Yamagata clan

Japanese: 山県氏 - やまがたうじ

A clan that took the names of the counties of Yamagata County in Mino Province and Yamagata County in Aki Province as their surnames. The former descended from the Seiwa Genji clan, and in the Middle Ages, the clan was subservient to the Takeda clan and had branches in Kai, Wakasa, Aki, and other areas. The latter were the Oshi clan, descendants of the Aki kuni no miyatsuko, who became Yamagata county governors, and were originally from a different lineage from the Yamagata clan of Mino Genji who entered the area later. The Oshi clan held their own influence within the counties, but in the late Heian period, they came under the protection of Saeki Kagehiro, the chief priest of Itsukushima Shrine, who was backed by the Taira clan, and donated shrine estates such as Shidohara Manor and Mibu Manor.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

美濃国山県郡と安芸国山県郡の郡名をそれぞれ苗字とした氏族。前者は清和源氏の流れをくみ，中世には武田氏に臣従した一族を甲斐，若狭，安芸などにも分出している。後者は阿岐国造の後裔凡（おおし）氏のうち山県郡司となったもので，のちに入部してきた美濃源氏流の山県氏とは本来別系統である。凡氏は郡内に独自の勢力を保持していたが，平安末期になると平氏の後ろだてを得た厳島社神主佐伯景弘の庇護下に入り，志道原荘，壬生荘など社領荘園の寄進にあたった。

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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