Ashikaga clan

Seiwa Genji. A powerful clan from the Kamakura to Muromachi period. It began with Yoshiyasu, the second son of Yoshikuni, the son of Minamoto no Yoshiie. The clan was based in Ashikaga Manor, Shimotsuke Province (Ashikaga City, Tochigi Prefecture). Yoshiyasu played an active role in the Hogen Rebellion (1156), and his wife was the younger sister of Minamoto no Yoritomo's mother. Yoshikane, Yoshiyasu's son, participated in the founding of Yoritomo's Kamakura Shogunate, and married the daughter of Hojo Tokimasa, and the successors Yoshiuji and Yasuuji were also related by marriage to the Hojo clan. The family branched off into the Niki, Hosokawa, Hatakeyama, Iwamatsu, Momoi, Kira, Imagawa, Shiba, Shibukawa, Ishido, and Isshiki clans, and throughout the Kamakura period became a powerful clan that surpassed the Nitta clan, the main line of the family. They held territories in areas such as Kozuke, Shimotsuke, Sagami, Mimasaka, and Mutsu, as well as the position of shugo in both Mikawa and Kazusa provinces. Takauji (later Takauji), the eighth generation after Yoshiyasu, contributed to the establishment of the Kenmu Restoration, and when the restoration hit a deadlock, he chased Emperor Godaigo to Yoshino, and in 1338 (Engen 3, Ryakuo 1) became Shogun and established the Muromachi Shogunate. The early Shogunate was marked by conflicts between Takauji and his younger brother Tadayoshi, and also by feuds between various daimyo, resulting in the so-called Nanboku-cho period of civil war that lasted for about half a century. Under the third Shogun, Yoshimitsu, the imperial line, which had been divided into northern and southern, was unified in 1392 (Genchu ​​9, Meitoku 3), and a period of relative stability began. Around the time of the Kakitsu War in 1441 (Kakitsu 1), when the 6th Shogun Yoshinori was assassinated by Akamatsu Mitsusuke, conflicts between the various feudal lords became evident once again, and the Onin War (1467-1477) began during the reigns of the 8th Shogun Yoshimasa and the 9th Shogun Yoshihisa. The period from this point until the 15th Shogun Yoshiaki is known as the Sengoku Period, and the authority of the shogunate declined significantly. Meanwhile, Takauji's son Motouji was in Kamakura and was known as the Kamakura Kubo (Kanto Kubo), and Shigeuji, the 5th generation after Motouji, moved to Koga in Shimousa and was known as the Koga Kubo.

[Kouen Kuwayama]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

清和源氏(せいわげんじ)。鎌倉～室町時代の豪族。源義家(みなもとのよしいえ)の子義国(よしくに)の次子義康(よしやす)に始まる。下野国(しもつけのくに)足利荘(あしかがのしょう)（栃木県足利市）を本拠とした。義康は保元(ほうげん)の乱（1156）に活躍し、その室は源頼朝(よりとも)の母の妹にあたる。義康の子義兼(よしかね)は頼朝の鎌倉幕府創業に参画、北条時政(ほうじょうときまさ)の女(むすめ)を室とし、続く義氏(よしうじ)、泰氏(やすうじ)らも北条氏と姻戚(いんせき)関係にあった。仁木(にき)、細川、畠山(はたけやま)、岩松、桃井(もものい)、吉良(きら)、今川、斯波(しば)、渋川、石塔(いしどう)、一色(いっしき)らの諸氏を分出し、鎌倉時代を通じて嫡流の新田(にった)氏をしのぐ強大な一族となった。三河、上総(かずさ)両国の守護職をはじめ、上野(こうずけ)、下野、相模(さがみ)、美作(みまさか)、陸奥(むつ)などに所領をもった。義康より8代目の高氏(たかうじ)（のちに尊氏）は建武新政(けんむのしんせい)の成立に貢献し、ついで新政が行き詰まると後醍醐(ごだいご)天皇を吉野に追い、1338年（延元3・暦応1）征夷大将軍(せいいたいしょうぐん)となって室町幕府を開いた。初期の幕府は尊氏と弟直義(ただよし)の対立をはじめ、諸大名の抗争も加わって、約半世紀にわたりいわゆる南北朝の内乱期を現出した。3代将軍義満(よしみつ)になって、南北に分かれていた皇統も1392年（元中9・明徳3）に合一し、比較的安定した時期に入った。1441年（嘉吉1）6代将軍義教(よしのり)が赤松満祐(あかまつみつすけ)に暗殺された嘉吉(かきつ)の乱ごろより諸大名間の対立がふたたび顕在化し、8代義政(よしまさ)、9代義尚(よしひさ)のときには応仁(おうにん)の乱（1467～1477）が始まった。これ以降15代義昭(よしあき)に至る時期は戦国時代とよばれ、幕府の権威は著しく低下した。一方、尊氏の子基氏(もとうじ)は鎌倉にいて鎌倉公方(くぼう)（関東公方）とよばれ、基氏より5代目の成氏(しげうじ)は下総(しもうさ)古河(こが)に移り、古河公方とよばれた。

［桑山浩然］

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