Lê Phụ Trần (?–?) was a general of the

Trần Dynasty The Trần dynasty, (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái T ...

during the reigns of three successive emperors: Thái Tông, Thánh Tông, and Nhân Tông. As a skilled general on the battlefield, he was one of the few commanders of the Trần Dynasty army during the three Mongol invasions of Đại Việt who did not come from the Trần clan. Besides his military activities, Lê Phụ Trần also took charge of the position royal professor for

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

Trần Khâm who eventually became the Emperor Trần Nhân Tông. For his merits, the Emperor Trần Thái Tông decided to grant Lê Phụ Trần a marriage with the former empress

Lý Chiêu Hoàng Lý Chiêu Hoàng ( vi-hantu, 李昭皇, September 1218 – 1278), personal name Lý Phật Kim (李佛金) later renamed to Lý Thiên Hinh (李天馨), was the ninth and last sovereign of the Lý dynasty, empress of Đại Việt f ...

History

There was only a brief account about Lê Phụ Trần (''Lê who serves the Trần Dynasty'') in historical books as the exact dates of his birth and death were unknown. It was said that his former name was Lê Tần ( 黎秦) and that he was of Ái Châu origin. According to '' Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư'', Lê Phụ Trần was appointed by the Emperor Trần Thái Tông as middle-ranking court counsellor (

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

: Ngự sử trung tướng) in 1250. In 1257, the Trần Dynasty had to face with the first

Mongol invasion The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

of Đại Việt. In the beginning, the Đại Việt army suffered several defeats by an overwhelming force which had already conquered vast areas of

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. Several high-ranking officials of the Trần Dynasty were so afraid that Prince Khâm Thiên

Trần Nhật Hiệu Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

, younger brother of Thái Tông, even suggested the Emperor that they might escape from Đại Việt to the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. Despite the hardships, Lê Phụ Trần always proved to be not only a courageous general on the battlefield but also a sound official who rightly advised the Emperor retreating in order to preserve the army for a counterattack. It was Lê Phụ Trần who fiercely protected the Emperor from the Mongol army in this retreat, hence he became a close advisor of the Emperor who could discuss with Thái Tông the most important and secret matters about the war. Finally, the Trần Dynasty was able to drive back the invasion and re-established the peace in Đại Việt in December 1257. For his merits during the war of resistance, in 1258 the Emperor Trần Thái Tông decided to grant Lê Phụ Trần a marriage with the former empress

who was downgraded to princess Chiêu Thánh after the 1237 event in which Lý Chiêu Hoàng was forced by grand chancellor

Trần Thủ Độ Prince Trung Võ Trần Thủ Độ ( vi-hantu, 陳守度, 1194–1264) was a general and leader of the Trần clan during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông and Lý Chiêu Hoàng of Vietnam. Trần Thủ Độ was credited for overthrowing the Lý dyna ...

to give up the position of Empress Consort of the Trần Dynasty for her elder sister Thuận Thiên, for the reason that she could not give birth to a child for Trần Thái Tông. Like the 1237 event, the marriage between Lê Phụ Trần and Princess Chiêu Thánh was criticized in historical books for the lack of moral code in marriage during the Early Trần period. Princess Chiêu Thánh deceased in Cổ Pháp in March 1278 at the age of 61. With the second husband Lê Phụ Trần, she had two children, Marquis Lê Tông and Princess Ứng Thụy Lê Khuê. Right after the marriage, Trần Thái Tông chose Lê Phụ Trần and Chu Bác Lãm as the Emperor's envoys to the

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

in 1258. In this voyage, Chief Ambassador Lê Phụ Trần was able to negotiate with the Yuan Dynasty for a 3-year period of paying

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

instead of the confused demand of tribute from the Yuan Dynasty before. After the coronation of Trần Thánh Tông in February 1258, Lê Phụ Trần was promoted to commander-in-chief of Đại Việt's navy (Thủy quân đại tướng quân) in June 1259 as a part of the Emperor's plan of reinforcing the Trần Dynasty by several recruitements and reorganization of the military division so that the operating and fighting ability of Đại Việt army could be improved. Besides his military activities, Lê Phụ Trần was also a renowned scholar, in 1274, Trần Thánh Tông appointed him for the position of royal professor (Trừ cung giáo thụ) for

Trần Khâm, who eventually became the Emperor Trần Nhân Tông, with two famous scholars

Nguyễn Sĩ Cố Nguyễn () is the most common Vietnamese surname. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as Nguyen. Nguyên (元）is a different word and surname. By some estimates 39 percent of Vietnamese people bear this s ...

and Nguyễn Thánh Huấn as assistants.

References

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Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Phu Tran Trần dynasty generals Trần dynasty officials Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown