Trần Liễu - Wikipedia @ WordDisk

History

In August 1228 Trần Thái Tông appointed Trần Liễu for the position of prime minister (Thái úy) of the royal court.[8] He was promoted to Regent of the Emperor in 1234 and was honoured by the Emperor with the title King Hiển (Hiển Hoàng) which was criticized by the historian Ngô Sĩ Liên as an over-merit and origin of Trần Liễu's revolt afterwards.[9] However, in 1236 Trần Liễu committed a serious guilt in royal palace when he violated a former concubine of the Lý dynasty, therefore he was downgraded to Prince Hoài (Hoài vương).[9]

According to Đại Việt sử kí toàn thư, Thái Tông and his wife the Empress Chiêu Thánh did not have their first son for a while, this situation in the royal family made grand chancellor Trần Thủ Độ worried because he had profited the same circumstance of the Emperor Lý Huệ Tông to overthrow the Lý dynasty. Therefore, in 1237 Trần Thủ Độ decided to force Trần Liễu to give up his wife Princess Thuận Thiên for the Emperor when she had been already pregnant with Trần Liễu for three months. After the royal marriage, Thuận Thiên was entitled the new empress of the Trần dynasty while Chiêu Thánh was downgraded to princess. In the fury of losing his pregnant wife, Trần Liễu rose a revolt against the royal family, meanwhile, Thái Tông felt awkward about the situation and decided to become a monk in Yên Tử Mountain. Finally Trần Thủ Độ successfully persuaded Thái Tông to return to the throne and Trần Liễu had to surrender after judging that he could not stand with his fragile force. All soldiers who participated in this revolt were killed. Trần Thủ Độ even wished to behead Trần Liễu but was stopped by Thái Tông.[10]

After the revolt, Trần Liễu was granted land in Yên Sinh (now Yên Hưng District, Quảng Ninh) and thus had the title Prince Yên Sinh (Yên Sinh vương or An Sinh vương, 安生王).[3][11] He died in April 1251 at the age of 40.[12] Before his death, Trần Liễu made his son King Hưng Đạo Trần Quốc Tuấn promise to revenge for him by taking over the throne but King Hưng Đạo did not keep this promise for the interest of the Trần dynasty.[13]