Minamoto no Tomonaga (源朝長) (1144–1160) was a

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

samurai of the late

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

. His father was

Minamoto no Yoshitomo (1123 – 11 February 1160) was the head of the Minamoto clan and a general of the late Heian period of Japanese history. His son Minamoto no Yoritomo became ''shōgun'' and founded the Kamakura shogunate, the first shogunate in the history of ...

and his mother was sister of Hatano Yoshimichi. Tomonaga accompanied his father and two brothers, Minamoto no Yoshihira and

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

, fleeing Kyoto following their defeat in the Heiji Rebellion in 1160. Tomonaga had been wounded on

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by S ...

. The four made their way through snowstorms to the east in an attempt to levy troops. Yoshihira and Yoritomo went on ahead, while Tomonaga lagged behind. Tomonaga asked his father to kill him so he would not fall into the hands of the enemy. Yoshitomo obliged his son. Shortly afterwards, Yoshitomo was also killed. Tomonaga's grave was defiled some time later, by Taira no Munekiyo, who brought his head to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

as a trophy.

References

* Papinot, Edmond (1910). ''Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan.'' Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha. {{DEFAULTSORT:Minamoto no, Tomonaga Minamoto clan 1144 births 1160 deaths