House Bolton

House Bolton of the Dreadfort is a Great House from the North. Their original lands were in the northeast of the Stark territories. Their stronghold was a castle called the Dreadfort and the head of the house was the Lord of the Dreadfort.

House Bolton was infamous for its centuries-old practice of flaying their enemies alive, to the point that they used a flayed man as their House sigil. The Boltons supposedly gave up this practice after bending the knee to House Stark, and centuries later Lord Eddard Stark outlawed flaying in the North altogether, but the Boltons continued the practice in secret. This resulted in them being despised and feared by many of the Northern houses, especially after their betrayal of House Stark and their torching of Winterfell.

After the events of the Red Wedding, House Bolton was appointed the new Great House of the North, having usurped their position from their former liege lords, House Stark. Lord Roose Bolton became the new Warden of the North.

House Bolton's heraldry consists of a red flayed man upside-down on an x-shaped white cross over a field of black. Their house words are "Our Blades Are Sharp," though a common saying of members of the house was "A naked man has few secrets; a flayed man, none."

Background
The origins of House Bolton date back to at least the Age of Heroes, a savage age in which the houses of First Men waged war one upon the other. For centuries, the Red Kings of House Bolton resisted the efforts of the Stark Kings of Winter to unify the North under their rule, killing several Starks in the process, and, according to rumors, keeping their skins as trophies and even wearing them as cloaks.

During these centuries when the North was divided into a dozen or so smaller petty kingdoms, the Boltons and Starks were chief rivals for domination over all the others. House Bolton's kingdom covered a large portion of the lands east of Winterfell, centered around the Dreadfort itself.

Eventually, the Boltons were defeated and bent the knee to House Stark, giving up their practice of flaying their prisoners as sign of their submission. Nevertheless, they remained the second most powerful house of the North. However, the practice of flaying was not officially outlawed until the lordship of Eddard Stark.

Season 1
House Bolton answers the summon of Robb Stark, acting Lord of Winterfell, when he calls the bannermen of House Stark to march south to demand the liberation of Ned Stark and answer the aggression of House Lannister against the Riverlands. The sigil of House Bolton is present during the feast Robb holds for his lords bannermen.

House Bolton swears its allegiance to Robb when Greatjon Umber proposes Northern independence under Robb as King in the North.

Season 2
The forces of House Bolton remain with the main Northern host as it invades the Westerlands while a relief force led by the Greatjon liberates the seats of the Riverlords occupied by Lannister forces. Bolton forces participate in the Battle of Oxcross.

After news of the fall of Winterfell to Theon Greyjoy reaches Robb's host, Lord Bolton sends word to his bastardson, Ramsay Snow, to raise a force to retake Winterfell.

When the Bolton force is a few days from Winterfell, Robb orders that any ironborn in Winterfell who surrenders will be allowed to return safely to the Iron Isles if they hand over Theon.

The Bolton force lays siege to Winterfell, with Ramsay constantly sounding a warhorn to demoralize Theon's crew. As Robb expected, the ironborn turn on Theon and deliver him to Ramsay in exchange for safe passage out of the North. However, Ramsay and his men turn on the ironborn and flay them alive, whilst putting Winterfell to the torch and all the members of the Stark household to the sword.

Season 3
The Bolton forces march along with the rest of the Northern army all the way to the castle of Harrenhal in the Riverlands, only to find it empty, except for the bodies of Northern and Riverlands prisoners put to the sword. In the meantime Lord Bolton has also dispatched his "best hunters", led by Locke, to hunt down the fugitive Jaime Lannister, who had been liberated by Catelyn Stark in exchange for the freedom of her daughters, Arya and Sansa.

The Bolton host is left to hold Harrenhal after news of the death of Hoster Tullyreach the ruined castle. Another letter also informs of the Sack of Winterfell and the disappearance of Bran and Rickon Stark, but puts the blame on Theon and his ironmen, claiming the Bolton host had reached Winterfell too late. A few Bolton men accompany Robb's host to Riverrun.

In the Dreadfort, Theon is tortured by men wearing clothing similar to that of the raiders of House Greyjoy, who take one of his fingernails and use a foot press on him and demand to know why he took Winterfell. Despite his answers, they keep torturing him. When the torturers leave, a man who claims to have been sent by Theon's sister Yara promises to release him when the castle sleeps.

Locke and his men capture the Kingslayer and Brienne after Jaime is identified by a peasant in exchange for a reward.

House Bolton are revealed as turncoats when they assist House Frey in the massacre known as the Red Wedding. The Boltons and the Freys kill Robb Stark, Catelyn Stark and all of the northern lords assembled at the Twins for Edmure Tully's wedding while their forces kill off their bannermen. As a reward for their betrayal, Tywin Lannister appoints Roose Bolton as the new Warden of the North as well as the new Lord of Winterfell.

Season 4
The Boltons launch a campaign to retake The North from the invading ironborn but their army is stuck south of Moat Cailin, cutting them off from entering the North. Ramsay raises a small army and marches to Moat Cailin, intending to use Theon to persuade the Ironborn to surrender the fortress. Theon successfully gets the Ironborn to surrender, promising them mercy and safe passage back to the Iron Islands. However, upon being let into the castle, Bolton soldiers flay the Ironborn alive, and display their corpses in the courtyard of the fortress. The main Bolton army now enters the North, along with Roose Bolton, who legitimizes Ramsay as a Bolton for capturing the Moat. With their army now in the North, Roose and Ramsay March to Winterfell and begin repairs on the ruined castle.

In the Books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Bolton is noted as one of the most powerful families of the North. They are noted for flaying their enemies alive and even wearing their skins as cloaks. They have even captured and flayed Starks in the distant past. House Bolton were unruly vassals of the Starks until approximately a thousand years ago, when they finally bent the knee. Three hundred years later they rebelled but were defeated. The armies of House Stark besieged the Dreadfort for two years before finally forcing the Boltons to surrender and submit.

The Boltons are considered a sinister and ill-omened house, but Lord Roose Bolton is noted as a capable battle commander. Roose Bolton fought alongside Eddard Stark during Robert's Rebellion. After the Battle of the Trident, Roose suggested executing the defeated Barristan Selmy, but Eddard and Robert Baratheon refused.

Known Members
Domeric Bolton died shortly before the beginning of the series, having sought out his bastard half-brother Ramsay (Domeric having always wanted a brother of his own). With no other trueborn heirs, Roose brought Ramsay to the Dreadfort and began to treat him as his heir.
 * Lord Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort and Warden of the North, called "the Leech Lord".
 * His first wife, deceased.
 * Lady {Bethany Bolton}, his second wife, deceased.
 * {Domeric Bolton}, his trueborn son, deceased.
 * Unnamed sons, died still in the cradle.
 * Lady Walda Frey, Lord Roose's third wife, called "Fat Walda", currently pregnant.
 * Ramsay Bolton, born Ramsay Snow and called "the Bastard of the Dreadfort", his bastard son and heir. Self-styled Lord of the Hornwood and Lord of Winterfell.
 * Lady {Donella Manderly}, Ramsay's first wife, Lady of the Hornwood as the widow of Lord Halys Hornwood. Imprisoned by Ramsay and starved to death.
 * Lady "Arya Stark", actually Jeyne Poole, Ramsay's second wife. Currently in custody of King Stannis Baratheon.

The sigil of House Bolton in the books is a red flayed man on a field of pink with red blood drops. The TV series design has specified that the flayed man is displayed hanging upside down on an X-shaped cross. The color scheme in the TV series is slightly different: it is a red flayed man, but hanging upside-down on a white X-shaped cross with a black background.