Kawagoe clan

Japanese: 河越氏 - かわごえうじ

A medieval samurai family whose main territory was Kawagoe (Kawahi) Manor in Iruma County, Musashi Province. A branch of the Kanmu Heishi clan, the Chichibu line. It began when Shigetaka, the younger brother of Chichibu Shigehiro, became the head of Kawagoe Manor and took the name Kawagoe. Shigetaka's grandson Shigeyori sided with the Heike clan when Minamoto no Yoritomo raised an army in 1180 (Jisho 4), but later joined Yoritomo's forces along with his relatives Hatakeyama Shigetada and Edo Shigenaga. Yoritomo placed him in high esteem, in part because he married the daughter of Yoritomo's wet nurse, Hiki no Ama, and in 1184 (Genryaku 1), he married her daughter to Yoshitsune by "agreement" with Yoritomo, further deepening his kinship with the Minamoto clan. However, the relationship between Yoritomo and Yoshitsune deteriorated, and Shigeyori found himself in the worst situation when Yoritomo decided to pursue and kill Yoshitsune.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

武蔵国入間郡河越(河肥)荘を本領とする中世の武家。桓武平氏秩父流。秩父重弘の弟重隆が河越荘司となって河越を称したのに始まる。重隆の孫重頼は1180年(治承4)の源頼朝挙兵時には平家方に属したが，のち同族の畠山重忠，江戸重長らとともに頼朝の麾下（きか）に参じた。頼朝の乳母比企尼の娘を妻としていたこともあって頼朝に重用され，84年(元暦1)には頼朝との〈約諾〉によりその娘を義経に嫁して，源氏との縁戚関係をさらに深めたが，頼朝と義経との関係が悪化し，頼朝が義経追討を決意するに及んで重頼は最悪の事態を迎える。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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