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Fujiwara no Shinzei

Type Figure Region Japan Time 1106–1160 Also known as Shinzei

Fujiwara no Shinzei (1106–1160), originally Fujiwara no Michinori, was a late-Heian politician and strategist.…

Timeline

  1. 1130–1150Kyoto · KyotoKnown for scholarship in his early years, versed in Chinese classics and institutional systems, he served as Shikibu Taifu and others before becoming a monk (dharma name Shinzei); in the 1150s he became a trusted strategist of Emperor Go-Shirakawa (later Retired Emperor).
  2. 1150–1156Kyoto · KyotoBecoming Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa's most trusted strategist, he held sweeping authority over personnel and military planning, overshadowing the Kanpaku Fujiwara; his power peaked after the 1156 Hōgen Disturbance, arousing widespread jealousy among court nobles and warriors and sowing the seeds of his downfall in the Heiji Disturbance.
  3. 1156–1160Kyoto · KyotoIn the 1156 Hōgen Disturbance, Shinzei adopted Minamoto no Yoshitomo's night-attack plan for Emperor Go-Shirakawa's side, defeating the faction of Retired Emperor Sutoku and Fujiwara no Yorinaga. In the 12th month of the first year of Heiji (January 1160 CE), Fujiwara no Nobuyori and Minamoto no Yoshitomo etc. raided the Sanjō Palace; Shinzei fled to Tahara in Yamashiro, was dug out from hiding underground, took his own life, and was decapitated in the capital.

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