Changes

As the wife of the shogun was supposed to be from the imperial family or from a high-ranking imperial noble ([[Kuge]]) family, Atsu was adopted by the Minister of the Right, Konoe Tadahiro.  <ref>A similar route had been chosen when a woman  from the Shimazu family ([[Kodai-In, wife of Shogun Ienari|Kôdai-In]] 広大院) married the 11th shogun [[Tokugawa Ienari]]. In that case, they had been engaged before he was chosen as shogun. One of Kôdai-In's names was Atsu-hime.</ref> Then in the 11th month of 1856,  she entered Edo Castle as the wife of the shogun. The next year she was formally given the title of Mi-dokoro, the wife of the shogun.   

As the wife of the shogun was supposed to be from the imperial family or from a high-ranking imperial noble ([[Kuge]]) family, Atsu was adopted by the Minister of the Right, Konoe Tadahiro.  <ref>A similar route had been chosen when a woman  from the Shimazu family ([[Kodai-In, wife of Shogun Ienari|Kôdai-In]] 広大院) married the 11th shogun [[Tokugawa Ienari]]. In that case, they had been engaged before he was chosen as shogun. One of Kôdai-In's names was Atsu-hime.</ref> Then in the 11th month of 1856,  she entered Edo Castle as the wife of the shogun. The next year she was formally given the title of Mi-dokoro, the wife of the shogun.   

However, Atsu was not able to exercise the influence that had been hoped. Iesada died in the 7th month of [[1858]], naming as his heir the young lord of Kii.  Two months after her husband's death Atsu-hime retired and took the name Tenshô-in, and at the end of the year was given Third Degree rank. She remained living in Edo castle during the shogunate of Iemochi and that of Yoshinobu, who became shogun in 1866.

However, Atsu was not able to exercise the influence that had been hoped. Iesada died in the 7th month of [[1858]], naming as his heir the young lord of Kii.  Two months after her husband's death Atsu-hime retired and took the name Tenshô-in, and at the end of the year was given Third Degree rank. She remained living in Edo castle during the shogunate of Iemochi and that of Yoshinobu, who became shogun in 1866.

During this time, the Satsuma clan joined forces with the [[Choshu han|Chôshû clan]] in support of the imperial restoration against the shogunate, and events eventually errupted into the [[Boshin War]] ([[1868]]), ending with the overthrow of the shogunate. At the end of the war, Tenshô-in (Atsu), who was from Satsuma, and Seikan-In-no-Miya (静寛院宮) (formerly [[Kazu-no-Miya]] 和宮), the widow of Shogun Iemochi and the daughter of [[Emperor Ninko| Emperor Ninkô]], successfully interceded with the victors for the continuance of the Tokugawa family. After the fall of Edo Casle, Tenshô-in and the rest of the Tokugawa family were deprived of their rank.  She moved to the Hitotsubashi mansion and concentrated on raising Yoshinobu's heir Yasuda Kamenosuke (田安亀之助) ([[Tokugawa Iesato]] 徳川家達). She died in [[1883]]. Upon her death her rank was restored.

During this time, the Satsuma clan joined forces with the [[Choshu han|Chôshû clan]] in support of the imperial restoration against the shogunate, and events eventually errupted into the [[Boshin War]] ([[1868]]), ending with the overthrow of the shogunate. At the end of the war, Tenshô-in (Atsu), who was from Satsuma, and Seikan-In-no-Miya (静寛院宮) (formerly [[Kazu-no-Miya]] 和宮), the widow of Shogun Iemochi and the daughter of [[Emperor Ninko| Emperor Ninkô]], successfully interceded with the victors for the continuance of the Tokugawa family. After the fall of Edo Casle, Tenshô-in and the rest of the Tokugawa family were deprived of their rank.  After vacating Edo Castle at the age of 34 on 10d 4m 1868, she moved into the Hitotsubashi mansion and stayed there until the 28d 7m, then settling in the mansion of the Kii Tokugawa in the Akasaka (赤坂) district of Edo/Tokyo. She then moved to Ushigometoyama (牛込戸山) in Tokyo on 11d 8m 1870.  Yet in [[1872]], to better help supervise the raising and education of Yoshinobu's heir Yasuda Kamenosuke (田安亀之助) ([[Tokugawa Iesato]] 徳川家達), she moved back to Akasaka, settling in Fukuyoshi-chô (福吉町), where she remained until Ieasto went to study abroad in England in [[1877]]. After that, she moved into the main Tokugawa residence in Sendagaya, in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Tenshôin suffered from Parkinson’s disease, which eventually took her life at the age of 49 in [[1883]]. Upon her death her rank was restored.  

* 明治維新人名辞典, 日本歴史学会編集、吉川弘文館, 1981 (Dictionary of Personal Names of the Meiji Restoration).

* 明治維新人名辞典, 日本歴史学会編集、吉川弘文館, 1981 (Dictionary of Personal Names of the Meiji Restoration).

* [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/広大院] From Japanese Wikipedia 広大院 (Kôdai-In)

* [http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/広大院] From Japanese Wikipedia 広大院 (Kôdai-In)

[[Category:Samurai]]

[[Category:Samurai]]