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| 高大、無限の母性パワー―比企尼(ひきのあま)とマーガレット・ボーフォート(エリザベス 1世の曾祖母) |
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保元元年（１１５６年）７月、皇位継承問題や摂関家の内紛により、朝廷が後白河天皇派と崇徳上皇派とに分かれ、摂関家では藤原忠通と藤原頼長とが対立、後白河・忠通方は源義朝・平清盛らの武士団を招き、崇徳・頼長方は源為義・平忠正らの武士団を招いて京都市中で交戦となり崇徳上皇方が敗北、上皇は讃岐へ配流となった。 戦後、源義朝は敵方で戦った父・為義と父と共に戦った弟の助命を嘆願したが叶わず、京都北郊・船岡山の処刑場で自ら、父と弟の首を刎ねるという厳しい役回りを演じさせられた。 ところがその３年後、政権中枢にある後白河法皇、そしてその側近として権勢を振るい平清盛とその一族を厚遇する藤原通憲（信西）に対して、源義朝と結んだ藤原信頼が対立、清盛が熊野参詣に出かけて京都に生じた軍事的空白を突いたか、平治元年（１１５９年）１２月初旬、藤原信頼方が信西方に対するクーデターを仕掛け、「平治の乱」が始まった。 熊野への途中で変を聞いた清盛は直ちに本拠地・六波羅に戻り、兵力に勝る清盛と息子たちが忽ち勝利し、早くも１２月下旬には藤原信頼が処刑され、源義朝は戦場を離脱して東国への逃避行を余儀なくされた。 戦に敗れ、降りしきる雪の中を父・義朝、長男・義平、次男・朝長、三男・頼朝らは家来数名と共に美濃、尾張を目指して逃避行を開始し、義平は単身北陸道へ落ち延びた。 北陸道で義平は兵を募るが、都における源氏の敗報は早くも伝わっていて、義平に味方する者は現れなかった。やむを得ず、下人に身をやつして京に戻ってきた義平は、宿敵・清盛をつけ狙っているうちに捕縛されてしまった。 前九年、後三年の役に奥羽を平定した八幡太郎義家を直系の祖とする源義朝の嫡男・源太義平は早くからその豪勇をもって知られ、鎌倉悪源太義平と呼ばれていた。 処刑する前に、清盛は義平の武勇を惜しんで贅を尽くした酒食を用意させたが、義平はそれらを一切口にせず、昂然として斬首される。 源家の嫡流、武家の頭領として当然の振る舞いであった。 義平の処刑後４０数日にして異母弟（三男）頼朝が、美濃の国司・平頼盛の家人に捕らえられた。その時１４歳の頼朝には、捕らえた平宗清が気圧（けお）され畏（かしこ）まる程の威厳が備わっていたという。 源頼朝は直前「平治の乱」合戦において、「右兵衛佐（うひょうえのすけ）頼朝、生年１３歳なり」と名乗り上げると、敵中に斬り込んで敏捷に馳せまわったという。 この時、頼朝は三男であるにもかかわらず、「源太の産衣（うぶぎ）」と呼ばれる鎧を着て、「髭切（ひげきり）」という太刀を帯びていた。 二つとも、あの八幡太郎義家が着用して以来、源家の嫡男へと相続されてきて、本来は義平が着用、佩用すべきであったが、義朝は源家の嫡流としての資質を三男・頼朝に見出していた。 冒頭述べたように、三年前、義朝は清盛と組んで戦った「保元の乱」において、敵方に回って敗北した父・為義と弟の助命を嘆願したが赦されなかった。 京都北郊・船岡山で、父や幼い弟の首を刎ねるという厳しい役回りを演じさせられた義朝には、その後、多くの判断要素が加わったことであろう。 京都からの逃避行の中で、義朝は落ち武者討伐隊との戦いによって馬をも失い、裸足となって３日後には尾張国（現・愛知県知多郡美浜町）にたどり着くが、身を寄せた先の裏切りに会い斬殺され（享年３８）、その首は京の都に晒される。 父義朝やその一行とはぐれ、既述のように捕縛され六波羅に連行されて、斬刑梟首が当然と思われていた頼朝（１４歳）は、平清盛の継母・池禅尼の助命嘆願によって伊豆配流となった。 その結果、頼朝は現在の静岡県伊豆国市韮山で２０年もの間、平家の監視下で、表向きは平家に処断された父・義朝や兄・義平らの菩提を弔うために、読経三昧の「流罪人（一地方武士）」としての生活を強いられたのである。 源頼朝は久安３年（１１４７年）４月８日、熱田神宮西側にあった神宮大宮司・藤原季範の別邸（現在の誓願寺）で誕生した。母は鳥羽上皇に寵愛され、尾張三宮熱田神宮の大宮司に任ぜられた藤原季範の三女・由良御前である。 蛇足ながら付言すれば、剛勇をもって鳴る長男・義平の母は三浦半島の豪族・三浦義明の娘であり、次男・朝長の母は西相模（秦野市）の豪族・波多野義通の妹であった。 誕生と同時に、父・義朝によって関東の豪族の妻たちの中から頼朝の乳母として３人が任ぜられたが、その一人が武蔵国比企郡の代官・比企掃部充の妻・比企尼（ひきのあま）であった。 その比企尼が歴史上果たした役割と言うべきか、その「大働き」は、後述するイギリス（イングランド）におけるマーガレット・ボーフォート（Margaret Beaufort）を彷彿とさせるものである。 現在の埼玉県比企郡滑川町和泉１２３７番地の「三門館（みかどやかた）」と呼ばれる辺りにあった屋敷（伝承による）から、頼朝が暮らす伊豆の韮山（蛭ケ小島）まで、毎月一回食料等（米麦金員等）を２０年の間、途切れることなく届けさせたのが比企尼であった。 埼玉県比企郡の領主（代官）であった比企遠宗の妻として比企尼は毎月、食料等を届けさせたばかりでなく、自分の長女（丹後内侍）とその夫・安達盛長（後に頼朝の側近となる）、次女（河越尼）とその夫・河越重頼（武蔵国の有力豪族）、三女とその夫・伊藤祐清（伊豆国の豪族）を頼朝の身辺にやって、何と２０年の長きに亘り、身の回りの世話（近侍）をさせたのである。 「平家にあらざれば人にあらず」と言われる程の世情の中で、これらの人々は、どのような苦心、工夫をしたものか、「源家の頭領」とはいえ、その生活は一人の田舎武士（流罪人）に過ぎない頼朝を支え、逆風の中、「日本初の武家政権」を樹立させた堅忍不抜の士の２０年に亘る苦節の中心人物が頼朝の乳母・比企尼であった。 隠忍自重の２０年という歳月を経て、ついに治承４年（１１８０年）８月、源家の頭領・源頼朝（３４歳）が平家打倒に立ち上がった時、頼朝の手勢はわずか１０人ほどであり、そのたった１０人の手勢のうち４人が近江源氏・佐々木四兄弟である。 「平治の乱」に義朝の下で戦って敗れた近江源氏・佐々木秀義は、義朝の首が京の都に晒されるという状況の中、奥州藤原氏を頼りに東国まで来た。 その武勇に魅せられた相模国渋谷荘の豪族・渋谷重国の勧めに従って、秀義は次男・経高、三男・盛綱と共に渋谷氏のもとで暮らすことになった。 長男・定綱は栃木県の宇都宮氏に身を寄せ、幼い四男・高綱は本拠地京都の身内に預けていた。 注目すべきは、比企尼からの連絡によって頼朝の流人暮らしの実情を知った源秀義が、我が子４人それぞれが成人するのを待って、次々と頼朝の許へ送って仕えさせるという、献身的貢献をしたことである。 治承４（１１８０）年８月１７日の夜、伊豆の目代（県知事のような存在）山木兼隆の屋敷を襲った頼朝の義父・北条時政の３０人程の手勢以外に、頼朝の側に残った１０人の中から三男の盛綱を親衛として残した佐々木兄弟は、たった３人で目付（警察署長のような存在）堤権守（つつみごんのかみ）の屋敷を襲撃し、堤の首を打ち取った。 煌々たる満月の下、塀によじ登った次男・経高の放った矢は母屋の玄関の板戸を突き抜け、史書『吾妻鏡』に「源家、平氏を征する最初の一箭なり」と記された。 近い将来に関東源氏の合流を見込むとはいえ、わずか１０人の手勢と共に平家打倒（日本支配体制の転覆）に立ち上がった頼朝が、決死の覚悟であったことは間違いあるまい。 八幡太郎義家以来の傑出した血筋（資質）と、武家（源家）の頭領としての幼時からの教育が、大勢に抗することをものともせず、一人でも敢然と立つ勇気を持った「真の貴族」としての行動を可能にしたのである。 １４歳から３４歳になるまでの「流罪人頼朝」を支えきって、「日本初の武家政権誕生」という偉業の端緒を担った比企尼を中心とする安達盛長や佐々木四兄弟ら、ほんの一握りの人々の感慨は、どのようなものであったか。 律儀に食料等を届けるばかりでなく、女性の身で雌伏２０年の頼朝周辺に上記のような気配り、手配りをした比企尼は、チューダー王朝の開祖ヘンリー７世の母マーガレット・ボーフォートを想起させる人物である。 １歳の時、政争に敗れて処刑された父親（初代サマセット公爵）を失ったマーガレット・ボーフォート（Margaret Beaufort）は、政界の実力者サフォーク公爵の後見を受けて育ち、１４５０年２月、７歳にも関わらずサフォーク公の息子ジョンが最初の結婚相手となったが、同年５月、サフォーク公は暗殺され、ジョンとの結婚は無効とされた。 １４５５年（康正元年、室町幕府・足利義政の時代）、１３歳のマーガレットは、国王ヘンリー６世（ランカスター系）の配慮で、リッチモンド伯エドマンド・チューダー（Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond ）と結婚した。 ところがこの年、薔薇戦争が勃発、ランカスター系の国王ヘンリー６世もマーガレットの夫エドマンドも共にヨーク派に捕らえられて、翌年にはエドマンドが獄死するという不幸に見舞われたマーガレットは、その２か月後に男子を出産する。 これが後のチューダー王朝の開祖ヘンリー７世（エリザベス１世の祖父）である。 バラ戦争が本格化して王位に近い貴族の身辺には絶えず死の危険が及び、身重の未亡人マーガレット（１３歳）は、義理の兄弟であるペンブルック伯ジャスパー・チューダーのウェールズにある城に匿われ、そこで生まれた男子がヘンリーである。 ペンブルック城（１９５１年からイギリス指定建造物１級、ウェールズで最大級の城の一つ）に身を寄せている間に、マーガレットはジャスパー・チューダーの仲介によってか、バッキンガム公爵の息子であるヘンリー・スタッフォード卿と３度目の結婚をしたが、彼もまた１４７１年、２８歳のマーガレットを残して早世した。 血筋によってランカスター家の側に立つマーガレットとヘンリーは「幽閉」あるいはヘンリーの「フランスへの亡命」という酷い運命を強いられ、１４歳のヘンリーは１４７１年、叔父ジャスパー・チューダーに伴われてフランス、ブルターニュに亡命して１４年間を過ごす。 その後３０歳を過ぎていたマーガレットが４度目に結婚した相手は後にダービー伯となるトーマス・スタンレー卿で、当時ヨーク家出身の国王エドワード４世に信頼される廷臣であった。 １４７０年、ランカスター派に寝返ったウォーリック伯ネヴィルによって、国王エドワード４世（ヨーク系）が追放された時、兄に忠誠を尽くして翌年のエドワード４世の王位復帰に貢献したリチャード３世は、１４８３年、兄王が病没すると、その幼い息子エドワード５世の摂政（護国卿）に就任したが、間も無く自分にとっては甥にあたるエドワード５世とその弟をロンドン塔に幽閉する。 エドワード４世の後を継いだ同王の弟であるリチャード３世とその議会は、マーガレットの爵位を奪った上、ヘンリーの私権をも剥奪した。 だがマーガレットは、既に１４７１年にエドワード４世が復位した頃から、フランスに亡命中の息子と密かに連絡を取る一方、ヨーク家側の権力者とも和解の道を講じるなど、政治的な配慮を怠らなかった。 エドワード４世の死後は、リチャード３世を廃し息子ヘンリーを王位に就けるべく奔走する母の動きに合わせ、兄の二人の子供をロンドン塔に幽閉したリチャード３世の悪評に乗じてヘンリーは１４８５年８月、フランス王ルイ１１世の援助を得てフランス兵スコットランド兵、そして叔父ジャスパー・チューダーら少数の亡命者達と共に、ウェールズのミルフォード・ヘイブンに上陸した。 後にチューダー朝の平和な時代に至っても、「武具に誇りを抱く古き傲慢な国民」と呼ばれ、好戦的で尚武の気風に満ちたウェールズ地方の人々は幼少の頃そこで暮らしたヘンリー・チューダーを熱狂的に迎えた。１週間ほど注意深くイングランドのシュリューズベリーに向って進軍するうちに、ヘンリーは少数ながら精強な軍隊を集めていく。 １４８５年８月２２日、ボズワースの野（Bosworth Field）でヘンリーと対決した国王リチャード３世は、決定的な敗北を喫した。 彼の臣下の多くが味方として戦うことを恥じ、ヨーク家の忠臣のはずのスタンレー卿（マーガレットの夫）も、この大事な瞬間にリチャードから離反する。 約５０００の兵を率いたヘンリーは、自軍の２倍近い兵力のリチャード軍に短期決戦を挑み、果敢に攻撃したが劣勢に陥り敗れかかった時、義理の父（マーガレットの４度目の結婚相手スタンレー卿）の軍勢が、あたかも関ケ原の土壇場において裏切った小早川勢のように、リチャード軍に襲い掛かった。 国王リチャード３世は打ち取られ、１０６６年即位のウィリアム征服王以来、戦場で討ち死にした唯一のイングランド国王となり、その死体は丸裸にされ、馬の背に逆さ吊りにされて埋葬場所まで運ばれたという。 歴史家トレベリアンも指摘するように、バラ戦争はイングランドの貴族層が自分自身の体に施した一種の瀉血であった。断続的に戦闘は何度も行われたが、一般国民や国土は大して傷まず、貴族のみが多数消滅したからである。 ２５年間の度重なる戦闘とその惨禍の中で、王位継承者はランカスター家側にもヨーク家側にも居なくなってしまい、マーガレットの息子リッチモンド伯ヘンリー・チューダーがヘンリー７世として、いわゆるチューダー王朝の開祖となったのである。 この時、マーガレットは４２歳、ヘンリー７世は２８歳であり、身重の未亡人マーガレット（１３歳）が、辺境の地ウェールズの身内の城（ペンブルック城）に匿われ、そこでヘンリーを出産してから２８年の歳月が経っていた。 国家体制を逸脱して国王に対抗し得るような大貴族が消滅したことによって、チューダー王朝のイギリスが他のヨーロッパ諸国に先駆けて近代国家としての第一歩を踏み出したのである。 そのマーガレット・ボーフォートは上記のような波乱万丈の前半生と共に、高邁なその後半生によって英国史上傑出した女性の一人となった。息子ヘンリーが国王となるや、マーガレットは政治に口出しせず、ヘンリーの宮廷にも滅多に現れなかった。 敬神の念厚く、信仰と慈善の心を大切に生きた彼女の後半生に最も影響を与えた人物は、彼女の司祭（Confessor）でありカンタベリー大聖堂に次いでイングランドで２番目に古いロチェスター大聖堂の司教に任命されたジョン・フィッシャーである。 フィッシャーは稀にみる秀才として、１５０４年（文亀４年、永正元年）にはケンブリッジ大学の総長（Chancellor）に任命され、『ユートピア』の著者トマス・モアと親交のあった人文学者エラスムス（破格のベストセラー『痴愚神礼讃』の著者）をオランダ（ネーデルラント）からケンブリッジに招聘したのはフィッシャーである。 敬虔なマーガレットはウェストミンスター修道院の拡張に意欲的であったが、厳格なカソリックであったフィッシャーは、押し寄せる「ルネサンスの精神」に対抗するためには、「怠惰な隠遁よりは活発な学問」の必要性を説き、教育のために彼女の広大な所領に基づく莫大な資産を用いるよう説得した。 そして１５０５年（永正２年）、ケンブリッジ大学クライスト・カレッジは創設された。 クライスト・カレッジに関して蛇足ながら付言すると、ダンテの『新曲』と共にキリスト教文学の代表作とされる『失楽園』を１６６７年（寛文７年、徳川綱吉の時代）に出版したジョン・ミルトンは、１６２５年（寛永２年）ここに入学、１６３２年に修士号を習得している。 時代は下って『種の起源』の著者チャールズ・ダーウィンは１８２７年ここに入学、１８３１年（天保元年）卒業後、ビーグル号に自然科学者として乗船、南米及び南太平洋の調査に向った。 さらに１５０８年にはセント・ジョンズ修道院の跡に、もう一つのカレッジの設立許可状を国王ヘンリー７世から得ていたが、同年、国王もマーガレットも死去して実現しなかった。 １８歳で即位したマーガレットの孫ヘンリー８世は、祖母の遺産を浪費的な目的に使おうとしたが、フィッシャーはこれに反対、周到にもローマ教皇にも手をまわし１５１１年、遂にヘンリー８世からセント・ジョンズ カレッジの設立特許状を取り付けたという。 余談ながら、ヘンリー８世は長身典雅な風貌で強弓をあやつり、馬上槍試合の強豪でありながら、楽器や歌にも極めて巧みな伊達者、いわば豪傑であった。 彼は次男であったが、父ヘンリー７世が死去する６年前、若死にした兄アーサーの妻アラゴンのキャサリン（超大国スペインの国王の娘）と婚約させられていた。 義姉と義弟の結婚は教会法で禁じられていたが、ヘンリー８世が即位し国王として最初に行ったことは、キャサリンとの結婚であった。ローマ教皇と対決し、決別した（教皇から破門された）ヘンリー８世は、キャサリンとの間に６人の子を設けたが男子に恵まれず、キャサリンとの離婚を手始めに離婚を繰り返し６人の妻を娶って、そのうち２人を斬首刑に処した。２番目の后となり、結局斬首された女官アン・ブーリンの子が後のエリザベス１世である。 こういう経緯を経て、２５年の歳月と莫大な費用（５０００ポンド）によって完成されたケンブリッジ大学セント・ジョンズ カレッジこそ、マーガレット・ボーフォート記念碑の最大のものと言うことができよう。今もケンブリッジ風景に一際、色を添えているのは写真の左側に見える同カレッジ入口のアーチ（大門楼）の姿である。 彼女の葬儀に際してフィッシャーは、「全イングランドが彼女の死に涙を流すいわれを有す。……」と述べたという。 ウェストミンスター寺院ヘンリー７世礼拝堂に葬られたマーガレット・ボーフォートのブロンズの墓像は、イタリアの彫刻家ピエトロ・トリジアニの手になるもので、初期ルネサンス彫刻の傑作の一つとされている。 筆者も一度目にしたが、合掌する彼女の手の皺の表現は、とりわけ見事である。 余談ながら周知のように、イングランドの国力増強を背景に、イギリス国教会を設立してローマ法王と決別しようとする国王ヘンリー８世の政策に反対したフィッシャーとモアは、共に王（マーガレットの孫）の怒りに触れ、フィッシャーは１５３５（天文４）年６月２２日に、そしてイングランドの官僚として最高位の「大法官で」あった『ユートピア』の著者トマス・モアは、２週間後の７月６日に、それぞれ「斬首刑」に処され、その首はロンドン橋上に晒される。 後の清教徒革命において１６４９（慶安２）年１月３０日、ホワイト・ホール宮殿前で３千余の群衆が見守る中で斬首された国王チャールズ１世と同じく、フィッシャーやモアの斬首も 刀ではなく、イングランドの慣習により鉞（まさかり）を用いる首切り役人によって行われた。 一方、刀を用いる徳川幕府以来の首切り役人・第8代山田浅右衛門が御役御免となった（斬役として失業し事務職についた）のは、明治１４（１８８０）年のことである。 ところで、イギリス（イングランド）王室の菩提寺とでも称さるべきウェストミンスター寺院（Westminster Abby）は、その歴史と美しさとによって、「西洋文明の極致」と称えられている。 イギリスという国そのものが「紋章の貯蔵庫」と言われるその中でも、この寺院は正に「紋章の宝庫」と形容して差支えないと思う。 とりわけ、同寺院の一画（最深部）を占め、マーガレットが葬られているヘンリー７世礼拝堂は、「東西のキリスト教世界で最も美しい礼拝堂（Chapel）」であるとされている。 そして周知のように、セント・ジョンズ カレッジのアーチ（大門楼）に装飾された紋章（Coat of Arms）はイングランドで最も華麗な紋章装飾の一つとして有名である。 同大学の創立者マーガレット・ボーフォートの生家ボーフォート家特有のサポーターであるエール（Yale）に支えられた同家の紋章の外側に、同家の家系であるランカスター家のバッジである「赤いバラ」と、ボーフォート家のバッチ（Badge）であり、紋章ではない「落とし格子」とが左右に配置されている。 サポーターのYaleはあらゆる角度からの攻撃に対して反撃できるように、自由に旋回する角を持つとされる架空の（紋章上の）動物としての羚羊である。 そういう特殊な角と共に格別大きな牙と、体中にちりばめられた大きな金の斑点を特徴とするこの羚羊を初めて紋章のサポーターに採用したのは、ヘンリー４世（ランカスター家）の息子べドフォード公爵ジョンであったが、ジョンには世継がなく、従兄弟のケンドール伯ジョン・ボーフォート（マーガレットの父）がこれを引継ぎ、以後、ボーフォート家のYaleとして知られてきた。 ３０年に亘るバラ戦争の惨禍を潜り抜けて生き残ったマーガレット母子の「運の強さ」と、その過程でマーガレット・ボーフォートが演じた４度の結婚を含む複雑な役割を思う時、このYale（羚羊）こそは、マーガレットとボーフォート家にとって、またとない「守り神」であったと言えよう。 「不撓不屈の精神」をもって２０年を超える逆風、苦節を乗り越えての「日本初武家政権の誕生」、或いは「チューダー王朝の樹立」という、歴史に画然たる出来事の中で、「大働き」をした比企尼そしてマーガレット・ボーフォートが、時代を超えて共有したものは、「無限、しかも高大な母心」ということであろうか。（了） Hiki no ama and Lady Margaret Beaufort (the great-grandmother of Elizabeth I of England) In July of 1156, the Imperial Court was divided into the factions of the reigning Emperor Go-Shirakawa and the former Emperor Sutoku due to problems over the imperial accession and an internal conflict within the Sekkan-ke (the five families from which regents were drawn) which saw Fujiwara no Tadamichi and Fujiwara no Yorinaga take opposing sides. The Go-Shirakawa and Tadamichi faction had the support of samurai such as Minamoto no Yoshitomo and Taira no Kiyomori, while the Sutoku and Yorinaga faction had the support of samurai such as Minamoto no Tameyoshi and Taira no Tadamasa, and this led to a battle in Kyoto which saw Emperor Sutoku defeated and exiled to Sanuki Province. Following the battle, Minamoto no Yoshitomo asked for mercy for the lives of his father, Tameyoshi, who had fought for the Sutoku faction, and his younger brother who had fought with Tameyoshi. However, this was not accepted and he was forced to take on the burden of personally beheading his father and brother at an execution ground at Funaokayama mountain in a northern suburb of Kyoto. However, the conflict did not end there, three years later Fujiwara no Michinori (also known as Shinzei), who was allied with Taira no Kiyomori and his clan, and who wielded great power as the chief advisor to Emperor Go-Shirakawa, the center of the government, came to be at odds with Fujiwara no Nobuyori, who was allied with Minamoto no Yoshitomo. In early December 1159, Kiyomori went on a pilgrimage to Kumano Sankei, creating a military vacuum in Kyoto which Fujiwara no Nobuyori exploited to launch a coup d'etat against Shinzei and begin the Heiji rebellion. When Kiyomori heard about the coup while on his way to Kumano, he immediately returned to his base in Rokuhara, and thereafter Kiyomori and his sons, who together had superior military strength, quickly broke the rebellion. Fujiwara no Nobuyori was executed by the end of December, and Minamoto no Yoshitomo withdrew and was forced to flee to the eastern part of Japan. Militarily defeated and traveling amid incessant snow, a group of eight including Yoshitomo, his eldest son Yoshihira, his second son Tomonaga, and his third son Yoritomo, together with some retainers fled toward the provinces of Mino and Owari. Yoshihira eventually made it to Hokurikudo alone. There, Yoshihira tried to recruit soldiers, but news of the defeat of the Minamoto clan in the capital had quickly spread and he was unsuccessful. He returned to Kyoto but was forced to disguise himself as a genin (a person of low rank), and he was captured while attempting to get to Kiyomori, his enemy. Minamoto no Yoshihira, the heir to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, who was directly descended from Hachimantaro Yoshiie (Minamoto no Yoshiie), a commander who conquered Ou (the two former provinces of Mutsu and Dewa) during the Zenkunen War (Early Nine Years’ War) and the Gosannen War (Later Three Years’ War), was well known for his bravery and had gained the nickname Kamakura Akugenta. 1 Before Yoshihira was executed, Kiyomori treated him well with a lavish meal in consideration of his valor, but Yoshihira would not partake of a single bite and was beheaded with his pride intact. This was natural conduct for the head of a samurai family in the main branch of the Minamoto clan. 1 The "aku" part of Kamakura Akugenta would normally mean "evil," but in this case rather than meaning evil it means strong. 40 days after Yoshihira's execution, his younger paternal half-brother (Yoshitomo’s third son) Yoritomo was captured by a retainer of Taira No Yorimori, the provincial governor of Mino. It is said that 14-year-old Yoritomo had such dignity that his captor Taira no Munekiyo was overwhelmed with awe. Furthermore, it is believed that just before Minamoto no Yoritomo announced his name as “Uhyoe no suke (assistant captain of the Right Division of Middle Palace Guards) Yoritomo, 13 years old” at the battle of the Heiji rebellion, he had been slashing at the enemy while being nimble on his feet. At that time, despite the fact that he was Yoshitomo’s third son, he wore armour called Genta no Ubugi and had a sword called Higekiri. Both items had been worn by Hachimantaro Yoshiie and as they were normally passed down to the heir of the Minamoto clan they should have been worn and carried by Yoshihira, however Yoshitomo found the qualities befitting the main branch of the Minamoto clan in his third son Yoritomo. As mentioned previously, three years prior, after the Hogen rebellion in which Yoshitomo and Kiyomori had fought together, Yoshitomo had asked for mercy for his father, Tameyoshi, who had fought on the enemy’s side and was defeated, but he was not pardoned. Yoshitomo was forced to take on the burden of beheading his father and very young brother at Funaokayama Mountain in a northern suburb of Kyoto, and after that there were probably many factors that influenced his decision-making. During his escape from Kyoto, Yoshitomo lost his horse due to a battle with units hunting down fleeing rebels and arrived in Owari Province (present-day Mihama-cho, Chita District, Aichi Prefecture) three days later barefoot, but he was betrayed at the place he was staying and killed (aged 38), and his head was displayed in Kyoto, the capital city. Yoritomo (14) was separated from his father Yoshitomo and his party and, as previously mentioned, was captured and taken to Rokuhara, where it would have been natural for his fate to end with a beheading, however instead he was exiled to Izu after Ike no zenni, the stepmother of Taira no Kiyomori, begged for his life. As a result, Yoritomo was forced to live under the supervision of the Taira clan for 20 years in current day Nirayama, Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Officially, he was concentrating on sutra chanting as an exile (local samurai) in order to pray to Buddha for the souls of his father Yoshitomo and his older brother Yoshihira, who had been executed by the Taira clan. Minamoto no Yoritomo was born on April 8, 1147 in the villa of Fujiwara no Suenori (current day Seigan-ji Temple), located on the west side of Atsuta Shrine. His mother was Yura-Gozen, the third daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was favored by former Emperor Go-Toba and who had been appointed as the High Priest of Atsuta Shrine. Some additional information of interest is that the mother of Yoshitomo’s eldest son, Yoshihira, who was known for his courage, was a daughter of Miura Yoshiaki, a chieftain of a powerful clan in the Miura Peninsula, and the mother of his middle son, Tomonaga, was the younger sister of Hadano Yoshimichi, a chieftain of a clan in West Sagami (current day Hadano City). When Yoritomo was born his father Yoshitomo appointed three of wives of a powerful family in the Kanto region to be menoto (wet nurses for a noble baby), and one of these women was Hiki no ama, the wife of Kamonnojo Hiki, a local governor of Hiki-gun, Musashi Province. Whether it should be said that Hiki no ama played a major role in history or not, her life serves as a vivid reflection of Lady Margaret Beaufort of England, whose life will be described in part III. From her residence (according to legend) located in the vicinity of Mikadoyakata, current day 1237 Izumi, Namegawa-machi, Hiki-gun, Saitama Prefecture, Hiki no ama sent food and supplies (such as rice, wheat, money and people) once a month for 20 years to Nirayama（Hirugakojima2） in Izu where Yoritomo lived in exile. As the wife of Hiki Tomune, a lord (local magistrate) of Hiki-gun, Saitama Prefecture, Hiki no ama not only sent supplies to Yoritomo every month, but also sent her eldest daughter (Tango no Naishi) and her daughter’s husband Adachi Morinaga (who would later become one of Yoritomo’s men), her second eldest daughter (Kawagoe no ama) and her husband Kawagoe Shigeyori (from a powerful clan in Musashi Province), and her third eldest daughter and her husband Ito Sukekiyo (from a clan in Izu Province), with some being with Yoritomo for as long as 20 years in order to serve him as attendants. The state of the world at the time was that it was said “Nothing happened for anyone save by the will of the Taira family,” so it can only be imagined how hard it had been for these people, and how they devised a way to survive. Even though Yoritomo could be called the “head of the Minamoto clan,” it was their lives which supported him when he was merely a country samurai in exile. Against such headwinds, his wet nurse, Hiki no ama, was a central figure of unswerving loyalty in the 20-year struggle of a tireless samurai who would establish the first samurai government in Japan. When Minamoto no Yoritomo (34), the head of the Minamoto clan who had endured 20 years of exile in patience, stood up to overthrow the Taira clan in August 1180, he only had about 10 soldiers, of whom 4 were brothers of the Omi Genji Sasaki clan. Sasaki Hideyoshi of the Omi-Genji had fought under Yoshitomo in the Heiji rebellion which they lost, and he had gone to the eastern part of Japan where he hoped to be able to rely on the Northern Fujiwara clan for support while Yoshitomo’s head was displayed in Kyoto. Hideyoshi followed the advice of Shibuya Shigekuni, a chieftain of a clan in Shibuya-so, Sagami Province, who was fascinated with his valor, and he lived with the Shibuya clan together with his second and third eldest sons, Tsunetaka and Moritsuna. His eldest son Sadatsuna stayed with the Utsunomiya clan in Tochigi Prefecture, and his young fourth son Takatsuna was left with relatives at his home in Kyoto. It should be noted that Hideyoshi, who would learn about Yoritomo’s actual living conditions in exile via letters from Hiki no ama, demonstrated his own devotion by sending each of his four children to serve Yoritomo as soon as each one came of age. On the night of August 17, 1180, 30 men of Yoritomo’s father-in-law Houjou Tokimasa struck at the residence of Yamaki Kanetaka, mokudai (similar to a current day prefectural governor) of Izu. Meanwhile, the Sasaki brothers, who left behind Moritsuna as a bodyguard for Yoritomo from among the 10 remaining men, as a party of just 3, attacked the residence of Tsutsumi Gonnokami, a metsuke (similar to a current day police chief). Under a bright full moon, an arrow shot by Tsunetaka, who had scaled a fence, passed through a wooden door at the entrance of the main house, and was described as “the first Genji arrow to conquer the Taira clan” in the history book Azuma Kagami (a Japanese medieval text that chronicles the events of the Kamakura Shogunate). Although Yoritomo expected that the Kanto-Genji clan would join him soon, there can be no mistaking the fact that by standing up to the Taira clan (and overthrowing the Japanese ruling system) with only ten men, that he was ready to die. 2 The place name of Hirugakojima can be confused in Japanese for the name of an island, but actually it is located inland in current day Nirayama in Izunokuni City. The outstanding lineage, or qualities, that he had inherited from Hachimantaro Yoshiie, and the education he had received from childhood as the head of a samurai family (the Minamoto clan), enabled him to act as a 'true noble’ who possessed the courage to stand alone despite the odds against him. The deep feelings of the handful of people who supported Yoritomo in his exile from the ages of 14 to 34 can only be guessed at. Adachi Morinaga, the Sasaki brothers, and in particular Hiki no ama, played a role at the very start of Yoritomo’s massive achievement in establishing Japan’s first samurai government. Hiki no ama, who not only faithfully sent food, etc., but also personally gave careful attention and made preparations for Yoritomo’s surroundings, who had to bide his time for 20 years, is a person who is very similar to Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII of England who founded the Tudor Dynasty. Lady Margaret Beaufort lost her father, John Beaufort (the first Duke of Somerset), at the young age of one after he died following a political dispute and she grew up under the guardianship of the Duke of Suffolk, a powerful politician. In February 1450, despite being only seven years old, she was married to the Duke of Suffolk’s son, John de la Pole, but in May of the same year the duke was murdered and her marriage to John was later annulled. In 1455, 13-year-old Margaret married Edmund Tudor, the Earl of Richmond, as requested of her by King Henry VI of England (of the Lancaster family). That same year, however, the Wars of the Roses started and both Henry VI and her husband Edmund were captured by their enemies the Yorkists, and Margaret, who suffered the misfortune of Edmund's death in prison the following year, gave birth to a boy two months after his death. This boy would become King Henry VII (grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I), and the founder of the Tudor Dynasty. The Wars of the Roses had now fully erupted, and the lives of noble families close to the throne dangled in constant lethal peril. Margaret, a 13-year-old widow, hid at a castle in Wales under the protection of her brother-in-law Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, and here she gave birth to Henry. While she was at Pembroke Castle (one of the largest castles in Wales and a Grade I listed building since 1951), Margaret married for a third time to Sir Henry Stafford, the son of the Duke of Buckingham, perhaps through the efforts of Jasper Tudor, but her husband would later also die young in 1471, leaving Margaret a widow once more at the age of 28. By blood, Margaret and Henry were Lancastrians and were forced into the cruel fate of confinement, and eventually 14-year-old Henry was exiled to France along with his uncle Jasper Tudor in 1471. Henry would spend the next 14 years in Brittany. Later, while in her early 30s, Margaret would marry for a fourth time to Thomas Stanley, who would later become the 1st Earl of Derby, and who was a trusted retainer of King Edward IV, a Yorkist. In 1470, when King Edward IV (a Yorkist) was forced into exile by Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, who had switched sides to the Lancastrians, the future King Richard III, who was devoted to his older brother Edward, helped restore him back to the throne the following year. When Edward died of an illness in 1483, Richard named himself Lord Protector for his nephew King Edward V, but he soon confined his nephew Edward and his younger brother in the Tower of London. King Richard III succeeded his brother Edward, and his parliament deprived Margaret of her titles and Henry of his private rights. However, Margaret had stayed in secret contact with her son during his exile in France ever since Edward IV’s restoration to the throne in 1471, and had also acted with political forethought, such as seeking reconciliation with powerful backers of the Yorkists. In August 1485, following Edward IV's death, and in perfect step with his mother's efforts to overthrow Richard III and place her son Henry on the throne, King Louis XI of France helped Henry to land at the mouth of the Milford Haven waterway in Wales together with French soldiers, Scottish soldiers and a few exiles that included his uncle Jasper Tudor. He took advantage of Richard III’s poor reputation at the time over the imprisonment of his two young nephews in the Tower of London. The warlike and militant Welsh people were known as “an old and arrogant people who are proud of their armour” even during the peaceful years of the Tudor Dynasty, and they enthusiastically welcomed Henry Tudor, who had lived there as a child. After around a week of very careful marching toward Shrewsbury in England, Henry assembled a small but powerful army. On August 22, 1485, Richard III was decisively defeated in a showdown with Henry at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Many of Richard’s subjects were ashamed to fight under his banner, and Lord Stanley (Margaret's husband), who was supposed to be a loyal subject of the Yorkists, defected at this very important moment. Henry led about 5,000 men at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and he made a short decisive attack on Richard’s forces, who outnumbered Henry’s men by two to one, but Richard’s numerical superiority began to tell, and just when it appeared that all was lost, the army of Henry’s stepfather (Lord Stanley, Margaret's fourth husband) entered the fray against Richard, betraying him at the last moment just like Kobayakawa Hideaki’s betrayal of Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara. It is said that Richard III was beaten in battle and became the only King of England to die on the battlefield since King Harold II was defeated by William the Conqueror in 1066. His body was stripped naked, hung upside down on the back of a horse and carried to a place of burial. As the historian George Macaulay Trevelyan pointed out, the Wars of the Roses were a kind of a bloodletting inflicted by the English aristocracy on themselves. Although there were many intermittent battles, ordinary people and the land were not ravaged, however, many nobles did disappear. After 25 years of repeated conflict and their consequences, there were no heirs to the throne left who could be called Lancastrian or Yorkist, and Margaret's son, Henry Tudor, the 1st Earl of Richmond, became the founder of the Tudor dynasty as King Henry VII of England. At that time, Margaret was 42 years old and Henry VII was 28 years old, but for 28 years Margaret had shelter at her relative's castle (Pembroke Castle) in Wales, located in a remote region, the same place where the 13 year-old pregnant widow had given birth to Henry. With the disappearance of the great noble families who could veer away from the state system and compete for power with the king, England under the Tudor dynasty could take its first step as a modern state before other European countries. As can be understood from the above, the first half of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s life was very eventful, and over the course of the majestic second half of her life she became an outstanding woman in English history. When her son Henry became King, Margaret withdrew from politics and rarely appeared in Henry's court. The person who had the greatest influence on her later life, a time when she became known for her respect for God and devotion to faith and charity, was her chaplain confessor John Fisher, who would later be appointed as the bishop of Rochester Cathedral, the second oldest cathedral in England after Canterbury Cathedral. Fisher was appointed as the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1504 and was seen as a rare and brilliant person, and it was he who invited humanist Erasmus (the author of the extraordinary bestseller In Praise of Folly) and who had a close relationship with Thomas More, the author of Utopia, from the Netherlands (Low Countries) to Cambridge. The devout Margaret had ambitious plans to expand Westminster Abbey, but Fisher, who was a strict Catholic talked of the need for “active schooling rather than idle seclusion” in order to counter the growing Renaissance spirit of the times (15th to 16th centuries), and he persuaded her to use her enormous fortune from her vast lands on education. As such, in 1505 Christ's College of Cambridge University was founded. Noted alumni of Christ's College include John Milton, who wrote “Paradise Lost” which was published in 1667 (during the time of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi) and which is considered to be a representative piece of Christian literature alongside “Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy”. He was admitted to the college in 1625 and acquired a master's degree in 1632. Later, the author of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin, would enter the college in 1827 and, after graduating in 1831, he boarded the HMS Beagle as a naturalist to do research in South America and the South Pacific Ocean. In 1508, Fisher received permission from King Henry VII to found another college on the ruins of Saint John’s Abbey, but both the King and Margaret died the following year, and it did not come to pass. King Henry VIII, Margaret’s grandson, ascended the throne aged 18, and he attempted to use his inheritance from his grandmother for extravagant purposes, which Fisher opposed. In 1511, Fisher circumspectly contacted the Pope in Rome, and finally obtained permission from Henry Ⅷ to found St. John's College. As a side note, Henry VIII was a tall, elegant man who was proficient with bows with a heavy draw weight and a fearsome opponent in jousts. Furthermore, he was also a very skilled musician, with both instruments and singing, and was regarded as a great man. He was the second son of Henry VII, but his brother Arthur, who had been engaged to Catherine of Aragon (daughter of the King of the powerful nation of Spain), had died young 6 years prior to Henry VII’s death. Marriage between a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law was prohibited by church law, but Henry VIII’s first act as king was to marry Catherine. Henry VIII had six children with Catherine but none of their three sons survived. He divorced Catherine, leading to a confrontation with the Pope and Henry’s excommunication, and would later marry five more times and divorce twice more, with two of his wives having their lives ended through beheadings. The child of Anne Boleyn, a court lady who became Henry’s second queen until eventually being beheaded, would later be crowned as Queen Elizabeth I. St. John's College in the University of Cambridge took 25 years to complete at an enormous cost of 5,000 pounds, and it can be said to be the greatest monument to Lady Margaret Beaufort. Even today, standing out prominently within Cambridge, the arch at the entrance of the college, as seen in the photo, majestically stands out. At her funeral, Bishop Fisher is said to have stated that, “All of England has a cause to shed tears at her death.” The bronze effigy of Lady Margaret Beaufort at her tomb in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey was crafted by Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano, and it is considered to be a masterpiece of early Renaissance sculpture. Seeing it for the first time, the detail of the wrinkles of her hands in prayer is particularly impressive. Incidentally, and as is well known, Fisher and More would both experience Henry VIII’s (Margaret's grandson) anger when they opposed his policy of establishing the Anglican Church and breaking with the Pope, which happened against the background of the strengthening of English national power. Fisher was beheaded on June 22, 1535, and his head put on a pike on London Bridge, and Thomas More, the author of Utopia and Lord Chancellor, the highest government rank, would share Fisher’s fate two weeks later on July 6. Furthermore, just like the later King Charles I, who was beheaded on January 30, 1649, in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 outside the Banqueting House in Whitehall after the Puritan Revolution, Fisher and More were not beheaded with a sword, but by an executioner with an axe as per English custom. In contrast, executioners in Japan used a sword as per a custom that had been passed down unchanged since during the Tokugawa Shogunate, and it was only in 1880 that the last such executioner, Yamada Asaemon (8th generation) was dismissed (made unemployed as an executioner). Actually, Westminster Abbey, which should be called the family church for the British royal family, has been praised as the “peak of Western civilization" because of its history and beauty. Although the UK itself is said to be a “repository of coat of arms," I think this church could be called a "treasury of coat of arms." In particular, the Henry VII Chapel, which occupies a part of the church (the deepest part) and where Margaret is buried, is said to be "the most beautiful chapel in both the east and west of the Christian world." As is well known, the coat of arms carved into the arch of the Great Gate of St. John's College is famous as one of England's most splendid coat of arms. On the left side of the Beaufort family crest, which is supported by yales, unique supporters of the Beaufort family, is a red rose as the badge (not a coat of arms) of the House of Lancaster, and on the right side is a portcullis as the badge (not a coat of arms) of the House of Beaufort. The flanking yales are imaginary antelope-like animals that have swivelling horns so that they can handle attacks from all directions. John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford and the son of King Henry IV (of the House of Lancaster), first adopted a yale with distinctive horns, very large fangs, and streaks of gold fur as one of his heraldic supporters, but he had no children and he was succeeded by his cousin John Beaufort, Earl of Kendall (father of Margaret), and the yale has since then been well known for appearing in the Beaufort family crest. Considering the strong luck that Margaret and her son had, having survived the disastrous 30 years of the Wars of the Roses, and the complicated role that Lady Margaret Beaufort played throughout this time which included four marriages, the yale could be said to have served as a unique guardian for Margaret and the Beaufort family. Hiki no ama and Lady Margaret Beaufort, who between them fought and persevered against 20 years or more of hardship with an indomitable spirit toward distinct historical events, such as Japan’s first samurai government and the founding of the Tudor Dynasty, shared over and above their respective times, a majestic and infinite maternal power. |
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