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Fujiwara no Kenshi
Fujiwara no Kenshi (1057–1084) was a mid-Heian empress, daughter of Fujiwara no Morozane of the main Fujiwara regent line.…
Timeline
- 1057–1074Heian-kyō · KinkiBorn in 1057, daughter of Fujiwara no Morozane and descendant of the main Fujiwara Northern House regent line. She received education befitting a noble lady from childhood, learning waka, musical instruments, and court etiquette; once her father's political position was secure, she was arranged to enter the palace to forge ties with Emperor Shirakawa.
- 1075–1084Heian-kyō · KinkiEnthroned as Chūgū (Empress) to Emperor Shirakawa in 1075. In 1079 she bore Prince Yoshihito, the future Emperor Horikawa, fulfilling the Fujiwara clan's political mission of continuing the imperial in-law bloodline. She died in 1084 at only twenty-eight. Her early death deprived Emperor Shirakawa of his beloved consort and the Fujiwara family of chances to sustain in-law ties with the imperial house, indirectly contributing to the independent formation of the retired Emperor Shirakawa's insei system.
Sources
- 日本大百科全書（ニッポニカ）「藤原賢子」 (1994)
- 今鏡
- The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2: Heian Japan — Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough (eds.) (1999)