Ly Chieu Hoang - History - As Empress Regnant

As Empress Regnant

Succeeding to the throne at the age of only six, Lý Chiêu Hoàng ruled under the total influence of Commander of Royal Guard Trần Thủ Độ and other members of the Trần clan, who began to take over power in the royal court during the reign of Lý Huệ Tông. Even the Empress Regnant's servants were chosen by Trần Thủ Độ, so that trusted servants of Lý Chiêu Hoàng all came from the Trần clan, such as Trần Bất Cập, Trần Thiêm or Trần Thủ Độ's 7-year-old nephew Trần Cảnh. When Trần Cảnh informed Trần Thủ Độ that the Empress Regnant seemed to have affection towards him, the leader of the Trần clan immediately decided to use this chance to carry out his plot of overthrowing the Lý Dynasty and founding his clan's own dynasty. Firstly Trần Thủ Độ moved the whole Trần clan to the royal palace and arranged a secret marriage between Lý Chiêu Hoàng and Trần Cảnh there, without the appearance of any mandarin or member of the Lý royal family. The royal marriage took place in October or November 1225, when Lý Chiêu Hoàng and Trần Cảnh were both only 7 years old. After that, he announced the fait accompli to the royal court and made Lý Chiêu Hoàng cede the throne to her newly married husband for the reason that she was not capable for the position, so Trần Cảnh was chosen as her successor. Hence, the 216-year reign of the Lý Dynasty was ended and the new Trần Dynasty was created on the first day of the twelfth lunar month, 1225 (December 31, 1225). The only era name of the Empress Regnant was Thiên Chương Hữu Đạo (天彰有道).

After the coronation of Trần Cảnh, now Trần Thái Tông, Lý Chiêu Hoàng was downgraded to Empress Consort Chiêu Thánh (Chiêu Thánh hoàng hậu) in January 1226. Although Trần Thừa, father of the new emperor, acted as Regent in the royal court, it was the grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ who held absolute power in the court and decided both military and civil matters of the country. Still afraid that the newly founded rule of the Trần Dynasty might be overthrown by its political opponents, Trần Thủ Độ continued to eliminate members of the Lý royal family by his ruthless method. The grand chancellor ordered Lý Chiêu Hoàng's father, Lý Huệ Tông, to commit suicide on October 8 of Lunar calendar 1226 while married her mother Empress Trần Thị Dung, now Princess Thiên Cực. These actions of Trần Thủ Độ were criticized by Ngô Sĩ Liên in his Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư as an inhumane decision, despite his initial motive of reinforcing the reign of Trần Thái Tông. Not satisfied with the death of Huệ Tông, Trần Thủ Độ decided to kill off all members of the Lý royal family in August 1232 during the death anniversary of Lý emperors held in Thái Đường, Hoa Lâm (now Nam Trực, Nam Định). However, the authenticity of this event was challenged by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên because a member of the Lý clan was still appointed as general by Trần Anh Tông and there was no account of this event in Phan Phu Tiên's historical record.