Tokugawa Iemitsu

Tokugawa Iemitsu (previously spelled Iyemitsu); ?? ?? (August 12, 1604 ? June 8, 1651) was the third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty who reigned from 1623 to 1651. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Hidetada, and thus the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu: The Hidetada Regency (1623-1632)

In 1623, when Iemitsu was just nineteen, his father Hidetada abdicated from the post of shogun. Iemitsu thus, unexpectedly, succeeded as the third shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate with Hidetada still being effective ruler.

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Before Hidetada had abdicated in favor of Iemitsu, his daughter and Iemitsu's sister, Tokugawa Kazuko married the Emperor Go-Mizunoo. In 1624 Kazuko and Go-Mizunoo had a child, a girl who would become the Empress Meisho. In 1626, Shogun Iemitsu and Retired Shogun Hidetada visited Kyoto, visiting the Emperor Go-Mizunoo, Empress Kazuko (Iemitsu's sister), and Imperial Princess Meisho. Shogun Iemitsu made lavish grants of gold and money to the court nobles and the court itself. Relations with Go-Mizunoo deteriorated after Iemitsu's and Kazuko's wet nurse, a commoner, visited the court. Go-Mizunoo, embaressed, abdicated, and Meisho became empress. The shogun now became the uncle of the Empress.

Related Topics:
Tokugawa Kazuko - Go-Mizunoo - 1624 - Meisho - 1626 - Kyoto

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In 1632, Retired Shogun Hidetada died, giving Iemitsu effective power. Anxious that his brother Tadanaga would try to have him assasinated, he was finally able to govern assuredly after Tadanaga died in 1633.

Related Topics:
1632 - 1633

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