jeffrey Sinclair) and has been partially human the whole time]].
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** Minbari have a custom dating back to the days when they [[ApeShallNeverKillApe actually made war on each other]] where the winning side would offer a daughter in marriage to the losing side as a symbol of life. [[spoiler:Delenn's family decides to pass off her marriage to Sheridan as this rather than have her go public about the fact that [[UnevenHybrid she's descended from Valen (i.e. Jeffrey Sinclair) and has been partially human the whole time]]. ]]
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* In ''The Way of D'era: The Romulan Star Empire'', a Romulan supplement for ''TabletopGame/StarTrekTheNextGenerationRolePlayingGame'' by Creator/LastUnicornGames, it is stated that marriages among the Romulan political classes are often arranged this way. The participants are expected to remain faithful to each other regardless of happiness, as those who commit adultery are considered capable of treason.
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[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/6593339aebd8eee61d6d1604bcde942d.png]]
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->'''Misaki:''' AsYouKnow, your father has been working on a peace agreement with that ''brutish'' Wataro clan. Well, I heard the treaty has been finalized.
->'''Ina:''' That's nice.
->'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the Watari daimyo's eldest son!
->'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?
->'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''
->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify some ''stupid little treaty?''
-->--''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic - or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
->'''Ina:''' That's nice.
->'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the Watari daimyo's eldest son!
->'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?
->'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''
->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify some ''stupid little treaty?''
-->--''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic - or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
to:
->'''Misaki:''' AsYouKnow, {{As you know}}, your father has been working on a peace agreement with that ''brutish'' Wataro clan. Well, I heard the treaty has been finalized.\\
'''Ina:''' That's nice.\\
'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the Watari daimyo's eldest son!\\
'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?\\
'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''\\
'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify some ''stupid little treaty?''
-->-- ''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic -- or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
->'''Ina:''' That's nice.
->'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the Watari daimyo's eldest son!
->'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?
->'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''
->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify some ''stupid little treaty?''
-->--''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic - or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
'''Ina:''' That's nice.\\
'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the Watari daimyo's eldest son!\\
'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?\\
'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''\\
'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify some ''stupid little treaty?''
-->-- ''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic -- or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
->'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the Watari daimyo's eldest son!
->'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?
->'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''
->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify some ''stupid little treaty?''
-->--''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic - or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
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Changed line(s) 59 (click to see context) from:
* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Prince Humperdink chooses beautiful peasant Buttercup to be his wife, knowing she will capture the hearts of the populace; he will get a popularity boost and she will get the stable life of royalty. [[spoiler:However, what he truly wants is to [[MarryingTheMark kill her and start a war]].]]
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* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Prince Humperdink chooses beautiful peasant Buttercup to be his wife, knowing she will capture the hearts of the populace; he will get a popularity boost and she will get the stable life of royalty. [[spoiler:However, what he truly wants is to [[MarryingTheMark kill her and start a war]].war.]]
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Since they\'re simply individual families rather than political dynasties, that falls under the supertrope of Marriage Of Convenience, but not Alter Diplomacy.
Deleted line(s) 43 (click to see context) :
* Attempted to be {{Invoked}} by the fathers in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. The father of Saotome Ranma has arranged to board with the father of Tendo Akane so that these two young people can become acquainted and eventually marry. Saotome Genma sees a huge advantage in Ranma inheriting a working dojo to maintain his martial arts training, and to thwart all of Ranma's other suitors as well. Tendo Soun would like to see Akane marry someone with a strong interest in martial arts, so that the dojo he founded won't be neglected or sold off. However, Ranma regards Akane as too forceful and "uncute," while Akane despises boys in general, and calls Ranma a "pervert" to his face. Though these two characters have yet to marry, as that would essentailly end the story, the forces driving them together / apart form the {{Plot}}.
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* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Salarians, being amphibians, don't have any real sex drive and with that no concept of such things as romantic love (except for the ones that hook up with Asari). Reproduction rights are determined by negotiation to continue certain dynasties or alliances, for which family history is very important. A family that loses their history can become a non-entity in such negotiations, as evidenced if Shepard returns one family's history.
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* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Salarians, being amphibians, amphibians who reproduce externally, don't have any real sex drive and with that no concept of such things as romantic love (except for the ones that hook up with Asari). Reproduction rights are determined by negotiation to continue certain dynasties or alliances, for which family history is very important. A family that loses their history can become a non-entity in such negotiations, as evidenced if Shepard returns one family's history.
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->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify ''some stupid little treaty?''
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->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify ''some stupid some ''stupid little treaty?''
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* ''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido'' has this as its main plot device, and the first few pages are devoted to breaking the news to Ina, the girl (see page quote). Both Ina and Yuri (the boy) run away upon learning this, and end up getting to know and like each other without (immediately) knowing who they are to each other.
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better page quote
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->''"It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals."''
-->--'''Fred Allen'''
-->--'''Fred Allen'''
to:
->'''Ina:''' That's nice.
->'''Misaki:''' You're going to wed the
-->--'''Fred Allen'''
->'''Ina:''' I'm being forced to marry some guy I don't even know from a clan ''' ''DESPISED'' ''' throughout Japan!?
->'''Misaki:''' Oh, you'll make ''[[ComicallyMissingThePoint such a cute couple!]]''
->'''Ina:''' Just so my father can ratify ''some stupid little treaty?''
-->--''Webcomic/NoNeedForBushido''
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Changed line(s) 18,19 (click to see context) from:
A darker variant sometimes seen is for a conqueror to marry a surviving member of the royal family in order to legitimize his conquest.
to:
A darker variant sometimes seen is for a conqueror to marry [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe forcibly marry]] a surviving member of the royal family in order to legitimize his conquest.
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A RebelliousPrincess (and occasionally RebelPrince) is often found [[RunawayBride running away from]] or fighting against an expectation that she will marry for her kingdom. TheDutifulSon is likely to go through with such a marriage, regardless of his own wishes. This may be a bone of contention between [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling carefree and responsible siblings]], one of whom does what's good for their family while the other can't give up their freedom to make this match. TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask, the EvilPrince, or even the WisePrince may arrange such marriages for themselves out of either responsibility or ambition. Corporate executives ([[HonestCorporateExecutive Honest]] or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Corrupt]]) may see the good business sense in it.
to:
A RebelliousPrincess (and occasionally RebelPrince) is often found [[RunawayBride running away from]] or fighting against an expectation that she will marry for her kingdom. TheDutifulSon is likely to go through with such a marriage, regardless of his own wishes. This may be a bone of contention between [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling carefree and responsible siblings]], one of whom does what's good for their family while the other can't give up their freedom to make this match. TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask, the EvilPrince, or even the WisePrince may arrange such marriages for themselves out of either responsibility or ambition. Corporate executives ([[HonestCorporateExecutive Honest]] or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Corrupt]]) may see the good business sense in it.
it.
A darker variant sometimes seen is for a conqueror to marry a surviving member of the royal family in order to legitimize his conquest.
A darker variant sometimes seen is for a conqueror to marry a surviving member of the royal family in order to legitimize his conquest.
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* ''Literature/TheGuardian'' by Creator/AngusWells goes five for five here: ''all'' the marriages existing or spoken of in the novel are at least partly political in nature.
** Gailard, one of the PowerTrio of protagonists, is a RebelPrince of a [[BarbarianHero Highlander]] tribe who ran away to join Chaldor's army rather than marry Rytha, a princess of another clan. He didn't hate her, but he didn't love her either. His father retaliated by exiling him on pain of death, and Gailard's brother took Rytha in UnholyMatrimony instead (which had the same result politically).
** King Andur of Chaldor is married to Ryadne, the daughter of the chief of the Dur, another Highlander clan. Their marriage appears to be partially a love match (at the least, Ryadne respects Andur), but the fact that it gained Chaldor the loyalty of the Dur isn't lost on anyone.
** Talan Kedassian, the EvilOverlord of Danant, spends most of the book hunting Gailard and his ward Princess Ellyn of Chaldor (Andur and Ryadne's daughter) in hopes of either marrying her to legitimize his conquest of Chaldor, or killing her to end the royal line, a source of rebellion.
** For her part, Ellyn [[spoiler:falls in love with and marries Roark, the prince of yet ''another'' Highlander clan. It's mentioned in the epilogue that this more or less makes the Highlanders part of Chaldor for good, and that they were always part of Ellyn's royal guard.]]
** Meanwhile in a variant, Kerid, a Chaldorian riverboat captain, starts sleeping with the Mother of [[WretchedHive Hel's Town]] in order to gain her support for his campaign of piracy against Danant's shipping. [[spoiler:They appear to have fallen in love by the end of the book.]]
** Gailard, one of the PowerTrio of protagonists, is a RebelPrince of a [[BarbarianHero Highlander]] tribe who ran away to join Chaldor's army rather than marry Rytha, a princess of another clan. He didn't hate her, but he didn't love her either. His father retaliated by exiling him on pain of death, and Gailard's brother took Rytha in UnholyMatrimony instead (which had the same result politically).
** King Andur of Chaldor is married to Ryadne, the daughter of the chief of the Dur, another Highlander clan. Their marriage appears to be partially a love match (at the least, Ryadne respects Andur), but the fact that it gained Chaldor the loyalty of the Dur isn't lost on anyone.
** Talan Kedassian, the EvilOverlord of Danant, spends most of the book hunting Gailard and his ward Princess Ellyn of Chaldor (Andur and Ryadne's daughter) in hopes of either marrying her to legitimize his conquest of Chaldor, or killing her to end the royal line, a source of rebellion.
** For her part, Ellyn [[spoiler:falls in love with and marries Roark, the prince of yet ''another'' Highlander clan. It's mentioned in the epilogue that this more or less makes the Highlanders part of Chaldor for good, and that they were always part of Ellyn's royal guard.]]
** Meanwhile in a variant, Kerid, a Chaldorian riverboat captain, starts sleeping with the Mother of [[WretchedHive Hel's Town]] in order to gain her support for his campaign of piracy against Danant's shipping. [[spoiler:They appear to have fallen in love by the end of the book.]]
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whoops, misremembered the title AGAIN
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** In ''Literature/BaptismOfFire'' Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard, is hunting Pavetta's daughter and Geralt's ward Ciri in hopes of taking her as a wife to legitimize his conquest of Cintra. At least, that's what the rulers of the Northern Kingdoms think, [[spoiler:and they plan to have her assassinated or married off in order to foil it]]. [[spoiler:In ''Literature/LadyOfTheLake'' Geralt discovers that Duny was an alias: Ciri is Emhyr's ''daughter''.]]
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** In ''Literature/BaptismOfFire'' ''Literature/BloodOfElves'' Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard, is hunting Pavetta's daughter and Geralt's ward Ciri in hopes of taking her as a wife to legitimize his conquest of Cintra. At least, that's what the rulers of the Northern Kingdoms think, [[spoiler:and they plan to have her assassinated or married off in order to foil it]]. [[spoiler:In ''Literature/LadyOfTheLake'' Geralt discovers that Duny was an alias: Ciri is Emhyr's ''daughter''.]]
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** In ''Literature/TheTimeOfContempt'' the Emperor of Nilfgaard is hunting Pavetta's daughter and Geralt's ward Ciri in hopes of taking her as a wife to cement his conquest of Cintra.
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** In ''Literature/TheTimeOfContempt'' ''Literature/BaptismOfFire'' Emhyr var Emreis, the Emperor of Nilfgaard Nilfgaard, is hunting Pavetta's daughter and Geralt's ward Ciri in hopes of taking her as a wife to cement legitimize his conquest of Cintra. At least, that's what the rulers of the Northern Kingdoms think, [[spoiler:and they plan to have her assassinated or married off in order to foil it]]. [[spoiler:In ''Literature/LadyOfTheLake'' Geralt discovers that Duny was an alias: Ciri is Emhyr's ''daughter''.]]
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[[caption-width-right:250:This isn't Henry marrying Gabriella. This is France marrying Spain.]]
->It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.
->It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.
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[[caption-width-right:250:This isn't Henry marrying Gabriella. This is France UsefulNotes/{{France}} marrying Spain.UsefulNotes/{{Spain}}.]]
->It ->''"It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals. goals."''
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* In the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series, Ysandre de la Courcel, then the Crown Princess of Terre d'Ange, was betrothed to the Cruarch of Alba as a teenager on political grounds, though it turned into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage when the two actually met. Notably d'Angelines generally disapprove of this trope as a violation of [[CrystalDragonJesus Blessed Elua's]] commandment to "Love as thou wilt" (though they recognize its occasional necessity).
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* In the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series, Ysandre de la Courcel, then the Crown Princess of Terre d'Ange, was betrothed to the Cruarch of Alba as a teenager on political grounds, though it turned into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage when the two actually met. Notably d'Angelines generally disapprove of this trope as a violation of [[CrystalDragonJesus Blessed Elua's]] commandment to "Love as thou wilt" (though they recognize its occasional necessity).necessity), and d'Angeline law requires the consent of those taking part in the marriage in order for a non-love match to go forward. (For context, this is a country that [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil considers rape a form of heresy]].)
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* In the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series, Ysandre de la Courcel, the Crown Princess of Terre d'Ange, was betrothed to the Cruarch of Alba as a teenager on political grounds, though it turned into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage when the two actually met.
to:
* In the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series, Ysandre de la Courcel, then the Crown Princess of Terre d'Ange, was betrothed to the Cruarch of Alba as a teenager on political grounds, though it turned into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage when the two actually met. Notably d'Angelines generally disapprove of this trope as a violation of [[CrystalDragonJesus Blessed Elua's]] commandment to "Love as thou wilt" (though they recognize its occasional necessity).
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* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', both Prince Farquad and later Prince Charming want to marry Fiona purely so they can become king.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', both Prince Farquad and later Prince Charming want to marry Fiona purely so they can become king.
[[/folder]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', both Prince Farquad and later Prince Charming want to marry Fiona purely so they can become king.
[[/folder]]
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* It's mentioned in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII's'' backstory that Arthas Menethil (crown prince of Lordaeron) and Jaina Proudmoore (the daughter of Kul Tiras' admiral and high up in the MagoCracy of Dalaran)'s relationship was seen with a favorable eye by all, as this would surely bring about good relations between all nations involved. However, they drifted apart due to their duties, even before Arthas became the Lich King.
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* It's mentioned in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII's'' backstory that Arthas Menethil (crown prince of Lordaeron) and Jaina Proudmoore (the daughter of Kul Tiras' admiral and high up in the MagoCracy {{Magocracy}} of Dalaran)'s relationship was seen with a favorable eye by all, as this would surely bring about good relations between all nations involved. However, they drifted apart due to their duties, even before Arthas became the Lich King.
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* In ''Film/AnneOfTheThousandDays'', King Henry [=VIII=] feels free to pursue Anne Boleyn because his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was made to cement a treaty. As he put it so succinctly: "I do not love that woman. I did not marry her. That was a marriage of state: England married Spain."
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* In ''Theatre/AnneOfTheThousandDays'', King Henry [=VIII=] feels free to pursue Anne Boleyn because his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was made to cement a treaty. As he put it so succinctly: "I do not love that woman. I did not marry her. That was a marriage of state: England married Spain."
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* ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' AAR story ''Fanficion/IAmSkantarios'': The Byzantines strengthen their alliance with their Hungarian allies via marriage, one general becoming BashBrothers with Skantarios.
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* ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' AAR story ''Fanficion/IAmSkantarios'': ''Fanfic/IAmSkantarios'': The Byzantines strengthen their alliance with their Hungarian allies via marriage, one general becoming BashBrothers with Skantarios.
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Accidentally took out the picture when I launched.
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[[caption-width-right:250:This isn't Henry marrying Gabriella. This is France marrying Spain.]]
[[caption-width-right:250:This isn't Henry marrying Gabriella. This is France marrying Spain.]]
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%%
%% Examples have been alphabetized.
%%
->It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.
-->--'''Fred Allen'''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic - or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
The common setup is a political marriage to seal a peace or reinforce an alliance between nations or [[TheClan feuding families]], but in modern fiction it's becoming more common for the spouses in question to be representatives of companies or other business interests, and instead of a treaty it becomes a merger. Both parties will typically go into a political marriage with their eyes open, and both parties (or the factions they represent) will typically benefit, though the spouses may not be happy in their married life. This isn't always necessarily mutual; one side may be marrying for politics while the other is marrying for money, for instance.
This has been TruthInTelevision for much of human history. [[MarryForLove Marrying For Love]] was uncommon for those with status, and a good match was often one that benefitted both families politically or in business.
A RebelliousPrincess (and occasionally RebelPrince) is often found [[RunawayBride running away from]] or fighting against an expectation that she will marry for her kingdom. TheDutifulSon is likely to go through with such a marriage, regardless of his own wishes. This may be a bone of contention between [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling carefree and responsible siblings]], one of whom does what's good for their family while the other can't give up their freedom to make this match. TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask, the EvilPrince, or even the WisePrince may arrange such marriages for themselves out of either responsibility or ambition. Corporate executives ([[HonestCorporateExecutive Honest]] or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Corrupt]]) may see the good business sense in it.
Can often overlap with ArrangedMarriage, if one spouse is a princess being married off for instance, but a political marriage doesn't necessarily have to be arranged by anyone other than the spouses themselves. If they truly are faceless pawns in this game, it may be a BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage. If [[MarriageBeforeRomance they grow to love each other]] despite the pragmatic start to their marriage, it can become a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
See also MailOrderBride, which is literally a business transaction, and NobilityMarriesMoney, where one side gets status and one side gets money.
%% Please leave these paragraphs alone. They will be reinstated as the other marriage subtropes get launched.
%%
%% Subtrope of MarriageOfConvenience. See also MailOrderBride, which is literally a business transaction, and TechnicallyMarried, which is a pragmatic marriage without the political or business overtones. If rather than merging assets it's a case of one partner marrying to get their hands on what the other has, see MarryingForMoney or MarryingTheMark.
%%
%% See also NobilityMarriesMoney, where one side gets status and one side gets money.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* This is done in ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', with Slaine Troyard personally arranging a marriage to Princess Asseylum Vers Allusia [[spoiler:except it was Lemrina Vers Envers masquerading as her]] at the start of the second season. At the end of the show, Princess Asseylum announces that she would take Count Klanclain Cruhteo as her husband in marriage in order to secure a lasting peace between the Earth and the Vers Empire.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece'': Don Chinjao has planned to have his grandson Sai, the leader of the Happo Navy, to marry the daughter of the general of the Nippo Navy as a bridge for the two navies to merge and become stronger. Sai in the end decides not to, though.
* Attempted to be {{Invoked}} by the fathers in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. The father of Saotome Ranma has arranged to board with the father of Tendo Akane so that these two young people can become acquainted and eventually marry. Saotome Genma sees a huge advantage in Ranma inheriting a working dojo to maintain his martial arts training, and to thwart all of Ranma's other suitors as well. Tendo Soun would like to see Akane marry someone with a strong interest in martial arts, so that the dojo he founded won't be neglected or sold off. However, Ranma regards Akane as too forceful and "uncute," while Akane despises boys in general, and calls Ranma a "pervert" to his face. Though these two characters have yet to marry, as that would essentailly end the story, the forces driving them together / apart form the {{Plot}}.
* In the backstory of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Marlene Aston, eldest daughter of the royal family of Asturia, entered into an ArrangedMarriage with the ruling duke of the nearby country of Freid to seal a ''de facto'' non-aggression pact, but dies a few years later. During the course of the series, her father King Aston allies with [[TheEmpire the Zaibach Empire]] and allows them to use Asturia as a staging ground for an invasion of Freid, and it's mentioned that he never would have allowed such a thing if Marlene were still alive. Considering that her son, Aston's grandson, is the heir-apparent to Freid, it's still a pretty cold move.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanworks]]
* ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' AAR story ''Fanficion/IAmSkantarios'': The Byzantines strengthen their alliance with their Hungarian allies via marriage, one general becoming BashBrothers with Skantarios.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* In ''Film/AnneOfTheThousandDays'', King Henry [=VIII=] feels free to pursue Anne Boleyn because his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was made to cement a treaty. As he put it so succinctly: "I do not love that woman. I did not marry her. That was a marriage of state: England married Spain."
* The Spanish film ''Los Borgia'' shows that Lucrezia was only used as a way for the family to ally with powerful families, and then canceling those marriages when they weren't useful anymore.
* ''Film/EverAfter'':
** [[RebelPrince Prince Henry]] of France is supposed to marry Princess Gabriella of Spain, and it's implied that it'll be a diplomatic nightmare for his father King Frances if Henry sidesteps the match. Henry, who especially at the beginning of the movie is kind of a brat, doesn't care.
** There's also an allusion to the fact that Henry's parents married for diplomatic reasons as well.
--->'''Queen Marie:''' Sweetheart... you were born to privilege, and with that comes specific obligations.
--->'''Henry:''' Forgive me, Mother, but marriage to a complete stranger never made anyone in this room very happy.
--->'''Queen Marie:''' ''[glances awkwardly at King Frances]''
* The biographic film ''Film/MarieAntoinette'' has Marie of Austria delivered to Louis [=XVI=] of France at the age of 15 to cement a treaty between the two nations. Neither was really prepared for marriage, and Marie was despised at the French court as "that Austrian whore." Nevertheless, Marie and Louis grew to love each other during their short reign.
* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Prince Humperdink chooses beautiful peasant Buttercup to be his wife, knowing she will capture the hearts of the populace; he will get a popularity boost and she will get the stable life of royalty. [[spoiler:However, what he truly wants is to [[MarryingTheMark kill her and start a war]].]]
* Ebullient Squire Will Danaher from ''Film/TheQuietMan'' has been itching to woo the widow Sarah Tillane, not for love, but because their land holdings combined would make theirs the largest arable tract in the county. Up until Sean Thornton from America comes along, Widow Tillane will have nothing to do with GrumpyBear Danaher.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Garion and Ce'Nedra in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' are betrothed by a five-hundred-year-old treaty between their countries, not to mention that [[YouCantFightFate prophecy thing]]. True to the trope, they engage in quite a bit of SlapSlapKiss, but also [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] in that [[LockedOutOfTheLoop neither knew about the arrangement]][[note]]Ce'Nedra knew she had to be presented as the bride of the Rivan King on her sixteenth birthday, but not that said King would actually show up or that Garion was he. Garion, for his part, knew absolutely ''nothing'', which was quite intentional.[[/note]] until after they'd gotten acquainted and fallen in love anyway. This also happens for some background characters like Barak and his wife, but that's what you get when most of the characters belong to the aristocratic class in a medieval fantasy book.
* In the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'':
** The marriage of Photius and Tahmina, to cement an alliance between Rome and Persia.
** The marriage of Eon and Rukaiya, to strengthen the political ties between Ethopia and Arabia.
* In ''Literature/{{Chalion}}, The Curse of Chalion'', Royesse (Princess) Iselle arranges her own marriage--for rather urgent political reasons--to the crown prince of a neighboring kingdom whom she's never seen, pausing briefly to collect the rumor that he is "well-favored" (which she cynically says people will say about any prince who isn't a perfect fright), before returning to more important practical considerations. When she finally meets him, they've practically already bonded over their shared love and admiration for the main character, Iselle's heroic secretary, and by the morning after the wedding, he observes that they look like a couple madly in love.
* In the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series, Ysandre de la Courcel, the Crown Princess of Terre d'Ange, was betrothed to the Cruarch of Alba as a teenager on political grounds, though it turned into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage when the two actually met.
* In ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' the ailing King and Queen of Florin want to marry Prince Humperdinck to the Princess of Guilder to forge an alliance between the two rival countries. Humperdinck breaks off the engagement when it turns out during a banquet that his fiancee is [[BaldWomen congenitally bald]], and comments that he'd always planned to just conquer Guilder instead.
* Occurs twice in the ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'' series by Creator/RobinHobb; in both cases a Farseer prince was engaged to a foreign princess to secure an alliance and the couple ended up falling in love. The second one ended quite well, the first one less so.
* ''Literature/{{Safehold}}, By Schism Rent Asunder'':
** King Cayleb of Charis marries Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm in what was originally a cold-blooded political move to unite their kingdoms. When they finally meet, it is LoveAtFirstSight.
** Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald and his wife Princess Ohlyvya were betrothed at a young age, and eventually ended up falling in love, much to their mutual surprise. (And benefit, as the practically-minded Ohlyvya tempers some of Nahrmahn's... more volatile characteristics.)
** Done deliberately with Irys and Hektor. [[EveryoneCanSeeIt They clearly like each other]] but both are unwilling to make a move due to the circumstances. Sharleyan decides to deal with it by making their arranged marriage a condition of the peace treaty between Charis and Corisande.
* ''Literature/SingTheFourQuarters'':
** In the {{backstory}}, then-Crown Prince Theron wanted to marry off his younger sister Princess Annice to the heir of neighboring Cemandia, but she managed to get their father King Maric to let her join the MagicMusic bards on his deathbed instead. Theron reacted by ordering Annice to relinquish any claim to the succession and banning her on pain of death from having children. This is the source of their current estrangement. [[spoiler:We learn later that Annice's gift for bardic Singing would have been fatal in Cemandia, which considers [[ElementalEmbodiment the kigh]] to be unholy.]]
** One of Annice's sisters is in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage with a Shkoder duc. Their nuptials were intended to bind the duc's line closer to the royal family, but it ended up as a love match.
* This is the default expectation for marriages among the nobility in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', to the point where it's considered an oddity that King Aegon "Egg" Targaryen [[AvertedTrope allowed all of his children to marry for love in the backstory]]. Specific examples:
** Catelyn Tully of Riverrun was betrothed to Brandon, the heir-apparent of House Stark. Brandon was killed when Robert's Rebellion erupted, making the alliance all the more necessary, so Catelyn had to SettleForSibling with Brandon's younger brother (and new Lord of Winterfell) Eddard, which luckily turned out to be a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
** At the same time, Catelyn's younger sister Lysa was married to Eddard's foster father, Jon Arryn of the Vale. This was mutually very politically beneficial: Arryn was already elderly and badly needed a young and fertile wife to provide an heir; Lysa [[spoiler: was known to be fertile, having already been pregnant with stepbrother Petyr Baelish' bastard before being forced to induce a miscarriage,]] so the Tullys got to [[spoiler: marry off a "[[DefiledForever soiled]]" daughter who otherwise would have been difficult to arrange a match for.]] Unfortunately their marriage wound up [[{{Understatement}} somewhat less perfectly arranged]].
** At around the same time, Robert Baratheon, heir-apparent to Storm's End and House Baratheon, was betrothed to Eddard's sister Lyanna so as to ally the Stormlands with the North, Riverrun, and the Vale. Lyanna died before the match could be consummated and left no other female Stark of a proper age for Robert to marry, but the alliance continued.
** After the war that put him on the throne, now-King Robert Baratheon married Cersei Lannister, the daughter of a rich and powerful family, on the advice of his foster father Jon Arryn. The Lannisters were a late addition to the alliance that put Robert on the throne, and the hope was that this would cement their loyalty. The Lannisters, for their part, are only too willing to milk the match for political influence.
** Much later, Robert attempts once again to formally ally Baratheon with Stark by formally betrothing his eldest "son" Joffrey to Eddard's eldest daughter Sansa, and informally implying that younger siblings Tommen "Baratheon" and Arya Stark and Myrcella "Baratheon" and Bran Stark might someday be betrothed as well. This is largely to sweeten his offer to name Eddard Stark Hand of the King and have him do the hard work of ruling the realm.
** Across the Narrow Sea, the exiled Viserys Tagaryen marries his sister Danaerys to Khal Drogo in exchange for the use of Drogo's barbarian horde in retaking the Seven Kingdoms.
** In the early days of the War of the Five Kings, King Robert's younger brother Renly, Lord of Storm's End, marries Margaery Tyrell to secure the wealthy and powerful Tyrell family's support in pressing his claim to the throne. Margaery is only TheBeard; it is an OpenSecret that Renly is already quite literally in bed with the Tyrells in the person of [[HoYay Margaery's brother Loras]].
** Renly's well-known [[HoYay proclivities]] mean that after his [[spoiler: death]], Margaery could be remarried to Joffrey [[spoiler: and, later, Tommen]] "Baratheon" as part of the Tyrells' shift of allegiance to the Lannisters.
** Around this same time, Myrcella "Baratheon" is engaged to Trystane Martell in order to keep Dorne allied with the crown.
** {{Subverted}} by Stannis Baratheon; it's never mentioned what the original political advantage of his marriage to Selyse Florent was, but during the War of the Five Kings it doesn't even get him the support of her entire House, many of whom stay loyal to their nominal leige lords the Tyrells.
** Stannis' Hand of the King, Alester Florent, plots to betroth Stannis' daughter and heir Shireen Baratheon to her "cousin" Tommen in exchange for peace with the Lannisters. Stannis executes him for treason instead.
** Walder Frey, lord the Twins, a strategic river crossing, agrees to join King in the North Robb Stark's rebellion against the Iron Throne in exchange for betrothing Robb to a daughter or granddaughter (Frey [[ReallyGetsAround has plenty]]) of Robb's choosing and Robb's sister Arya to a son or grandson of hers, among other concessions. The alliance is broken when Robb breaks his betrothal and [[MarryForLove Marries For Love]], or [[HonorBeforeReason honor]] as the case may be (he has a [[SexForSolace one-night stand]] and is unwilling to stain the girl's honor by setting her aside). It is renewed when Robb's bannerman and uncle Edmure Tully agrees to marry Frey's daughter Roslin [[spoiler: except not really; the wedding is a pretext to lure Robb and his followers to the Twins, where they are slaughtered.]]
* The ''Franchise/StarCraft'' ExpandedUniverse novel ''[=StarCraft=] Ghost: Nova'' establishes that members of upper-class families on Tarsonis invariably marry for political reasons, and often only have children with each other by artificial insemination. It's an accepted fact that the husband will have a long-term mistress and the wife a [[DistaffCounterpart jig]], both of whom are viewed as essential to the harmony of the household.
* In Tamora Pierce's medieval fantasy Literature/TortallUniverse:
** ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'': Prince Jonathan is slated to marry a princess from the Copper Isles in whom he has little interest. Fortunately for him, she goes AxeCrazy and takes herself out of the running, freeing him up to make a love match with the newly arrived Princess Thayet.
** ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Part of the negotiations between the Carthaki Empire and the Tortallan delegation in ''Emperor Mage'' go sour because Emperor Ozorne tries to secure a marriage between his nephew Prince Kaddar and the Tortallan Princess Kalasin, who's only fourteen years old at the time. King Jonathan and Queen Thayet ''do'' expect her to marry for the benefit of Tortall, but are averse to arranging such a match before their daughter could be reasonably expected to have any marital preferences. [[spoiler: Kaddar and Kalasin actually do get married eventually, but only after Ozorne is dead and Kaddar is running the country on his own terms.]]
** ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'': Kalasin's brother Roald, the Crown Prince, is engaged to a minor Yamani princess in the first book, a marriage negotiated by protagonist Kel's diplomat parents. In the second book, Princess Chisakami dies in an earthquake before even meeting her intended, and the marriage has to be renegotiated from scratch. Much of the third book deals with the arrival of the ''new'' Yamani princess and her delegation. Kel notes that Princess Shinkokami is of a much higher rank than Princess Chisakami was, which means that the Yamanis must be placing a lot of importance on their alliance with the Tortallans.
** ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'': This duology about a carefully orchestrated rebellion spends quite a bit more time on alliances among the nobility than Pierce's other books. Sarai Balitang carries the blood of the old raka monarchs as well as the white conquerors currently ruling the country, and is believed to be the prophesied "Twice-Royal" queen who will restore the raka to glory. Reacting to her growing popularity with the public, the iron-fisted regents begin pressuring her into a marriage with the five-year-old [[AChildShallLeadThem boy-king]] (who is also [[KissingCousins her cousin]]). Sarai, [[LockedOutOfTheLoop completely unaware]] of the rebellion brewing on her behalf, doesn't see any way out of the marriage and decides to elope to Carthak. The conspiracy is suddenly without a figurehead. [[spoiler: Lucky thing she has a little sister, isn't it?]]
* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'':
** In "A Question of Price", the fifth ShortStory in ''Literature/TheLastWish'', Queen Calanthe of Cintra wants to ensure a good political marriage for her daughter Princess Pavetta, and entertains suitors at Pavetta's fifteenth birthday celebration. She specifically wants Pavetta to marry into the royal house of the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Viking-like]] Skellige Islands to make Cintra a less-attractive target for Skellige pirates, and contracts Geralt of Rivia to help ensure Pavetta [[ExactWords a good marriage]]. [[spoiler:In the end Pavetta is in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage with Duny, a lord formerly under BalefulPolymorph to whom Calanthe's deceased husband had promised Pavetta [[IOweYouMyLife in exchange for saving his life]], while Calanthe herself ends up in a love match with Eist Tuirseach, a knight of Skellige with whom it's implied she was having a covert affair offscreen.]]
** In ''Literature/TheTimeOfContempt'' the Emperor of Nilfgaard is hunting Pavetta's daughter and Geralt's ward Ciri in hopes of taking her as a wife to cement his conquest of Cintra.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action Television]]
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** The Centauri, with their system of noble houses, often use marriage as a political tool. Londo has three wives ([[spoiler:at first]]) all arranged for him. This has lead to some rather cynical views on marriage, with weddings being solemn affairs rather than joyous ones.
** Outright defied in one episode where a pair of Centauri youth run away after their families arrange marriages for them, one to the ugliest woman on Centauri Prime, and the other to a man old enough to be her grandfather, but they would much rather marry each other. Londo at first encourages them to go through with it for the good of the Centauri Republic, but eventually realizes that doing so would cause them to become like him, after which he arranges a way to get them out of it without disgracing their houses.
** Minbari have a custom dating back to the days when they [[ApeShallNeverKillApe actually made war on each other]] where the winning side would offer a daughter as a symbol of life. [[spoiler:Delenn's family decides to pass off her marriage to Sheridan as this rather than have her go public about the fact that she's descended from Valen (i.e. Jeffrey Sinclair) and has been partially human the whole time]].
* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': In [[Recap/BlackadderS1E4TheQueenOfSpainsBeard "The Queen of Spain's Beard"]] Edmund is first betrothed to the Spanish Infanta and later is married off to a princess of Hungary[[note]]who is only eight years old[[/note]] because of his father king Edward's political machinations.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Many marriages are political in nature among the noble families, which is unsurprising given the intricate politics in the series.
** Walder Frey's common price for allowing important people to cross his bridge in times of need is a husband for one of his daughters or granddaughters. Robb Stark is promised to marry a Frey girl for use of the bridge; when he abandons the promise to MarryForLove, things don't end well.
** Danaerys declares she will marry [[spoiler: Hizdahr zo Loraq]] in an attempt to bring peace to Meereen.
** Tyrion is arranged to marry [[spoiler: Sansa]] so that he will produce a Lannister heir [[spoiler: who would have a claim to the North]].
** Sansa's marriage to [[spoiler: Ramsay Bolton]] is political on both sides - [[spoiler: to give the Boltons' rule in Winterfell legitimacy and to allow her to go home to the North]].
** Myrcella Baratheon (Cersei's daughter and the king's sister) is sent to Dorne to marry Prince Trystane Martell and cement an alliance with that house; they end up [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage genuinely falling in love]].
* The early ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "[[Recap/StargateSG1S1E3Emancipation Emancipation]]" has Abu attempt to trade Samantha Carter to a rival [[SpaceRomans Space Mongol]] chieftain, Turghan, in exchange for being able to marry Turghan's daughter Nya. Turghan refuses, as he plans to marry her to another chieftain to secure that chieftain's allegiance. Carter is not amused at any aspect of the situation.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''Fief: France 1429'' two players can formalize an alliance by having a Lord controlled by one player marry a Lady controlled by the other player. While the alliance lasts the two players have a special joint victory condition. The alliance will be broken if one of the players successfully petitions the Pope for an annulment or one of the spouses is killed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theater]]
* Many of Creator/{{Moliere}}'s comedies have the children of the main character be engaged to a much older, better-connected and richer person, much to their chagrin, but it all works out in the end.
* ''Theater/RomeoAndJuliet'' has a slightly convoluted example:
** {{Inverted}} by the titular characters themselves, who MarryForLove ''despite'' the politics.
** {{Subverted}} when Friar Lawrence attempts to [[InvokedTrope encourage]] their marriage ''for'' the politics, hoping it will bring peace between their houses, but fails when the bride and groom both die; DoubleSubverted when their deaths bring about the political end he was aiming for anyway.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', political marriages are the only way to forge a formal alliance with another dynasty; dynasties that you have a marriage pact with may come to your aid in war. Spouses with desirable traits also have a chance to pass them on to any children, requiring the player to balance sometimes conflicting priorities.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', several war table operations involve forging or breaking such marriages or betrothals to achieve your desired ends.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'':
** A possible resolution to the Ferelden succession crisis subplot is to have your party member Alistair, the HeroicBastard son of King Maric, marry Queen Anora, the daughter of Maric's army commander Loghain mac Tir and former wife of Alistair's half-brother King Cailan [[StuffedIntoTheFridge who died in battle early in the main plot]]. Fair warning, though: if you've been romancing Alistair as a female PlayerCharacter he'll [[SeductionProofMarriage break it off]].[[note]]Although taking the right dialogue option in his personal sidequest can let you become his mistress.[[/note]]
** Notes found in the "Return to Ostagar" {{DLC}}, supported by WordOfGod, indicate King Cailan was planning to divorce Anora in favor of a political marriage to the Empress of Orlais. This fed into Loghain mac Tir's CavalryBetrayal of Cailan at Ostagar: in the {{backstory}} Loghain and King Maric had fought for years to ''eject'' Orlais' occupation forces from Ferelden.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Salarians, being amphibians, don't have any real sex drive and with that no concept of such things as romantic love (except for the ones that hook up with Asari). Reproduction rights are determined by negotiation to continue certain dynasties or alliances, for which family history is very important. A family that loses their history can become a non-entity in such negotiations, as evidenced if Shepard returns one family's history.
* It's mentioned in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII's'' backstory that Arthas Menethil (crown prince of Lordaeron) and Jaina Proudmoore (the daughter of Kul Tiras' admiral and high up in the MagoCracy of Dalaran)'s relationship was seen with a favorable eye by all, as this would surely bring about good relations between all nations involved. However, they drifted apart due to their duties, even before Arthas became the Lich King.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Agatha's confirmed status as the long-lost heir to the house of Heterodyne means that not only do Gil (the heir to the Wulfenbach empire) and Tarvek (a direct descendant of the legendary Storm King) have ''romantic'' reasons to want to marry her, they have pretty compelling ''political'' motivations as well, as do other power players like Tarvek's cousin Martellus, who goes so far as to kidnap Agatha as part of his master plan to join their houses and ascend to power in Europa.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', both Prince Farquad and later Prince Charming want to marry Fiona purely so they can become king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:RealLife]]
* This was the exception rather than the rule in human history.
%%
%% And as such, please only add extremely notable examples.
%%
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg Habsburgs]] deserve special note: they managed to expand to a dominant position within Europe during a period over several hundred years almost entirely using dynastic marriages.
-->"Leave the waging of wars to others! But you, happy Austria, marry; for the realms which Mars awards to others, Venus transfers to you."
--->--''Habsburg Dynastic Motto''
[[/folder]]
----
%% Examples have been alphabetized.
%%
->It is probably not love that makes the world go around, but rather those mutually supportive alliances through which partners recognize their dependence on each other for the achievement of shared and private goals.
-->--'''Fred Allen'''
This is essentially marriage as a negotiation tactic - or more precisely, as the final step which seals a contract they already negotiated.
The common setup is a political marriage to seal a peace or reinforce an alliance between nations or [[TheClan feuding families]], but in modern fiction it's becoming more common for the spouses in question to be representatives of companies or other business interests, and instead of a treaty it becomes a merger. Both parties will typically go into a political marriage with their eyes open, and both parties (or the factions they represent) will typically benefit, though the spouses may not be happy in their married life. This isn't always necessarily mutual; one side may be marrying for politics while the other is marrying for money, for instance.
This has been TruthInTelevision for much of human history. [[MarryForLove Marrying For Love]] was uncommon for those with status, and a good match was often one that benefitted both families politically or in business.
A RebelliousPrincess (and occasionally RebelPrince) is often found [[RunawayBride running away from]] or fighting against an expectation that she will marry for her kingdom. TheDutifulSon is likely to go through with such a marriage, regardless of his own wishes. This may be a bone of contention between [[FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling carefree and responsible siblings]], one of whom does what's good for their family while the other can't give up their freedom to make this match. TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask, the EvilPrince, or even the WisePrince may arrange such marriages for themselves out of either responsibility or ambition. Corporate executives ([[HonestCorporateExecutive Honest]] or [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Corrupt]]) may see the good business sense in it.
Can often overlap with ArrangedMarriage, if one spouse is a princess being married off for instance, but a political marriage doesn't necessarily have to be arranged by anyone other than the spouses themselves. If they truly are faceless pawns in this game, it may be a BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage. If [[MarriageBeforeRomance they grow to love each other]] despite the pragmatic start to their marriage, it can become a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
See also MailOrderBride, which is literally a business transaction, and NobilityMarriesMoney, where one side gets status and one side gets money.
%% Please leave these paragraphs alone. They will be reinstated as the other marriage subtropes get launched.
%%
%% Subtrope of MarriageOfConvenience. See also MailOrderBride, which is literally a business transaction, and TechnicallyMarried, which is a pragmatic marriage without the political or business overtones. If rather than merging assets it's a case of one partner marrying to get their hands on what the other has, see MarryingForMoney or MarryingTheMark.
%%
%% See also NobilityMarriesMoney, where one side gets status and one side gets money.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* This is done in ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', with Slaine Troyard personally arranging a marriage to Princess Asseylum Vers Allusia [[spoiler:except it was Lemrina Vers Envers masquerading as her]] at the start of the second season. At the end of the show, Princess Asseylum announces that she would take Count Klanclain Cruhteo as her husband in marriage in order to secure a lasting peace between the Earth and the Vers Empire.
* ''Franchise/OnePiece'': Don Chinjao has planned to have his grandson Sai, the leader of the Happo Navy, to marry the daughter of the general of the Nippo Navy as a bridge for the two navies to merge and become stronger. Sai in the end decides not to, though.
* Attempted to be {{Invoked}} by the fathers in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. The father of Saotome Ranma has arranged to board with the father of Tendo Akane so that these two young people can become acquainted and eventually marry. Saotome Genma sees a huge advantage in Ranma inheriting a working dojo to maintain his martial arts training, and to thwart all of Ranma's other suitors as well. Tendo Soun would like to see Akane marry someone with a strong interest in martial arts, so that the dojo he founded won't be neglected or sold off. However, Ranma regards Akane as too forceful and "uncute," while Akane despises boys in general, and calls Ranma a "pervert" to his face. Though these two characters have yet to marry, as that would essentailly end the story, the forces driving them together / apart form the {{Plot}}.
* In the backstory of ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', Marlene Aston, eldest daughter of the royal family of Asturia, entered into an ArrangedMarriage with the ruling duke of the nearby country of Freid to seal a ''de facto'' non-aggression pact, but dies a few years later. During the course of the series, her father King Aston allies with [[TheEmpire the Zaibach Empire]] and allows them to use Asturia as a staging ground for an invasion of Freid, and it's mentioned that he never would have allowed such a thing if Marlene were still alive. Considering that her son, Aston's grandson, is the heir-apparent to Freid, it's still a pretty cold move.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanworks]]
* ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' AAR story ''Fanficion/IAmSkantarios'': The Byzantines strengthen their alliance with their Hungarian allies via marriage, one general becoming BashBrothers with Skantarios.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* In ''Film/AnneOfTheThousandDays'', King Henry [=VIII=] feels free to pursue Anne Boleyn because his marriage to Katherine of Aragon was made to cement a treaty. As he put it so succinctly: "I do not love that woman. I did not marry her. That was a marriage of state: England married Spain."
* The Spanish film ''Los Borgia'' shows that Lucrezia was only used as a way for the family to ally with powerful families, and then canceling those marriages when they weren't useful anymore.
* ''Film/EverAfter'':
** [[RebelPrince Prince Henry]] of France is supposed to marry Princess Gabriella of Spain, and it's implied that it'll be a diplomatic nightmare for his father King Frances if Henry sidesteps the match. Henry, who especially at the beginning of the movie is kind of a brat, doesn't care.
** There's also an allusion to the fact that Henry's parents married for diplomatic reasons as well.
--->'''Queen Marie:''' Sweetheart... you were born to privilege, and with that comes specific obligations.
--->'''Henry:''' Forgive me, Mother, but marriage to a complete stranger never made anyone in this room very happy.
--->'''Queen Marie:''' ''[glances awkwardly at King Frances]''
* The biographic film ''Film/MarieAntoinette'' has Marie of Austria delivered to Louis [=XVI=] of France at the age of 15 to cement a treaty between the two nations. Neither was really prepared for marriage, and Marie was despised at the French court as "that Austrian whore." Nevertheless, Marie and Louis grew to love each other during their short reign.
* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Prince Humperdink chooses beautiful peasant Buttercup to be his wife, knowing she will capture the hearts of the populace; he will get a popularity boost and she will get the stable life of royalty. [[spoiler:However, what he truly wants is to [[MarryingTheMark kill her and start a war]].]]
* Ebullient Squire Will Danaher from ''Film/TheQuietMan'' has been itching to woo the widow Sarah Tillane, not for love, but because their land holdings combined would make theirs the largest arable tract in the county. Up until Sean Thornton from America comes along, Widow Tillane will have nothing to do with GrumpyBear Danaher.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Garion and Ce'Nedra in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' are betrothed by a five-hundred-year-old treaty between their countries, not to mention that [[YouCantFightFate prophecy thing]]. True to the trope, they engage in quite a bit of SlapSlapKiss, but also [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] in that [[LockedOutOfTheLoop neither knew about the arrangement]][[note]]Ce'Nedra knew she had to be presented as the bride of the Rivan King on her sixteenth birthday, but not that said King would actually show up or that Garion was he. Garion, for his part, knew absolutely ''nothing'', which was quite intentional.[[/note]] until after they'd gotten acquainted and fallen in love anyway. This also happens for some background characters like Barak and his wife, but that's what you get when most of the characters belong to the aristocratic class in a medieval fantasy book.
* In the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'':
** The marriage of Photius and Tahmina, to cement an alliance between Rome and Persia.
** The marriage of Eon and Rukaiya, to strengthen the political ties between Ethopia and Arabia.
* In ''Literature/{{Chalion}}, The Curse of Chalion'', Royesse (Princess) Iselle arranges her own marriage--for rather urgent political reasons--to the crown prince of a neighboring kingdom whom she's never seen, pausing briefly to collect the rumor that he is "well-favored" (which she cynically says people will say about any prince who isn't a perfect fright), before returning to more important practical considerations. When she finally meets him, they've practically already bonded over their shared love and admiration for the main character, Iselle's heroic secretary, and by the morning after the wedding, he observes that they look like a couple madly in love.
* In the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' series, Ysandre de la Courcel, the Crown Princess of Terre d'Ange, was betrothed to the Cruarch of Alba as a teenager on political grounds, though it turned into a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage when the two actually met.
* In ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' the ailing King and Queen of Florin want to marry Prince Humperdinck to the Princess of Guilder to forge an alliance between the two rival countries. Humperdinck breaks off the engagement when it turns out during a banquet that his fiancee is [[BaldWomen congenitally bald]], and comments that he'd always planned to just conquer Guilder instead.
* Occurs twice in the ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings'' series by Creator/RobinHobb; in both cases a Farseer prince was engaged to a foreign princess to secure an alliance and the couple ended up falling in love. The second one ended quite well, the first one less so.
* ''Literature/{{Safehold}}, By Schism Rent Asunder'':
** King Cayleb of Charis marries Queen Sharleyan of Chisholm in what was originally a cold-blooded political move to unite their kingdoms. When they finally meet, it is LoveAtFirstSight.
** Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald and his wife Princess Ohlyvya were betrothed at a young age, and eventually ended up falling in love, much to their mutual surprise. (And benefit, as the practically-minded Ohlyvya tempers some of Nahrmahn's... more volatile characteristics.)
** Done deliberately with Irys and Hektor. [[EveryoneCanSeeIt They clearly like each other]] but both are unwilling to make a move due to the circumstances. Sharleyan decides to deal with it by making their arranged marriage a condition of the peace treaty between Charis and Corisande.
* ''Literature/SingTheFourQuarters'':
** In the {{backstory}}, then-Crown Prince Theron wanted to marry off his younger sister Princess Annice to the heir of neighboring Cemandia, but she managed to get their father King Maric to let her join the MagicMusic bards on his deathbed instead. Theron reacted by ordering Annice to relinquish any claim to the succession and banning her on pain of death from having children. This is the source of their current estrangement. [[spoiler:We learn later that Annice's gift for bardic Singing would have been fatal in Cemandia, which considers [[ElementalEmbodiment the kigh]] to be unholy.]]
** One of Annice's sisters is in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage with a Shkoder duc. Their nuptials were intended to bind the duc's line closer to the royal family, but it ended up as a love match.
* This is the default expectation for marriages among the nobility in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', to the point where it's considered an oddity that King Aegon "Egg" Targaryen [[AvertedTrope allowed all of his children to marry for love in the backstory]]. Specific examples:
** Catelyn Tully of Riverrun was betrothed to Brandon, the heir-apparent of House Stark. Brandon was killed when Robert's Rebellion erupted, making the alliance all the more necessary, so Catelyn had to SettleForSibling with Brandon's younger brother (and new Lord of Winterfell) Eddard, which luckily turned out to be a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
** At the same time, Catelyn's younger sister Lysa was married to Eddard's foster father, Jon Arryn of the Vale. This was mutually very politically beneficial: Arryn was already elderly and badly needed a young and fertile wife to provide an heir; Lysa [[spoiler: was known to be fertile, having already been pregnant with stepbrother Petyr Baelish' bastard before being forced to induce a miscarriage,]] so the Tullys got to [[spoiler: marry off a "[[DefiledForever soiled]]" daughter who otherwise would have been difficult to arrange a match for.]] Unfortunately their marriage wound up [[{{Understatement}} somewhat less perfectly arranged]].
** At around the same time, Robert Baratheon, heir-apparent to Storm's End and House Baratheon, was betrothed to Eddard's sister Lyanna so as to ally the Stormlands with the North, Riverrun, and the Vale. Lyanna died before the match could be consummated and left no other female Stark of a proper age for Robert to marry, but the alliance continued.
** After the war that put him on the throne, now-King Robert Baratheon married Cersei Lannister, the daughter of a rich and powerful family, on the advice of his foster father Jon Arryn. The Lannisters were a late addition to the alliance that put Robert on the throne, and the hope was that this would cement their loyalty. The Lannisters, for their part, are only too willing to milk the match for political influence.
** Much later, Robert attempts once again to formally ally Baratheon with Stark by formally betrothing his eldest "son" Joffrey to Eddard's eldest daughter Sansa, and informally implying that younger siblings Tommen "Baratheon" and Arya Stark and Myrcella "Baratheon" and Bran Stark might someday be betrothed as well. This is largely to sweeten his offer to name Eddard Stark Hand of the King and have him do the hard work of ruling the realm.
** Across the Narrow Sea, the exiled Viserys Tagaryen marries his sister Danaerys to Khal Drogo in exchange for the use of Drogo's barbarian horde in retaking the Seven Kingdoms.
** In the early days of the War of the Five Kings, King Robert's younger brother Renly, Lord of Storm's End, marries Margaery Tyrell to secure the wealthy and powerful Tyrell family's support in pressing his claim to the throne. Margaery is only TheBeard; it is an OpenSecret that Renly is already quite literally in bed with the Tyrells in the person of [[HoYay Margaery's brother Loras]].
** Renly's well-known [[HoYay proclivities]] mean that after his [[spoiler: death]], Margaery could be remarried to Joffrey [[spoiler: and, later, Tommen]] "Baratheon" as part of the Tyrells' shift of allegiance to the Lannisters.
** Around this same time, Myrcella "Baratheon" is engaged to Trystane Martell in order to keep Dorne allied with the crown.
** {{Subverted}} by Stannis Baratheon; it's never mentioned what the original political advantage of his marriage to Selyse Florent was, but during the War of the Five Kings it doesn't even get him the support of her entire House, many of whom stay loyal to their nominal leige lords the Tyrells.
** Stannis' Hand of the King, Alester Florent, plots to betroth Stannis' daughter and heir Shireen Baratheon to her "cousin" Tommen in exchange for peace with the Lannisters. Stannis executes him for treason instead.
** Walder Frey, lord the Twins, a strategic river crossing, agrees to join King in the North Robb Stark's rebellion against the Iron Throne in exchange for betrothing Robb to a daughter or granddaughter (Frey [[ReallyGetsAround has plenty]]) of Robb's choosing and Robb's sister Arya to a son or grandson of hers, among other concessions. The alliance is broken when Robb breaks his betrothal and [[MarryForLove Marries For Love]], or [[HonorBeforeReason honor]] as the case may be (he has a [[SexForSolace one-night stand]] and is unwilling to stain the girl's honor by setting her aside). It is renewed when Robb's bannerman and uncle Edmure Tully agrees to marry Frey's daughter Roslin [[spoiler: except not really; the wedding is a pretext to lure Robb and his followers to the Twins, where they are slaughtered.]]
* The ''Franchise/StarCraft'' ExpandedUniverse novel ''[=StarCraft=] Ghost: Nova'' establishes that members of upper-class families on Tarsonis invariably marry for political reasons, and often only have children with each other by artificial insemination. It's an accepted fact that the husband will have a long-term mistress and the wife a [[DistaffCounterpart jig]], both of whom are viewed as essential to the harmony of the household.
* In Tamora Pierce's medieval fantasy Literature/TortallUniverse:
** ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'': Prince Jonathan is slated to marry a princess from the Copper Isles in whom he has little interest. Fortunately for him, she goes AxeCrazy and takes herself out of the running, freeing him up to make a love match with the newly arrived Princess Thayet.
** ''Literature/TheImmortals'': Part of the negotiations between the Carthaki Empire and the Tortallan delegation in ''Emperor Mage'' go sour because Emperor Ozorne tries to secure a marriage between his nephew Prince Kaddar and the Tortallan Princess Kalasin, who's only fourteen years old at the time. King Jonathan and Queen Thayet ''do'' expect her to marry for the benefit of Tortall, but are averse to arranging such a match before their daughter could be reasonably expected to have any marital preferences. [[spoiler: Kaddar and Kalasin actually do get married eventually, but only after Ozorne is dead and Kaddar is running the country on his own terms.]]
** ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'': Kalasin's brother Roald, the Crown Prince, is engaged to a minor Yamani princess in the first book, a marriage negotiated by protagonist Kel's diplomat parents. In the second book, Princess Chisakami dies in an earthquake before even meeting her intended, and the marriage has to be renegotiated from scratch. Much of the third book deals with the arrival of the ''new'' Yamani princess and her delegation. Kel notes that Princess Shinkokami is of a much higher rank than Princess Chisakami was, which means that the Yamanis must be placing a lot of importance on their alliance with the Tortallans.
** ''Literature/DaughterOfTheLioness'': This duology about a carefully orchestrated rebellion spends quite a bit more time on alliances among the nobility than Pierce's other books. Sarai Balitang carries the blood of the old raka monarchs as well as the white conquerors currently ruling the country, and is believed to be the prophesied "Twice-Royal" queen who will restore the raka to glory. Reacting to her growing popularity with the public, the iron-fisted regents begin pressuring her into a marriage with the five-year-old [[AChildShallLeadThem boy-king]] (who is also [[KissingCousins her cousin]]). Sarai, [[LockedOutOfTheLoop completely unaware]] of the rebellion brewing on her behalf, doesn't see any way out of the marriage and decides to elope to Carthak. The conspiracy is suddenly without a figurehead. [[spoiler: Lucky thing she has a little sister, isn't it?]]
* ''Franchise/TheWitcher'':
** In "A Question of Price", the fifth ShortStory in ''Literature/TheLastWish'', Queen Calanthe of Cintra wants to ensure a good political marriage for her daughter Princess Pavetta, and entertains suitors at Pavetta's fifteenth birthday celebration. She specifically wants Pavetta to marry into the royal house of the [[FantasyCounterpartCulture Viking-like]] Skellige Islands to make Cintra a less-attractive target for Skellige pirates, and contracts Geralt of Rivia to help ensure Pavetta [[ExactWords a good marriage]]. [[spoiler:In the end Pavetta is in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage with Duny, a lord formerly under BalefulPolymorph to whom Calanthe's deceased husband had promised Pavetta [[IOweYouMyLife in exchange for saving his life]], while Calanthe herself ends up in a love match with Eist Tuirseach, a knight of Skellige with whom it's implied she was having a covert affair offscreen.]]
** In ''Literature/TheTimeOfContempt'' the Emperor of Nilfgaard is hunting Pavetta's daughter and Geralt's ward Ciri in hopes of taking her as a wife to cement his conquest of Cintra.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live Action Television]]
* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** The Centauri, with their system of noble houses, often use marriage as a political tool. Londo has three wives ([[spoiler:at first]]) all arranged for him. This has lead to some rather cynical views on marriage, with weddings being solemn affairs rather than joyous ones.
** Outright defied in one episode where a pair of Centauri youth run away after their families arrange marriages for them, one to the ugliest woman on Centauri Prime, and the other to a man old enough to be her grandfather, but they would much rather marry each other. Londo at first encourages them to go through with it for the good of the Centauri Republic, but eventually realizes that doing so would cause them to become like him, after which he arranges a way to get them out of it without disgracing their houses.
** Minbari have a custom dating back to the days when they [[ApeShallNeverKillApe actually made war on each other]] where the winning side would offer a daughter as a symbol of life. [[spoiler:Delenn's family decides to pass off her marriage to Sheridan as this rather than have her go public about the fact that she's descended from Valen (i.e. Jeffrey Sinclair) and has been partially human the whole time]].
* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'': In [[Recap/BlackadderS1E4TheQueenOfSpainsBeard "The Queen of Spain's Beard"]] Edmund is first betrothed to the Spanish Infanta and later is married off to a princess of Hungary[[note]]who is only eight years old[[/note]] because of his father king Edward's political machinations.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Many marriages are political in nature among the noble families, which is unsurprising given the intricate politics in the series.
** Walder Frey's common price for allowing important people to cross his bridge in times of need is a husband for one of his daughters or granddaughters. Robb Stark is promised to marry a Frey girl for use of the bridge; when he abandons the promise to MarryForLove, things don't end well.
** Danaerys declares she will marry [[spoiler: Hizdahr zo Loraq]] in an attempt to bring peace to Meereen.
** Tyrion is arranged to marry [[spoiler: Sansa]] so that he will produce a Lannister heir [[spoiler: who would have a claim to the North]].
** Sansa's marriage to [[spoiler: Ramsay Bolton]] is political on both sides - [[spoiler: to give the Boltons' rule in Winterfell legitimacy and to allow her to go home to the North]].
** Myrcella Baratheon (Cersei's daughter and the king's sister) is sent to Dorne to marry Prince Trystane Martell and cement an alliance with that house; they end up [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage genuinely falling in love]].
* The early ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "[[Recap/StargateSG1S1E3Emancipation Emancipation]]" has Abu attempt to trade Samantha Carter to a rival [[SpaceRomans Space Mongol]] chieftain, Turghan, in exchange for being able to marry Turghan's daughter Nya. Turghan refuses, as he plans to marry her to another chieftain to secure that chieftain's allegiance. Carter is not amused at any aspect of the situation.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''Fief: France 1429'' two players can formalize an alliance by having a Lord controlled by one player marry a Lady controlled by the other player. While the alliance lasts the two players have a special joint victory condition. The alliance will be broken if one of the players successfully petitions the Pope for an annulment or one of the spouses is killed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Theater]]
* Many of Creator/{{Moliere}}'s comedies have the children of the main character be engaged to a much older, better-connected and richer person, much to their chagrin, but it all works out in the end.
* ''Theater/RomeoAndJuliet'' has a slightly convoluted example:
** {{Inverted}} by the titular characters themselves, who MarryForLove ''despite'' the politics.
** {{Subverted}} when Friar Lawrence attempts to [[InvokedTrope encourage]] their marriage ''for'' the politics, hoping it will bring peace between their houses, but fails when the bride and groom both die; DoubleSubverted when their deaths bring about the political end he was aiming for anyway.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', political marriages are the only way to forge a formal alliance with another dynasty; dynasties that you have a marriage pact with may come to your aid in war. Spouses with desirable traits also have a chance to pass them on to any children, requiring the player to balance sometimes conflicting priorities.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', several war table operations involve forging or breaking such marriages or betrothals to achieve your desired ends.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'':
** A possible resolution to the Ferelden succession crisis subplot is to have your party member Alistair, the HeroicBastard son of King Maric, marry Queen Anora, the daughter of Maric's army commander Loghain mac Tir and former wife of Alistair's half-brother King Cailan [[StuffedIntoTheFridge who died in battle early in the main plot]]. Fair warning, though: if you've been romancing Alistair as a female PlayerCharacter he'll [[SeductionProofMarriage break it off]].[[note]]Although taking the right dialogue option in his personal sidequest can let you become his mistress.[[/note]]
** Notes found in the "Return to Ostagar" {{DLC}}, supported by WordOfGod, indicate King Cailan was planning to divorce Anora in favor of a political marriage to the Empress of Orlais. This fed into Loghain mac Tir's CavalryBetrayal of Cailan at Ostagar: in the {{backstory}} Loghain and King Maric had fought for years to ''eject'' Orlais' occupation forces from Ferelden.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Salarians, being amphibians, don't have any real sex drive and with that no concept of such things as romantic love (except for the ones that hook up with Asari). Reproduction rights are determined by negotiation to continue certain dynasties or alliances, for which family history is very important. A family that loses their history can become a non-entity in such negotiations, as evidenced if Shepard returns one family's history.
* It's mentioned in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII's'' backstory that Arthas Menethil (crown prince of Lordaeron) and Jaina Proudmoore (the daughter of Kul Tiras' admiral and high up in the MagoCracy of Dalaran)'s relationship was seen with a favorable eye by all, as this would surely bring about good relations between all nations involved. However, they drifted apart due to their duties, even before Arthas became the Lich King.
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Agatha's confirmed status as the long-lost heir to the house of Heterodyne means that not only do Gil (the heir to the Wulfenbach empire) and Tarvek (a direct descendant of the legendary Storm King) have ''romantic'' reasons to want to marry her, they have pretty compelling ''political'' motivations as well, as do other power players like Tarvek's cousin Martellus, who goes so far as to kidnap Agatha as part of his master plan to join their houses and ascend to power in Europa.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', both Prince Farquad and later Prince Charming want to marry Fiona purely so they can become king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:RealLife]]
* This was the exception rather than the rule in human history.
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%% And as such, please only add extremely notable examples.
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* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Habsburg Habsburgs]] deserve special note: they managed to expand to a dominant position within Europe during a period over several hundred years almost entirely using dynastic marriages.
-->"Leave the waging of wars to others! But you, happy Austria, marry; for the realms which Mars awards to others, Venus transfers to you."
--->--''Habsburg Dynastic Motto''
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