Changes

At the time of his ''[[genpuku]]'' in [[1851]], Kikuchiyo was granted a character from the name of Shogun [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]] and took on the name Yoshitomi; at that same time, he was elevated to the Junior Third Rank and granted the title of Sakonoe Chûjô.<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 327.</ref>

At the time of his ''[[genpuku]]'' in [[1851]], Kikuchiyo was granted a character from the name of Shogun [[Tokugawa Ieyoshi]] and took on the name Yoshitomi; at that same time, he was elevated to the Junior Third Rank and granted the title of Sakonoe Chûjô.<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 1 (1937), 327.</ref>

There was a faction that supported [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] as successor to the shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada|Iesada]], but when Iesada died in [[1858]], the 12-year-old Iemochi became the 14th Tokugawa Shogun by the recommendation of [[Ii Naosuke]]. He was succeeded as lord of Wakayama by [[Tokugawa Mochitsugu|Matsudaira Yorihisa]], son of [[Matsudaira Yorisato]], lord of [[Saijo han|Saijô han]].<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 2 (1937), 598.</ref>

There was a faction that supported the somewhat older, more experienced, [[Tokugawa Yoshinobu]] (b. [[1837]]) as successor to the shogun [[Tokugawa Iesada|Iesada]], but when Iesada died in [[1858]], the 12-year-old Yoshitomi became the 14th Tokugawa Shogun by the recommendation of [[Ii Naosuke]]. He was succeeded as lord of Wakayama by [[Tokugawa Mochitsugu|Matsudaira Yorihisa]], son of [[Matsudaira Yorisato]], lord of [[Saijo han|Saijô han]],<ref>Ishin Shiryô Kôyô 維新史料綱要, vol 2 (1937), 598.</ref> and very shortly afterward changed his name to Iemochi.

This was during the [[Bakumatsu period]], and the shogunate was facing both domestic troubles and foreign pressures. The shogunate pursued marriage between the Tokugawa line and the Imperial court, a policy known as ''[[kobu gattai|kôbu gattai]]'' ("union of court and military"), in the hopes of appeasing the ''sonnô jôi'' ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") extremists. In [[1862]], Iemochi and Princess [[Kazu-no-Miya]] (younger sister of [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]]) wedded in a magnificent ceremony, the most visible show of the ''kôbu gattai'' policy.

This was during the [[Bakumatsu period]], and the shogunate was facing both domestic troubles and foreign pressures. The shogunate pursued marriage between the Tokugawa line and the Imperial court, a policy known as ''[[kobu gattai|kôbu gattai]]'' ("union of court and military"), in the hopes of appeasing the ''sonnô jôi'' ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") extremists. In [[1862]], Iemochi and Princess [[Kazu-no-Miya]] (younger sister of [[Emperor Komei|Emperor Kômei]]) wedded in a magnificent ceremony, the most visible show of the ''kôbu gattai'' policy.