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  ===Background===
  Brienne is the daughter and only surviving child of Lord Selwyn Tarth, Lord of Evenfall Hall on the island of Tarth.  House Tarth is a bannerman to House Baratheon, the lord paramount of the Stormlands.  Brienne's mother died when she was a child, and she had a single older brother, Galladon, who drowned when she was 8, and two younger sisters, both of whom died in infancy.  Brienne as a child was under the tutelage of Septa Roelle, who found fault in everything about Brienne and destroyed her self-esteem.  She told Brienne that although a man would marry her, as she is heir to her father's land, he could never desire her.
  Brienne's father tried to find her a suitor to wed. This proved to be difficult, however, due to both Brienne's resistance and her ungainly appearance. Nonetheless, three successive but ultimately unsuccessful betrothals were attempted. The first was when she was 7 and her fiance was 10, but he died of an illness. Next, a betrothal was brokered by the lord of the land-poor house Connington, to his young newly knighted heir Ronnet, but young Ser Ronnet broke the betrothal the first time he met Brienne.
  Brienne's father's last attempt was to betroth her at 16 to Ser Humfrey Wagstaff, a middle aged friend of his, who was castellan of another house. Humfrey informed Brienne that she was expected to give up her training and become more feminine after their wedding. Brienne rejoined that she would acquiesce, but only if Wagstaff could beat her in combat. Their fight resulted in three broken bones and a broken betrothal.
  Brienne had begged Tarth's master-at-arms Ser Goodwin to teach her skill at arms. As her skills grew, so did her confidence. He made her get over her inability to inflict pain by slaughtering pigs.
  At one point in her history, Brienne met Renly Baratheon when he visited her island on a coming of age tour. He treated Brienne with courtesy and respect, and danced with her; as a result, she fell in unrequited love with him.  When the War of Five Kings begins, with Stannis and Renly Baratheon both claiming the crown, Tarth remains neutral, but Brienne gets her father's permission to go independently and declare for Renly.