(Move it here since it’s more about membership than Mako).
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Pre-Meiji, with the exception of Tokugawa clan, I don’t think marriage between princess (especially a naishinnō) and noble were encourage (or ever happened), even if it's the Go-sekke (the five regent houses).
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Okay, I have to make correction here.
From what I’ve read, since the Nara period traditionally (if they’re not becoming monks or nuns) the male members of the Imperial family would take member of Shuga clan or Fujiwara clan (which then later broke down into five clans known as Gosekke; Konoe, Ichijō, Nijō, Kujō, and Takatsukasa) as their official wives/empress consorts, while the female members would marry other princes. It’s mainly because the marriages were more for political purpose than love and in this case, the nobles had more to gain by marrying their daughters to the Imperial family than by taking princesses as their brides (in fact for the nobles, it would be more beneficial for them to take brides from other noble clans or, in later case, daimyos).
This weekend I did some reading and found that during Edo period, there were several Imperial princess (Naishinnō) who married noble men, mainly kampaku (the highest rank noble. But then again, why would an emperor’s daughter married a low ranking courtier, right?). Here’s some of it:
- Sayako/Kiyoko Naishinnō 清子内親王(1593–1674) >>I’m not sure about her name reading, but eng wiki refer her as Imperial Princess Seishi<<, daughter of Emperor Go-Yozei and Empress (consort) Chūka, married to Takatsukasa Nobuhisa 鷹司 信尚 (1590-1621).
- Sadako/Teishi Naishinnō 貞子内親王 (1606–1675), daughter of Go-Yozei and Chūka, married to Nijō Yasumichi 二条 康道 (1607 – 1666), he’s a sesshō but he’s a son of Tokugawa Hidetada’s (the 2nd shōgun) adopted daughter. The couple had son Nijō Mitsuhira.
- Onna-go-no-Miya Yoshiko Naishinnō 女五宮賀子内親王(1632–1696), daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo and (Empress consort) Tokugawa Masako (Hidetada’s daughter), married Nijō Mitsuhira 二条 光平 (1624-1682). They had daughter who later married to Tokugawa Tsunashige, son of Tokugawa Iemitsu (the 3rd shōgun) and a daimyo of Kofu domain. Thus they’re first cousins, both were grandchildren of Tokugawa Hidetada and his wife, Gō.
- Mashiko Naishinnō 益子内親王(1669–1738), daughter of Emperor Go-Sai and a concubine, married to Kujo Sukezane 九条 輔実 (1669–1729). They had three sons and a daughter who later became a legal wife of Tokugawa Yoshimichi, fourth head daimyo of Owari domain.
- Masako Naishinnō 栄子内親王 (1673–1746), daughter of Emperor Reigen and (Empress consort) Takatsukasa Fusako, married to Nijo Tsunahira 二条 綱平 (1672–1732). Their son was Nijō Yoshitada (who later also become kampaku and one of his daughter became a consort of Emperor Sakuramachi)
The most “interesting” one was the 3 generation of Konoe Nobuhiro’s descendant.
Konoe Nobuhiro was a biological son of Emperor Go-Yōzei and Empress (consort) Chūka (Konoe Sakiko by birth). He was adopted by his maternal uncle, Konoe Nobutada (the kampaku at the time), married his daughter to become his heir and later inherited the position as kampaku himself. So basically Nobuhiro was an Imperial Prince who’d been demoted as noble. For 3 generations later, his descendants would have Imperial Princess as their legal wives, they were:
- Onna-ni-no-miya 女二宮 (1625-1651) >>in most references, she was referred as the 2nd princess but I found one which mentioned that her name was “Akiko”, while eng wiki refer her as Princess Shoshi<<, daughter of Go-Mizunoo and Tokugawa Masako, to Konoe Hisatsugu 近衛 尚嗣 (1622 – 1653), son of Nobuhiro. Thus they’re first cousins, both were grandchildren of Go-Yōzei and his wife, Chūka.
- Shina-no-miya Tsuneko Naishinnō 常子内親王 (1642-1702) >>eng wiki refer her as Princess Joshi<<, daughter of Go-Mizunoo with a concubine (Sono Kuniko), married to Konoe Motohiro 近衛 基熈 (1648–1722), son of Hisatsugu with a concubine. The couple had a son, Iehiro, and a daughter, Hiroko (eng wiki refer as Teruko) who was the wife of Tokugawa Ienobu (the 6th shōgun).
- Onna-ni-no-miya Noriko Naishinnō女一宮憲子内親王 (1669–1688) >>eng wiki refer her as Imperial Princess Ken’shi<<, daughter of Reigen with a concubine, married Konoe Iehiro 近衛 家熈 (1667-1736), son of Motohiro and Tsuneko. Thus, they were first cousin since both were grandchildren of Go-Mizunoo and Sono Kuniko. The couple had sons and daughter who later became wife of Tokugawa Tsugutomo, sixth head daimyo of Owari domain.
(Considering the Konoe male-line was unbroken until 1956 when Konoe Fumitaka died without heir, means since Nobuhiro the Konoe clan was technically a Yamato male line by blood or in other word, a demoted miyake. And for generations, they had “supplied” empress consorts for the Imperial family. The Yamato bloodline must be very thick pre WWII).
From 1655 until his death, Motohiro wrote a diary which known amongst scholar as Motohiro-ki 基熈公記, while his wife, (former Imperial Princess) Tsuneko’s diary is called Mujōhōin-dono gonikki 无上法院殿御日記. In both, it’s described that they lived a life as “noble/aristrocrat” (including enjoying the freedom which royals didn’t have) even though both were royal by blood but they were not considered as member of Imperial family.
And technically, Motohiro’s grandfather, Nobuhiro, was an example of a case of
male member of Imperial family losing
his imperial status upon marrying a “subject” (Nobutada’s daughter who’s a noble).