Who was this person?
The 11th shōgun of the Muromachi bakufu in the mid-Muromachi period. He became shōgun after the Meiō coup and ran bakufu politics amid relations with powerful shugo such as the Hosokawa. Driven from Kyoto in the Eishō upheaval, he died in Ōmi.
| Name | Ashikaga Yoshizumi (足利義澄) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1481 – 1511 |
| Period | Muromachi period |
| Birthplace | uncertain |
| Main achievements |
|
He was born a son of Ashikaga Masatomo, half-brother of Ashikaga Yoshimasa. His childhood name was Seikō. Linked to the Horikoshi kubō line in Izu, he belonged to a collateral branch of the shogunal house. From childhood he followed a clerical path and is said to have trained at temples such as Tenryū-ji in Kyoto.
Kanrei Hosokawa Masamoto staged a coup and removed Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiki. This is called the Meiō Coup. Masamoto made Seikō return to lay life as Yoshitaka and placed him as the 11th shogun; he later took the name Yoshizumi. He became shogun at only about twelve years of age.
Real power lay with kanrei Hosokawa Masamoto, and the young shogun Yoshizumi followed Masamoto's lead in politics. Kyoto's security was unstable, and provincial military governors acted more independently. The shogun's authority was becoming largely nominal.
Hino Tomiko, Yoshimasa's wife who long held political influence, died. Yoshizumi performed court ceremonies to shore up the dignity of the shogunate. Yet Hosokawa internal strife and provincial wars continued, and control of Kyoto remained shaky.
He settled on the name Yoshizumi as shogun and sought to restore authority through rites and appointments. Real power still rested with Hosokawa Masamoto, leaving Yoshizumi little room for independent policy. The shogunate continued to move at the kanrei's will.
Kanrei Hosokawa Masamoto was killed by retainers. A fierce succession dispute in the Hosokawa house shook Kyoto. Yoshizumi, losing his main backer, grew weaker, while forces supporting the former shogun Ashikaga Yoshitane regained strength.
Hosokawa Takakuni and others moved troops to restore Ashikaga Yoshitane as shogun, and Yoshizumi was driven from Kyoto. He fled under the protection of houses such as the Rokkaku of Ōmi and lost the shogunate. Having become shogun as a child, he was pushed from the center of power after only a decade or so.
From bases in Ōmi, Mino and elsewhere, efforts continued to restore Yoshizumi. Allies such as Hosokawa Sumimoto kept the struggle for Kyoto alive. The fighting swung back and forth, and no stable government was rebuilt.
He tried again to enter Kyoto with allied forces, but met resistance from Yoshitane's side under Hosokawa Takakuni and Ōuchi Yoshioki, and made little progress. With the shogunal house split in two, Muromachi authority sank further.
He died of illness in Ōmi at the age of thirty. His son Ashikaga Yoshiharu later became the 12th shogun, so Yoshizumi's line continued the shogunal house. A short tenure and death in exile marked a life that symbolized the weakness of the shogunate in the Sengoku age.
A. The 11th shōgun of the Muromachi bakufu in the mid-Muromachi period. He became shōgun after the Meiō coup and ran bakufu politics amid relations with powerful shugo such as the Hosokawa. Driven from Kyoto in the Eishō upheaval, he died in Ōmi.
A. Period: Muromachi period. Born in 1481, died in 1511.
A. Ashikaga Yoshizumi was born in uncertain.
A. In the Meiō coup Hosokawa Masamoto and others expelled the previous shōgun Ashikaga Yoshiki, and Yoshizumi was installed. Details of his early life vary by account.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Ashikaga YoshimasaHino TomikoHosokawa MasamotoAshikaga YoshitaneŌuchi YoshiokiHosokawa TakakuniSanjōnishi SanetakaKanō Motonobu
Ōuchi MasahiroSanjōnishi SanetakaAshikaga YoshihisaHosokawa MasamotoAshikaga YoshitaneKanō MotonobuŌuchi YoshiokiHosokawa Takakuni
People of the Muromachi period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.