Princess Kaoruko

Princess Kaoruko
Empress consort of Japan
Tenure1069–1073
Born1029
Died1093 (aged 63–64)
SpouseEmperor Go-Sanjō
HouseImperial House of Japan
FatherEmperor Go-Ichijō
MotherFujiwara no Ishi

Princess Kaoruko (馨子内親王, Kaoruko-naishinno, 1029–1093), also known as Saiin-no Kōgō (西院皇后), was an empress consort (chūgū) of her cousin Emperor Go-Sanjō of Japan.[1][2]

Biography

While a young child, she served as a Saiin (priestess) from 1032 until 1036. She was a daughter of Emperor Go-Ichijō, and as such, marriage to her represented a means to lessen some of the influence of the powerful Fujiwara family (from which imperial consorts usually came).[2][3] She married her cousin the future emperor in 1051. In 1068, her husband became emperor, and she was appointed empress.

Her husband had three consorts: Kaoruko, Minamoto Motoko, and Fujiwara Shigeko. The emperor hoped that Kaoruko would bear an heir, and thus allow him to pass the throne to a non-Fujiwara son.[3] She had no children, however, and after the death of her husband, she became a Buddhist nun under the name Saiin-no Kōgō (西院皇后). [4]

References

  1. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1915). The Imperial Family of Japan, p. x.
  2. ^ a b Hall, John Whitney; Shively, Donald H. (1988). The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22353-9.
  3. ^ a b Hall, John Whitney; Mass, Jeffrey P. (1988). Medieval Japan: Essays in Institutional History. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-1511-9.
  4. ^ Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1915). The Imperial Family of Japan, p. x.
Japanese royalty
Preceded by Empress consort of Japan
1069–1073 		Succeeded by


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