Trịnh Kiểm (1503–1570) ruled northern part of Vietnam from 1545 to 1570. Trịnh Kiểm was the founder of the

Trịnh lords The Trịnh lords ( vi, Chúa Trịnh; Chữ Nôm: 主鄭; 1545–1787), formal title Trịnh Viceroy (; ), also known as Trịnh clan (鄭氏, ''Trịnh thị'') or the House of Trịnh, were a noble feudal clan who de facto ruled Northern Viet ...

or House of Trịnh who ruled Dai Viet while a succession of figurehead Later Lê emperors took the role as

puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sovere ...

. During his rule, the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

with the

Mạc dynasty The Mạc dynasty ( vi, Nhà Mạc / ''Mạc triều''; Hán Nôm: 茹莫 / 莫朝) (1527-1627), as known as House of Mạc ruled the whole of Đại Việt between 1527 and 1540 and the northern part of the country from 1540 until 1593, and ...

continued. Although he was the de facto ruler of Dai Viet during his reign, he never claimed himself the title of Lord, hence he is not the first official Trịnh lord but his son Trịnh Tùng is the first. Later Trịnh Kiểm was posthumously proclaimed a Trịnh lord by his descendants.

Background

Trịnh Kiểm claimed descent from

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� ...

, who was one of the top aides of

Lê Lợi Lê Lợi (, Chữ Hán: 黎利; c. 10 September 1384/1385 – 5 October 1433), also known by his temple name as Lê Thái Tổ (黎太祖) and by his pre-imperial title Bình Định vương (平定王; "Prince of Pacification"), was a Vietname ...

and later became the top official during the reign of child-king

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 near ...

. His relationship to the General Trịnh who defeated a rebel army in 1511 and then led a rebellion of his own in 1517 is unknown. Also unknown is his relationship to Trịnh Duy Dai and Trịnh Duy Sản (two of the leaders of the first revolt against

Mạc Đăng Dung Mạc Đăng Dung (chữ Hán; 莫登庸; 23 November 1483 – 22 August 1541), also known by his temple name Mạc Thái Tổ (), was an emperor of Vietnam and the founder of the Mạc dynasty. Previously a captain of the imperial guard (Praeto ...

Nguyễn/Trinh alliance

A second revolt against

took place not long after Dung usurped the throne and proclaimed himself Emperor of Vietnam in 1527. This second revolt was led by

Nguyễn Kim Nguyen Kim (; 1468–1545) was a Vietnamese statesman who was the ancestor of the famous Nguyễn Lords who later ruled south Vietnam (and much later, all of Vietnam). During his rule, the war with the Mạc dynasty started. Nguyễn Kim claim ...

whose second-in-command was his son-in-law, Trịnh Khiêm (who married Kim's daughter Ngoc Bao). The second revolt allowed the Nguyễn-Trịnh army to capture the Western Capital (''Tay Do'') and enthrone Emperor

Lê Trang Tông Lê Trang Tông (, 1515 – 9 March 1548) was the 13th emperor of the Later Lê dynasty and the first of the Revival Lê dynasty.《歷朝憲章類誌》卷二十一·禮儀誌·太廟殿奉事各位。 His enthronement marked the re-establishment ...

, in 1533. The Nguyễn-Trịnh alliance sent a formal embassy to China that denounced the usurpation of

and asked for help. In 1536, the Chinese delegation concluded that Dung had usurped the throne of the Lê Emperors. After hearing the report, the

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu You ...

dispatched an army that arrived on the border of Vietnam in 1537. However, with protestations of loyalty to the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and the offer of a piece of north Vietnam to the Chinese,

convinced the Chinese to leave. The official position of the Chinese government was that the

should rule in the north and the Lê government should rule in the south. The Nguyễn-Trịnh alliance refused to accept this settlement, continuing the war.

Army commander

In 1541, Mạc died and his grandson, Phước Hải, took over. In 1545,

was assassinated by a Mạc supporter. Nguyễn had two young sons (

Nguyễn Hoàng Nguyễn Hoàng (28 August 1525 – 20 July 1613) was the first of the Nguyễn lords who ruled the southern provinces of Vietnam between 1558 and 1613, from a series of cities: Ai Tu (1558–70), Tra Bat (1570–1600), and Dinh Cat (modern-day Hu ...

and Nguyễn Uông) but Trịnh Kiểm took control of the Royal army.Renowned Vietnamese intellectuals prior to the 20th century 2004 – Page 18 "Trịnh Kiểm, the prime-minister of the Le, and son-in-law of Nguyễn Kim, former mandarin of the Le, brought Lê Anh Tông to the ... Trịnh Kiểm was afraid that his wife's two brothers, Nguyễn Uông and Nguyễn Hoàng, might usurp the throne. The Nguyễn-Trịnh alliance, now under the command of Trịnh Kiểm, continued to fight the Mạc. A new king was enthroned as Lê Trung Tông in 1548, then another Lê king, Lê Anh Tông, was enthroned in 1556. In 1558 the eldest son of Nguyễn Kim,

, was sent to the south to take control over the recently conquered province of Quảng Nam. By 1665, the Royal (Trịnh) army had captured all provinces south of the Red River and were threatening

Hanoi Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...

Succession

In 1569, in failing health, Trịnh Kiểm passed power to his eldest son, Trịnh Coi. In 1570, Trịnh Kiểm died. In the same year, Trịnh Coi was defeated by a Mạc army and was replaced by his younger, more capable brother,

Trịnh Tùng Trịnh Tùng (19 December 1550 – 17 July 1623), also known as Trịnh Tòng and later given the title ''Bình An Vương'' (平安王), was the de facto ruler of Đại Việt from 1572 to 1623. Trịnh Tùng is the first official Trịnh lord, ...

Sources

''Annam and its Minor Currency''
Chapter 16 (downloaded May 2006)

(downloaded May 2006) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Trinh Kiem Trịnh lords 1503 births 1570 deaths 16th-century Vietnamese monarchs People from Thanh Hóa province Founding monarchs

Background

Nguyễn/Trinh alliance

Army commander

Succession

See also

Sources