Draft:Bầu lords

Bầu lords Chúa Bầu 主裒
1527–1699
Map of Vietnam circa 1650   Lê dynasty under Trịnh's control   Nguyễn   Mạc   Vũ (Bầu lords)   Champa
Status	Subordinates of Trịnh lords (until 1593; de jure from 1594) De facto autonomous territory and lordship (fief) within Lê dynasty of Đại Việt
Capital	Tuyên Quang
Common languages	Vietnamese
Religion	Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Vietnamese folk religion
Government	Feudal hereditary military dictatorship
Lords
• 1527–1557	Vũ Văn Uyên (first)
• 1557–1571	Vũ Văn Mật (first as lord)
• 1669–1699	Vũ Công Tuấn (last)
History
• Established	1527
• Disestablished	1699
Currency	Copper-alloy and zinc cash coins
Preceded by Succeeded by Primitive Lê dynasty Revival Lê dynasty Trịnh lords
Today part of	Vietnam Tuyên Quang province

The Bầu lords (Vietnamese: Chúa Bầu; Chữ Nôm: 主裒), were generations of Vũ family who ruled the old Tuyên Quang province throughout the Northern and Southern dynasties and Trịnh–Nguyễn War period. As the Vũ lords resided in the castle on the Bầu mountain, they were collectively called the Bầu lords.

In the Lê–Mạc War, Bầu lords refused to follow Mạc dynasty, instead they followed the revival Lê dynasty in the south. However, when the Lê-Trịnh forces captured Thăng Long in 1593, they secretly allied with Mạc dynasty and oppose the central government. Following the last clan head's capture and execution in 1699, Lê dynasty appointed a new governor and effectively ended the Vũ clan's rule in Tuyên Quang.

Background

The first lord of the Vũ family was Vũ Văn Uyên, who was described as a strong and brave man. In the era of Lê Chiêu Tông, because he committed murder, he had to flee to Đại Đồng protectorate (present-day Tuyên Quang, Lào Cai and Yên Bái provinces). At that time, the governor was unpopular and failed to stabilize the situation, so Vũ Văn Uyên gathered supporters to overthrow the old governor and subsequently became the next ruler.

Later, Lê Chiêu Tông granted Vũ Văn Uyên the title of Marquess of Khánh Bá and allowed him to rule Đại Đồng protectorate.

Earlier period (1527–1593)

In 1527, Mạc Đăng Dung overthrew Lê Cung Hoàng and ended the Initial Lê dynasty. Vũ Văn Uyên refused to obey the new dynasty.

In 1533, he supported the newly restored Lê dynasty, and Đại Đồng became a base of the Lê army.

In 1557, the second leader of the clan, Vũ Văn Mật, proclaimed himself as lord.

Mạc dynasty attacked Đại Đồng several times (most notably in 1533 and 1578), but failed to defeat the Bầu lords. In turn, Vũ Văn Mật also launched raids into Mạc-controlled areas, but was also unsuccessful.

Later period (1593–1699)

In 1593, the southern Lê dynasty captured Thăng Long, the capital of the northern Mạc dynasty, forcing them to retreat to Cao Bằng province. From this point onwards, the Bầu lords turned against the Revival Lê dynasty and started siding with Mạc dynasty.

In 1594, the fourth lord of the Vũ clan, Vũ Đức Cung, sided with a corrupt noble, Marquess of Mỹ Thọ (Vietnamese: Mỹ Thọ hầu), and launched an incursion into districts of Sơn Tây province near the border of Đại Đồng and forcefully moved the population of these districts to Vũ-controlled areas. Later, Marquess of Mỹ Thọ was captured, and Vũ Đức Cung had to bribe the government to be forgiven for his crimes.

One year later, Vũ Đức Cung claimed himself as the "King of Long Bình" (Vietnamese: Long Bình vương) and again rebelled against the Trịnh lords and Lê dynasty, attacking and pillaging several areas of Thái Nguyên province.

His successor, Vũ Công Ứng, continues to rebel against the central government and ally with the Mạc dynasty, claiming himself as "king" until his murder in 1669, possibly by his subordinate, Ma Phúc Trường.

His successor was Vũ Công Tuấn. In 1672, taking advantage of the Trịnh lord's absence, he allied with the Mạc leader Mạc Kính Vũ and sought support from the Qing dynasty in order to become king. Taking advantage of that, officials of the Yunnan province invaded parts of Đại Việt, which the government was unable to retrieve until the end of the Lê dynasty.

In 1699, Vũ Công Tuấn was captured and executed. The Lê dynasty stripped the Vũ family from the governorship of Tuyên Quang, effectively ended the lineage of Bầu lords.

Assessment

In general, the Bầu lords' history was similar to that of Mạc dynasty. When Mạc dynasty rose to power, Bầu lords also started their rule over Tuyên Quang province. After 1593, Mạc dynasty was weakened and reduced to a rump state, while Bầu lords' rule also declined gradually.

The Vũ clan maintained their autonomy by relying on the mountainous terrain of the northeast and northwest regions, challenging the rule of the central government (Mạc dynasty, Lê dynasty and Trịnh lords) while these regimes were occupied with other wars and unable to focus on Tuyên Quang province.

List of Bầu lords

List of Vũ clan rulers

Name	Lifespan	Ruling year(s)	Official title
Vũ Văn Uyên (武文淵)	1479-1557	1527-1557	Khánh Dương hầu (Marquess of Khánh Dương, 慶陽侯)
Vũ Văn Mật (武文密)	1493-1571	1557-1571	Gia quốc công (Grand Duke of Gia, 嘉國公)
Vũ Công Kỷ (武公紀)	1530-1590	1571-1590	Nhân quận công (Prefect Duke of Nhân, 仁郡公)
Vũ Đức Cung (武德恭)	1555-1600	1590-1600	Hòa quận công (Prefect Duke of Hòa, 和郡公)
Vũ Công Ứng (武公悳)	1590-1669	1600-1669	Tông quận công (Prefect Duke of Tông, 宗郡公)
Vũ Công Tuấn (武公俊)	1640-1699	1669-1699	Khoan quận công (Prefect Duke of Khoan, 寬郡公)