House Santagar of Spottswood traces its origins to the Andal adventurers who crossed the narrow sea and carved petty kingdoms from the ancient Rhoynish and First Men lands of Dorne. The Santagars proved among the more formidable of those Andal warlords, establishing themselves at Spottswood and styling themselves Kings of Spottswood for a time. Their rule was never uncontested; the might of House Yronwood eventually brought the Kings of Spottswood to battle, stripped them of their crown, and claimed great portions of their territory. Thereafter the Santagars endured as lesser lords, sometimes sworn to Yronwood and sometimes asserting a fragile independence, though they never recovered their former wealth or glory.
By the time of King Daeron I's conquest of Dorne, the Santagars had shrunk to the rank of landed knights, yet they kept their pride. Daeron himself recorded that the Knight of Spottswood stabled his sand steeds in his own hall rather than surrender them, a small but telling act of Dornish defiance. Ser Aron Santagar rose to prominence as master-at-arms of the Red Keep in King's Landing, a post that spoke to the house's skill at arms if not its wealth. He was pulled from his horse and beaten to death by rioters during the unrest that followed Princess Myrcella's departure from the city. At Spottswood itself, Ser Symon Santagar holds the seat, and his daughter Sylva, called Spotted Sylva for her freckled complexion, keeps close company with Princess Arianne Martell among the court of Sunspear.