The Uesugi Zenshu Rebellion

This was a rebellion that Uesugi Ujinori (dharma name Zenshu) waged against Ashikaga Mochiuji, the Kamakura kubo, from 1416 (Oei 23) to the following year. Zenshu (Inukake family) succeeded Uesugi Norisada as Kanto Kanrei, but resigned after clashing with Mochiuji over the issue of Mochiuji disciplining his subordinate Obata and confiscating his land. Mochiuji appointed Uesugi Norimoto (Yamanouchi family), who was competing with him for power, as his successor, and this openly led to Zenshu's opposition to the Yamanouchi and Mochiuji families. He then gathered a wide range of samurai who were dissatisfied with the current system, including Shogun Yoshimochi's younger brother Yoshitsugu, Mochiuji's uncle Mitsutaka, and also Iwamatsu Mitsuzumi, who was related by marriage to Zenshu, Nasu Sukeyuki, Chiba Kanetane, Hitachi Daijo Mitsutomo, Takeda Nobumitsu, and other powerful clans such as Yamairi Yoyoshi and Oda Mochiie, the bureaucratic class including Nikaido and Kido, and smaller clans such as the Bushu Southern Rebellion, and in October 1843 he raised an army and attacked Mochiuji. Mochiuji and his allies fled to the Imagawa clan in Suruga, so Zenshu and his allies occupied Kamakura. However, fearing a rebellion from the rebels, the shogunate decided to aid Mochiuji and ordered Uesugi Fusakata of Echigo, Ogasawara Masayasu of Shinano, and Imagawa Norimasa of Suruga to send troops, which turned the tide. Furthermore, there were also defections from the Bushu Southern Rebellion, and in the end, Zenshu and his allies committed suicide at Yukinoshita Bettobo in Kamakura in January 17, bringing the rebellion to an end.

As a result of this rebellion, society in the eastern provinces fell into chaos and the ruling system of the Kamakura government was shaken. In an attempt to restore these conditions, Mochiuji took coercive action, but this only deepened the chaos and relations with the shogunate became even more strained than before. This rebellion ended up creating new problems for the eastern provinces.

[Hiroshi Koyou]

"Watanabe Seisuke, 'Research on the Ashikaga Period Centered in the Kanto Region' (1971, Shinjinbutsu Oraisha)" ▽ "Kanagawa Prefectural History: General History Vol. 1, edited by the Kanagawa Prefectural History Editorial Office, Kanagawa Prefectural Citizens' Department (1981, Kanagawa Prefectural Kousaikai Foundation)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1416年（応永23）から翌年にかけて上杉氏憲(うじのり)（法名禅秀）が鎌倉公方(くぼう)足利持氏(あしかがもちうじ)に対して起こした乱。禅秀（犬懸(いぬがけ)家）は上杉憲定(のりさだ)の後を受け、関東管領(かんれい)に就任したが、家人の越幡(おばた)氏が持氏に処分され所領を没収されたという問題で持氏と対立して辞職、持氏が、後任に勢力を競っている上杉憲基(のりもと)（山内(やまのうち)家）を任命したことにより、禅秀の反山内家・反持氏が公然化した。そして、将軍義持(よしもち)の弟義嗣(よしつぐ)、持氏の叔父満隆(みつたか)、さらに禅秀と姻戚(いんせき)関係にある岩松満純(いわまつみつずみ)、那須資之(なすすけゆき)、千葉兼胤(ちばかねたね)、常陸大掾(ひたちだいじょう)満幹(みつとも)、武田信満(たけだのぶみつ)や、山入与義(やまいりともよし)、小田持家(おだもちいえ)らの諸豪族、二階堂、木戸らの吏僚層、武州南一揆(いっき)などの中小氏族など、現体制に不満を有する広範な武士たちを糾合し、16年10月挙兵し持氏を襲撃した。持氏らは駿河(するが)の今川(いまがわ)氏のもとに逃れたため、禅秀らは鎌倉を占領した。しかし反乱軍の反抗を恐れた幕府が持氏への救援を決定し、越後(えちご)の上杉房方(ふさかた)、信濃(しなの)の小笠原政康(おがさわらまさやす)、駿河の今川範政(のりまさ)らに出兵を命じたことにより形勢は逆転し、また武州南一揆などの離反もあり、結局17年正月、禅秀らは鎌倉の雪ノ下別当房で自殺し、反乱は終息した。

　この乱の結果、東国の社会は混乱し、鎌倉府の支配体制も動揺し、それらの立て直しを図るため持氏による強圧的な行動が行われるが、かえって混乱は深まり、さらには幕府との関係も以前に増してうまくゆかなくなるなど、この乱は東国に新たな問題を生み出す原因をつくることとなった。

［小要　博］

『渡辺世祐著『関東中心足利時代之研究』（1971・新人物往来社）』▽『神奈川県県民部県史編集室編『神奈川県史　通史編1』（1981・財団法人神奈川県弘済会）』

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