Ashikaga Mochiuji

Japanese: 足利持氏 - あしかが・もちうじ

Year of death: Eikyo 11.2.10 (1439.3.24)
Year of birth: 1398
A military commander in the Muromachi period. Son of Mitsukane. Childhood name Koomaru. In 1409, upon the death of his father, he became the 4th Kamakura kubo. The following year, he came of age and took the name Mochiuji, taking one character from the name of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimochi. Immediately after assuming his position as kubo, Mochiuji focused on strengthening control over the provinces, and in 1427, he took direct control of Oshu and Uzen, replacing his uncles Ashikaga Mitsusada of the Inamura Palace and Ashikaga Mitsunao of the Sasakawa Palace, who were active in southern Oshu. He also clashed with Kanto Kanrei Uesugi Zenhide (Ujinori) over the treatment of the lords within the provinces, which led to Zenhide resigning. In 1423, he faced a rebellion by Zenhide and his allies (Uesugi Zenhide Rebellion). Caught by surprise, Mochiuji temporarily fled to Suruga, a province under the Muromachi Shogunate, but later regained his power with the support of the Shogunate. He drove Zenhide's faction to suicide. From then on, Mochiuji frantically tried to suppress the remnants of Zenshu's forces, and as a result, many of the powerful feudal lords in northern Kanto who had allied with Zenshu sought protection from the shogunate and became Kyoto gofuchishu. In 1407, an all-out confrontation broke out between the Kamakura government and the gofuchishu over Oguri Castle, where one of the gofuchishu, Oguri Mitsushige, was holed up, and after the castle fell, the gofuchishu of northern Kanto lost their power. This led to an increasingly strained relationship between the two governments, and the conflict reached a climax in 1428 when Yoshimochi died without naming a successor to Shogun. Mochiuji, who aspired to the position of Shogun, not only did not send a congratulatory envoy to the new Shogun Yoshinori, but he also continued to use the era name Shocho, which had only been changed the previous year, even after the era name was changed to Eikyo, demonstrating his independent spirit vis-a-vis the shogunate. On this occasion, Mochiuji apologized and the situation was resolved without incident, but in 1438, when his eldest son, Ken'omaru, came of age and did not take Yoshinori's given name, but called himself Yoshihisa, this brought to the surface conflict with Kanto Kanrei Uesugi Norizane, who wished to avoid the shogunate. Mochiuji marched to Musashi Fuchu in pursuit of Norizane, who had retreated to Kozuke Shirai Castle. This finally led to the intervention of the shogunate (the Eikyō Rebellion), and Mochiuji, who was defeated, became a monk at Kanazawa Shomyō-ji Temple. Despite Norizane's pleas for his life to be spared, he committed suicide the following year at Eian-ji Temple along with his uncle Mitsusada, on Yoshinori's orders.

(Ikuo Eda)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：永享11.2.10(1439.3.24)
生年：応永5(1398)
室町時代の武将。満兼の子。幼名幸王丸。応永16(1409)年,父の死により4代鎌倉公方となる。翌年元服し,将軍足利義持の諱の1字を受けて持氏と称した。持氏は公方就任直後から分国支配の強化に意を注ぎ,応永20年には南奥州で活動していた叔父稲村御所足利満貞,篠川御所足利満直に代わって奥羽の直接支配に乗り出す。また分国内領主の処遇を巡って関東管領上杉禅秀(氏憲)とも衝突し,禅秀は辞任。応永23年禅秀とその与党による反乱に直面した(上杉禅秀の乱)。虚を衝かれた持氏は一時室町幕府分国の駿河に逃れたが,その後幕府の支援を受け勢力を挽回。禅秀一派を自殺に追い込んだ。以後持氏は禅秀の残党討伐に狂奔し,このため禅秀にくみした北関東の有力領主層の多くは,幕府に保護を求めて京都御扶持衆化する。応永30年には御扶持衆のひとり小栗満重が籠る小栗城を巡って,鎌倉府と御扶持衆の全面対決に発展し,小栗城落城後は北関東の御扶持衆は勢力を失った。これにより両府の関係は険悪の度合いを深め,正長1(1428)年義持が将軍後継者を指名せず没するにおよんで,対立は最高潮に達した。将軍位を目指した持氏は,新たに将軍となった義教に慶賀使を送らなかったばかりか,年号が永享と改元されたのちも前年改元されたばかりの正長という年号を使用し続けるなど,幕府に対し自立の気概を示す。このときは持氏の謝罪で事無きを得たが,永享10(1438)年,嫡子賢王丸が元服するに当たり義教の諱を受けず義久と称したことから,今度は幕府との無為を願う関東管領上杉憲実との対立が表面化。上野白井城に退いた憲実を追って,持氏は武蔵府中に出陣する。ここに至ってとうとう幕府の介入を招き(永享の乱),敗れた持氏は金沢称名寺で出家。憲実の助命嘆願にもかかわらず,義教の命により翌年永安寺で叔父満貞と共に自害した。

(江田郁夫)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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