Fujiwara politics at the Heian court (1140s)

Timeline

1. 1140–1142Kyoto · Heian-kyōRetired Emperor Toba directly intervened in kanpaku appointments and dismissals through his cloistered officials; Fujiwara Tadafusa, appointed kanpaku in 1138, handled court business on Toba's instructions. Fujiwara Tadamitsu (Tadafusa's father) served as chancellor, and the Hokke main line maintained the sekke's nominal leading position in the early 1140s through close ties to the retired emperor, but could no longer dominate court politics as in the days of Fujiwara no Michinaga.
2. 1141–1145Toba-in residence · Heian-kyōWhile Emperor Konoe, son of Toba's favored consort Fujiwara no Toshiko (Empress Munekado), reigned, her maternal-kin faction faced opposition from the line of Retired Emperor Sutoku. After Konoe's early death in 1142, succession arrangements became the focus of contention among the Fujiwara houses; brothers Tadafusa and Yorinaga sided with rival succession factions, foreshadowing division within the sekke houses.
3. 1146–1149Kyoto · Heian-kyōBy the late 1140s, the Fujiwara could no longer resolve succession disputes on their own as court nobles, and samurai families such as the Minamoto and Taira were courted by various sides as political pawns. After Emperor Go-Shirakawa acceded in 1145, the sekke houses retained nominal authority, but real power shifted further toward the retired emperor's cloistered rule and samurai military force, setting the stage for Fujiwara Yorinaga's defeat and death in the Hōgen Disturbance of 1156.