Lê Nhân Tông (黎仁宗, 28 May 1441 – 25 October 1459), birth name Lê Bang Cơ (黎邦基) in Vietnam was the third king of the
Later Lê dynasty from 1453 until his murder in a coup in 1459. He was a grandson of the Emperor
Lê Lợi
Lê Lợi (, chữ Hán: 黎利; 10 September 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 Vietnamese peopl ...
. During nearly all of his reign, the real power behind the throne was his mother,
Queen Dowager Tuyên Từ, a royal consort of
Lê Thái Tông.
Biography
With the sudden death of
Lê Thái Tông, his heir was an infant son named Bang Co, mothered by Royal Consort
Nguyen Thi Anh. He was the third son of his father, but the elder son (
Le Nghi Dân) had been officially passed over due to his mother's low social status.
The government was actually under the control of
Trinh Kha. Trịnh Khả was a long-time aide, friend, and counselor of Lê Lợi. By 1442, he was the first among the surviving top aides of Lê Lợi, the others had been killed or were second rank. Despite the dangers of having an infant on the throne, the government seems to have run well with no serious problems. The mother of the king,
Queen Dowager Tuyên Từ was around 21 years old when her son was appointed the future king, over time she assumed more power in the government.
The next 17 years were good years for Vietnam. While some disputes surfaced between the
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...
scholars and the noble families, by and large things were fairly peaceful and prosperous for the country.
The king of
Champa
Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...
, Maha Vijaya, raided Hoa-chau in 1444 and 1445. The Court of Annam sent messages to the
Zhengtong Emperor
, succession = Emperor of the Ming dynasty
, reign-type = First reign
, reign = 31 January 1435 – 22 September 1449
, coronation = 7 February 1435
, cor-type = Enthronement
, regent =
, reg-type = Regents
, ...
of
Ming China
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
protesting these raids. The Ming did nothing other than rebuke
Champa
Champa (Cham language, Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Chams, Cham Polity, polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day Central Vietnam, central and southern Vietnam from ...
, so in 1446 the Vietnamese sent an army under the command of Le Kha and Le Tho to enter Cham territory. The campaign was successful, with the capture of the Cham capital
Vijaya
Vijaya may refer to:
Places
* Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam
* Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India
People
* Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...
. "Maha Vijaya was made prisoner with his wives and concubines, elephants, horses, and weapons."
[Maspero, G., 2002, The Champa Kingdom, Bangkok: White Lotus Co., Ltd., ]
The Vietnamese were driven out a year later. However, the Cham did not mount another offensive against the Vietnamese for the next twenty years.
In 1451, for reasons that are unclear, Anh ordered the execution of
Trịnh Khả and his eldest son. Two years later,
Trịnh Khả was officially pardoned along with several other close advisors to Le Loi who had been killed (like Lê Sát). The pardon occurred in conjunction with the official ascension to power of Lê Nhân Tông, though he was only 12 years old at the time.
It is unknown why a 12-year-old boy was formally given the power of government since ancient Vietnamese custom stated that power could only be given at the age of 16. It may have been done to remove the Queen Nguyen Thi Anh from power, but if that was the reason, it failed, the young king's mother still controlled the government up until the 1459 coup.
In 1459, Lê Nhân Tông's older brother,
Lê Nghi Dân, plotted with a group of officials to kill the king. On October 28, the plotters with some 100 "shiftless men" entered into the palace and killed the king (he was just 18). The next day, facing certain execution, his mother,
Queen Dowager Tuyên Từ, was killed by a loyal servant.
This ended the nearly 20-year period when Vietnam was essentially ruled by a woman. Later Vietnamese historians offered two different pictures of this time, one court historian said this was a period of benevolent rule, with harmony in the court and idyllic peace in the land. Another historian says the court was in chaos and that having a woman rule the state was as unnatural as "a hen crowing at daybreak". Good counselors like Trịnh Khả had been removed from office and inept men had been elevated, bringing oppression and calamity to Vietnam.
Lê Nghi Dân would not long enjoy his rule; he was removed from power and killed in a counter-coup just 9 months later. The next king of Vietnam was the last son of Lê Thái Tông:
Lê Thánh Tông.
See also
*
List of Vietnamese dynasties
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Nhan Tong
1441 births
1459 deaths
Nhan Tong
Murdered royalty
Child monarchs from Asia
15th-century Vietnamese monarchs
Vietnamese murder victims
Vietnamese monarchs
Royalty from Hanoi