Yoshihide was a son of Ashikaga Yoshitsuna and a grandson of Ashikaga Yoshizumi. Though only an infant, he acted as a figurehead for the Miyoshi and Matsunaga following the murder of shôgun Yoshiteru in 1565. He was taken from Kyoto when Oda Nobunaga advanced on the city and died in the Miyoshi domain on Shikoku (1568)