Nguyen Hoang

Who was Nguyen Hoang?

Nguyễn Hoàng was the first of the Nguyễn Lords who ruled the southern provinces of Vietnam between 1558 and 1613, from a series of cities: Ai Tu, Tra Bat, and Dinh Cat.

He was the second son of Nguyễn Kim. When his father was assassinated by a Mạc supporter, his brother-in-law Trịnh Kiểm took command of the Lê Loyalist army. Sometime after his older brother died, Nguyễn Hoàng requested his brother in law, and was appointed to govern the southern-most province of Vietnam. This land was formerly Champa territory which had been conquered by Lê Thánh Tông and at the time was under control of Mạc force. Nguyễn Hoàng defeated the enemy commander Duke Lập and took over the province in 1558. In 1573 he was given the title Grand Master by Emperor Le The Ton. Later he was given the title Duke of Mon.

In 1592, when Trịnh Tùng laid siege to the Eastern Capital, Nguyễn Hoàng lend him resources and troops. The Nguyen army joined the Royal army and helped destroy the remainder of the Mac army. For reasons that are mysterious, when the new Emperor, Lê Kinh Tông, ascended the throne, Nguyễn Hoàng refused to recognize the new sovereign and instead took for himself the new title of Good Prince in 1600. Perhaps an explanation is found in that his nephew Trịnh Tùng had been given a similar title just one year earlier: Pacifying Prince. Nguyễn Hoàng had many children but most of them either lost their lives in the battlefields or stayed in the North. His 6th son Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên succeeded him upon his death in 1613. He ruled the south for 55 years.