Oh yeah, that is a lost noun. I think it should read "accumulated and overdetermined meanings," but I'll have to double-check--I don't have my copy of the book with me.
12th century? When the imperium was in the pocket of whoever headed the Fujiwaras, who would marry off the current boy emperor off to his daughter and forced him to retire as soon as an heir was produced? The century of the Genpei wars that resulted in the Kamakura shogunate? Er ...
Well, the long 12thC, as it were, starting with Shirakawa-in's tenure as cloistered emperor in 1087, but Moerman makes some really good points, particularly about Shirakawa, Toba, and their consort/lover Fujiwara no Taishi, who were together called 'the three in.' He argues that through the retirement system the retired emperors were able to sucessfully contest Fujiwara control to some extent--I certainly think it's fair to say that the military struggles of the Gempei wars weren't about quite the same issues, but of course when Go-Shirakawa tried to assert his authority over the shogunate, with the help of Kumano shrine, he was defeated and the retirement system and the power that went with it ended summarily.
He also says some really interesting things about how renunciation and retirement brought the emperors more power, both politically and sacrally, and how this ties in to them striving to paint themselves as Buddhist priest-kings, hearkening back to Shoumu and Koumyou in the 8thC, when the Tennou institution was at its height.
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12th century? When the imperium was in the pocket of whoever headed the Fujiwaras, who would marry off the current boy emperor off to his daughter and forced him to retire as soon as an heir was produced? The century of the Genpei wars that resulted in the Kamakura shogunate? Er ...
Well, the long 12thC, as it were, starting with Shirakawa-in's tenure as cloistered emperor in 1087, but Moerman makes some really good points, particularly about Shirakawa, Toba, and their consort/lover Fujiwara no Taishi, who were together called 'the three in.' He argues that through the retirement system the retired emperors were able to sucessfully contest Fujiwara control to some extent--I certainly think it's fair to say that the military struggles of the Gempei wars weren't about quite the same issues, but of course when Go-Shirakawa tried to assert his authority over the shogunate, with the help of Kumano shrine, he was defeated and the retirement system and the power that went with it ended summarily.
He also says some really interesting things about how renunciation and retirement brought the emperors more power, both politically and sacrally, and how this ties in to them striving to paint themselves as Buddhist priest-kings, hearkening back to Shoumu and Koumyou in the 8thC, when the Tennou institution was at its height.