Senhime - Senhime

Japanese: 千姫 - せんひめ

Year of death: 6th February 1666 (11th March 1666)
Year of birth: 11th April 1597 (26th May 1597)
The eldest daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada, the second Shogun of the Edo Shogunate, and his wife, Tatsuko (Oeyo no Kata, third daughter of Azai Nagamasa, Sugen-in). Born in Fushimi. At the age of seven, she married Toyotomi Hideyori and entered Osaka Castle. This marriage was arranged between the late Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, but at the time of the marriage, the relationship between the two families was already not good. Eleven years later, in 1614, the siege of Osaka finally began, and a temporary peace was made, but on May 7 of the following year, Hideyori and his mother Yodo-dono committed suicide, and the Toyotomi clan was destroyed. Senhime escaped just before this and was protected by Sakazaki Naomori. It is said that this was a plot by the Toyotomi side, who wanted the lives of Hideyori and his mother to be spared. She had no children with Hideyori. She requested the life of Hideyori's daughter, Chiyohime (Amanohide Hota), and the Shogunate accepted her request, and she was placed in Tokeiji Temple. The following year, in 1616, she remarried to Tadataki, the eldest son of Honda Tadamasa, the lord of Himeji Castle. Tadataki's mother was Kunihime, the second daughter of Matsudaira Nobuyasu, Ieyasu's eldest son, and it is believed that this connection led to the marriage. Upon her remarriage, Senhime was given a stipend of 100,000 koku. She had one son and one daughter with Tadataki, but the son died young. In 1626, Tadataki died of illness, and Senhime returned to Edo with her daughter Katsuko, lived within the Takebashi Gate, became a nun, and took the name Tenjuin. Senhime was given a warm welcome and treatment by her younger brother Iemitsu, who was the shogun at the time, and she later came to have influence over the shogunate. The Ikeda family of Okayama Domain, to whom her daughter Katsuko married, also benefited from this. Iemitsu also entrusted her with the upbringing of his second son Tsunashige, and even after Iemitsu's death, she continued to look after the shogun's household. The so-called orgies at the Yoshida Palace are completely unfounded. She is buried at Koishikawa Denzuin. <References> Masatsugu Hashimoto, "Thoughts on Senhime" and "The Diary of Mitsumasa Ikeda"

(Takako Kubo)

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

Japanese:

没年：寛文6.2.6(1666.3.11)
生年：慶長2.4.11(1597.5.26)
江戸幕府2代将軍徳川秀忠と御台所達子(お江与の方,浅井長政の3女,崇源院)の長女。伏見で生まれる。7歳で豊臣秀頼に嫁し,大坂城に入る。この婚姻は故豊臣秀吉と徳川家康との間で内約されていたものだが,婚姻当時,すでに両家の関係は芳しくなかった。11年後の慶長19(1614)年,ついに大坂攻めが始まり,一時講和したが,翌年5月7日,秀頼と母淀殿が自害して豊臣氏は滅んだ。千姫はこの直前に脱出して,坂崎直盛を介して保護された。秀頼母子の助命を望む豊臣方のもくろみともいわれる。秀頼との間に子はなかった。秀頼の娘千代姫(天秀法泰)の助命を願い,幕府もこれを容れて,東慶寺へ入れる。翌元和2(1616)年姫路城主本多忠政の長子忠刻に再嫁。忠刻の母は家康の長子松平信康の次女国姫で,この縁で結ばれた縁組と考えられる。再嫁に当たり,千姫には化粧料10万石が与えられた。忠刻との間に1男1女を儲けたが,男子は夭折。寛永3(1626)年忠刻が病死したため,娘勝子を連れて江戸へ戻り竹橋門内に住し,落飾して天樹院と号した。時の将軍であった弟の家光が千姫を歓待,厚遇したため,その後幕閣に対しても影響力を持つようになった。娘勝子の嫁ぎ先である岡山藩池田家もその恩恵を受けている。また家光から次男綱重の養育を託されるなどし,家光没後も,将軍家内に心を配った。いわゆる吉田御殿の乱行は事実無根。墓所は小石川伝通院。<参考文献>橋本政次『千姫考』,『池田光政日記』

(久保貴子)

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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