Lê Thái Tông (黎太宗 22 December 1423 – 28 August 1442), birth name Lê Nguyên Long (黎元龍), was the second emperor of the

Later Lê dynasty Later may refer to: * Future, the time after the present Television * ''Later'' (talk show), a 1988–2001 American talk show * '' Later... with Jools Holland'', a British music programme since 1992 * ''The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts'', or ...

from 1433 until his early death nine years later. __TOC__

Biography

Lê Thái Tông was the second son of Lê Lợi. Although his mother died when he was at a young age, he was considered as bright and capable as his father was. When Lê Lợi became sick in 1433, he summoned his closest advisors (Lê Sát,

Trịnh Khả Trịnh Khả ( vi-hantu, 鄭可, 1402 – 1451) close advisor to emperor Lê Thái Tổ, chief ruler of Vietnam during the 1440s, and founder of the powerful Trịnh family. Đại Việt Thông Sử Page 5 Lê Quý Đôn reprint 1978 "Hoàng đ ...

, Pham Van Sao, Nguyễn Trãi, Tran Nguyen Han, and Le Ngan) to name Lê Thái Tông as his heir to the throne. At the time Lê Thái Tông was only ten years old. Upon Lê Lợi's death, Lê Sát assumed the regency of Vietnam. Lê Sát ruled Vietnam more for himself than for the young emperor. He eliminated many of his rivals by various means and tried to further solidify his power base within the government. Lê Thái Tông became increasingly unhappy with his regent's actions and sought support from rival factions. He struck an alliance with

, who had been exiled to a distant locality due to not getting along well with Lê Sát. One of his first acts upon officially taking the throne in 1438 was to bring Trịnh Khả back and installed him as the head of the Palace Guards - against Lê Sát's strong objections. A few months later, Lê Sát was accused of lacking in virtue and usurping the power which belonged solely to the emperor. The erstwhile Grand Chancellor was then arrested, tried and executed shortly after. Nguyen Trai

In spring 1440, an ethnic chief named Hà Tông Lai rebelled in Thu Vật sub-prefecture in Tuyên Quang (Northwest

Đại Việt Đại Việt (, ; literally Great Việt), often known as Annam ( vi, An Nam, Chữ Hán: 安南), was a monarchy in eastern Mainland Southeast Asia from the 10th century AD to the early 19th century, centered around the region of present-day H ...

). Lê Thái Tông launched and personally led a campaign against Hà Tông Lai. After only one week of fighting, the young emperor emerged victorious as Hà Tông Lai was beheaded and his son Tông Mậu was arrested. Not long after that, in 1440 another ethnic chief named Nghiễm broke loyalty with the court and gathered troops in the Gia Hưng prefecture, also in the nation's northwest area. Lê Thái Tông again personally led troops to the northwest. The imperial armies defeated Nghiễm, who subsequently presented the emperor with a buffalo as a clue of submission. That satisfied the emperor enough and he ordered the army to retreat, partly due to the fact that the weather was excessively hot causing difficulties to his troops. In the early part of 1441, Đại Việt's official history recorded that Nghiễm again took arms against the court. Lê Thái Tông made a third campaign to the northwest with his troops. Under the direct command of the emperor, the imperial hosts defeated a Laotian army having come to assist Nghiễm. They also captured two of Nghiễm's sons Sinh Tượng and Chàng Đồng. The campaign resulted in Nghiễm permanently submissing to the authority of the imperial court. Those military successes caused Thái Tông to be assessed by Vũ Quỳnh, high-ranking minister and court annalist during the reign of

Lê Tương Dực Lê Tương Dực (Han: 黎襄翼; 16 July 1495 – 8 May 1516), birth name Lê Oanh (黎瀠), reigned from 1509 to 1516, was the ninth emperor of the later Lê dynasty of Đại Việt. The only primary account of his life and reign was the Đại ...

, as a "heroic emperor". Although Lê Thái Tông proved to be a capable emperor, his one flaw was his desire for women, and the imperial court was soon filled with intrigue as he shifted his affections from one concubine to another. His first wife was the daughter of Lê Sát, his second wife was the daughter of Le Ngan, his third wife was Duong thi Bi, who gave birth to his first son Nghi Dân. He soon transferred his affections to Ngo Thi Ngoc Dao and

Nguyễn Thị Anh Nguyễn Thị Anh ( vi-hantu, 阮氏英, 1422 - 1459) was a concubine consort, empress dowager of Lê dynasty, mother of the emperor Le Nhan Tong. She was official regent of Đại Việt about 1442 - 1453 during her son's minority, and effectiv ...

. This last young woman gave birth to his third son (and immediate heir)

Lê Nhân Tông Lê Nhân Tông (黎仁宗, 28 May 1441 – 25 October 1459), birth name Lê Bang Cơ (黎邦基) was the third emperor of the Later Lê dynasty from 1453 until his murder in a coup in 1459. He was a grandson of the emperor Lê Lợi. During nearl ...

. However, Ngo Thi Ngoc Dao would give birth to his most widely known son,

Lê Thánh Tông Lê Thánh Tông (黎聖宗; 25 August 1442 – 3 March 1497), personal name Lê Hạo, temple name Thánh Tông, courtesy name Tư Thành, was an emperor of Đại Việt, reigning from 1460 to 1497, the fifth and the longest-reigning emp ...

Death

On 4 August 1442, the Emperor paid a visit to the eastern part of the country and paid a visit to Lệ Chi Viên, or Lychee Garden belonging to the Confucian scholar

Nguyễn Trãi Nguyễn Trãi (阮廌), pen name Ức Trai (抑齋); (1380–1442) was an illustrious Vietnamese Confucian scholar, a noted poet, a skilled politician and a master strategist. He was at times attributed with being capable of almost miraculous or ...

, located in Đại Lai, Gia Bình, Bắc Ninh Province. A concubine of Trãi, Lady Nguyễn Thị Lộ, was chosen to tend to the Emperor during the royal stay. The young emperor became very sick suddenly and quickly died. The next morning Trãi was accused of killing the Emperor, and together with members of his family was executed. In 1464, Emperor Lê Thánh Tông issued a royal proclamation to vindicate Trãi, saying that he was wholly innocent in the death of Lê Thái Tông and praised him by stating that “Trai’s spirit shines like a star". The surviving son of Trãi, Nguyễn Anh Vũ was made an officer for the Royal Court. Despite the vindication Trãi was considered guilty by some historians and scholars, because of his relationships with Lady Nguyễn Thị Lộ. On the basis that killing an Emperor is an unforgivable sin,

Lê Quý Đôn Lê Quý Đôn (; 1726–1784) was an 18th-century Vietnamese poet, encyclopedist, and government official. His pseudonym was Quế - Đường. He was a native of Duyen Ha village in present-day Thái Bình Province. He is considered one of the ...

in the 18th century stated that

should not be considered as a meritorious official despite his great contributions for country and the royal court during reign of Emperor Lê Thái Tổ. Some reports by

Ngô Sĩ Liên Ngô Sĩ Liên (吳士連) was a Vietnamese historian of the Lê dynasty. He was the principal compiler of the ''Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư'', a comprehensive chronicle of the history of Vietnam and the oldest official historical record of ...

, Phan Huy Chú and ''Quốc sử quán'' (National History School under

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

) also wrote that Trãi might be innocent in the death of the Emperor but not Lady Nguyễn Thị Lộ. Other scholars suggest that Lady Nguyễn Thị Lộ may have been an innocent victim of

the emperor's wife. Other scholars suggest that the emperor became sick and died of natural causes.nghi vấn nhân đọc Văn chương Nguyễn Trãi của Bùi Văn Nguyên
/ref>

Family

* Father: Le Thai To * Mother: Empress Cung Tu Pham Thi Ngoc Tran 范氏玉陳 * Consorts and their Respective Issue(s): # Empress Tuyen Tu

( 1422 - 1459) ## Crown Prince Le Bang Co, so Emperor

# Empress Quang Thuc Ngo Thi Ngoc Dao (1421 - 1469) ## Prince Le Tu Thanh, so Emperor

# Imperial Consort Le Ngoc Dao of Le clan # Consort Le Nhat Le of Le clan # Consort Duong Thi Bi ## Crown Prince Le Nghi Dan # Lady Bui of Bui clan ## Prince Le Khac Xuong

References

Notes

Bibliography