Reign 1398–1400 Successor none House Tran Dynasty | Predecessor Tran Thuan Tong Died Dai Viet Name Tran De | |
Successor Ho Quy Ly
(Emperor of Ho Dynasty) | ||
Tran Thieu De (born 1396, date of death unknown), given name Tran An, was the twelfth and the last emperor of the Tran Dynasty who reigned over Dai Viet from 1398 to 1400. At the age of only three, he was chosen to succeed his father Tran Thuan Tong who was forced by Ho Quy Ly to resign and hold the title Retired Emperor. Only two years after Thieu De's coronation, Ho Quy Ly overthrew the Emperor to establish his own dynasty, the Ho Dynasty.
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Background
Thieu De (Young Emperor) was born in 1396 as Tran An, first child of the Emperor Tran Thuan Tong, and his wife, the Queen Thanh Ngau who was daughter of Ho Quy Ly. On March 15 of the Lunar calendar, 1398, under pressure of Ho Quy Ly, Thuan Tong had to cede the throne to his three-year-old son, now Tran Thieu De, and held the position of retired emperor. According to Dai Viet su ki toan thu, actually Ho Quy Ly wanted to overthrow Thuan Tong but before his death, the Retired Emperor Tran Nghe Tong made Quy Ly promise him supporting the Emperor therefore Ho Quy Ly decided to force Thuan Tong to resign before taking over the throne from the new emperor. After the coronation, Thieu De changed the era name to Kien Tan (建新, 1398–1400).
As emperor
Only one year after his resignation, Thuan Tong was killed after the order of Ho Quy Ly. Ho Quy Ly also issued the execution of over 370 persons who opposed his dominance in royal court including several prominent mandarins or the Emperor's relatives with their families, such as Tran Khat Chan, Tran Hang, Pham Kha Vinh or Luong Nguyen Buu. In June 1399, Ho Quy Ly took another step when he self-entitled Quoc To Chuong Hoang (King Chuong Father of the Nation) and began to use ceremonials which were reserved exclusively for the Emperor. Profiting the chaotic situation in royal court, Nguyen Nhu Cai gathered thousands of people to rise a revolt against Tran's rulers in the northwestern region. This revolt was put down in December by the troops of general Nguyen Bang Cu.
Ultimately, the end of the Tran Dynasty was tolled on February 28 of the Lunar calendar, 1400 when Ho Quy Ly decided to overthrow Thieu De and established a new dynasty, the Ho Dynasty. Being Ho Quy Ly's own grandson, Thieu De was only downgraded to Prince Bao Ninh instead of being killed like his father.