Konoe Motomichi

Japanese: 近衛基通 - このえ・もとみち

Year of death: Tenpuku 1.5.29 (1233.7.8)
Year of birth: 1160
A nobleman from the end of the Heian period to the beginning of the Kamakura period. The eldest son of regent and chancellor Fujiwara no Motozane. He was given the titles Konoe-dono and Fugenji-dono. His mother was the daughter of junior third rank Fujiwara no Tadataka. He lost his father at the age of seven in 1166, and was adopted as the guardian of Motozane's wife, Taira no Kiyomori's daughter Moriko. He came of age in 1170, and in 1176 was promoted to junior second rank. In 1179, when his uncle Fujiwara no Motofusa, the regent and head of the clan, was dismissed from his post in a coup d'état by Kiyomori, he became the Minister of the Interior and chancellor, and the following year he became regent for Emperor Antoku. He was 21 years old at the time. He married Kiyomori's daughter, and in 1183 he accompanied the Taira clan on their exodus from the capital, but turned back and became regent at the request of Emperor Goshirakawa. He was chased by Kiso Yoshinaka in the same year, but returned the following year. According to Kujo Kanezane's Gyokuyo, Motomichi was the "beloved" of Emperor Goshirakawa, who was fond of the young and beautiful Motomichi and had a secret meeting with him before fleeing the capital to achieve his wish. It was because of Motomichi's "love" that he was appointed regent for Emperor Gotoba, and Kanezane wrote that the "ceremony of uniting the emperor and his subjects" was "a rare event in the future." In 1186, Kanezane, acting on the wishes of Minamoto no Yoritomo, replaced him as regent and clan head, and the regent family split into the Konoe family and the Kujo family. After Kanezane's downfall in 1196, he was backed by Minamoto no Michichika to become regent again. However, he no longer had the appearance of his former self, and according to Fujiwara no Teika's Meigetsuki, he was in a rough state, repelling people and speaking out of hand when their eyes met. After Michichika's death in 1202, he resigned as regent at the request of the retired Emperor Gotoba. He became a monk in 1208. He was one of the people who was tossed about in the political situation during that turbulent time.

(Megumi Tsuchitani)

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

Japanese:

没年：天福1.5.29(1233.7.8)
生年：永暦1(1160)
平安末・鎌倉初期の公卿。摂政・関白藤原基実の長男。近衛殿,普賢寺殿と号した。母は従三位藤原忠隆の娘。仁安1(1166)年7歳で父を失い,基実室の平清盛の娘盛子の養子となって後見され,嘉応2(1170)年に元服,安元2(1176)年従二位となる。治承3(1179)年摂政・氏長者の叔父藤原基房が清盛のクーデタによって解官されると,内大臣・関白となり,翌年には安徳天皇の摂政となる。時に21歳。清盛の娘を妻とし,寿永2(1183)年平家の都落ちに同行するが引き返し,後白河法皇の意向によって摂政となる。同年木曾義仲に追われるが翌年復帰。九条兼実の『玉葉』によれば,基通は後白河法皇の「愛物」で,法皇は若く美しい基通を鍾愛し,都落ち以前に密会して本意を遂げたという。基通を後鳥羽天皇の摂政としたのもその「愛念」のためで,兼実は「君臣合体之儀」は「末代の珍事」と記す。文治2(1186)年源頼朝の意を受けた兼実に摂政・氏長者を代わられ,摂関家は近衛家と九条家に分かれる。その後建久7(1196)年に兼実が失脚すると,源通親の後押しによって再び関白となる。しかしすでに往年の面影はなく,藤原定家の『明月記』によれば人を寄せつけず,目でも合えば擦れ違いざまに放言する荒んだ有様だったという。建仁2(1202)年通親の死後,後鳥羽上皇の意向により摂政を辞す。承元2(1208)年出家。混乱の時代の政局のなかで翻弄されたひとりだった。

(土谷恵)

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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